Summer of Session IPAs

Another interesting observation.

Personally, I'm a science guy. Physiologically there's a cut-off in which a beer no longer is hydrating, despite being mostly water. Coffee, is also hydrating, because the net effect is hydration despite caffeine being a diuretic.

Anecdotally I've noticed that if I drink beers ~4% I can "session" without ill effects. If I try the same with a 5% beer, those ill effects slowly begin to rear their ugly heads. And there's more to hydration than simply water, so you can't just drink an 8% double IPA and then drink a glass of water next to it and think you'll achieve the same level of hydration as if you had two 4% beers.

 

https://zythophile.wordpress.com/2011/05/20/how-old-is-the-term-session-beer/

The above is a great article which doesn't give a concrete definition, but simply adds to the discussion of possible origins of the term.

I imagine @ChrisLohring would be able to add to this discussion as well.

 

I agree with all that, and I'd put the "session" limit for myself around 4% as well. I just wouldn't tell people they're wrong because in their experience "session" means a higher or lower limit for them.

 

The idea of going out on a beer evening and alternating it with water is about the same mentality as those who drive around looking for parking close to the changing rooms so they don't have to walk very far before they have their exercise.And drinking water doesn't work very well anyway.

IPA is a pale ale.

 

Marketing at its finest...

Session IPAs are basically APAs, but people are always talking about IPAs (greater selling opportunity). I've never had an unbalanced, uber hoppy Session IPA. They're usually fairly low IBU and similiar to APAs. For my tastes, they also have less flavor, on average than a good IPA or IIPA.

 

Yes, it is but I was referring to the beer categorized as an APA v. IPA. My apologies for failing to iron out the distinction, but I figured since I was replying to a quote that was referencing pales, my use of "pales" to describe "pales" and not "IPAs" would have been assumed.

 

I'm sorry, naysayers, but I don't think session IPAs are going away.

 

Seems like the summer of Gose to me

 

Nothing new. Many brewers of IPAs simply labelled tham as Pale Ales , like all so-called "styles" they began as loose names.That's why there are so many beers here labelled IPA which aren't particularly hoppy such as Greene King IPA.

 

If you ever want some hit me up.

 

I don't even know where to begin. But I'll start with this, the good thing about lower ABV IPA is that it exists whether or not you believe in it. Low ABV IPA has been around for hundreds of years and was never a strong beer relative to other styles of the time. So Session IPA is not really anything new, just US brewers being late to enter the game, yet taking full credit.

 

@AlachuteJ

"Session beer
N.

Any beer that contains no higher than 5% ABV,"

And it goes on, this is why I was saying anyone's opinion doesn't matter when the definition is set on the site we are all sharing on. Whatever happenstance or real life example you have come across or have found defined elsewhere do not agree with BeerAdvocate's definition.

Www.beeradvocate.com/articles/653/

And what exactly from my Google searches do you not agree with? While I'd prefer to search a database of beer research papers, I don't think such a database exists yet, and if it does I don't have access to it.

One last thing, the pubmed reference you linked is about "Alcohol, Athletic Performance and Recovery." Click on link reference 21 and you will understand that this 0-4% ethanol/alcohol number has to do with athletes who are attempting to recover hydration from workouts and exercises through alcoholic beverages... nothing at all to do with day drinking or having a night on the town.

At the end of the day the body metabolizes 1/2 ounce of ethanol/alcohol per hour, and a standard 12oz beer at 5% is 12 grams of ethanol/alcohol. In other words about a Session beers worth of alc/eth leaves your body every hour

Www.intheknowzone.com/substance-abuse-topics/alcohol/bac.html

 

Just got done with golf and an All Day IPA from Founders tastes delicious.

 

Come on. You're forgetting to quote the number one rule:

 

I don't understand the concept of "session IPAs". Aren't they just American Pale Ales with a different "category" name?

 

I've been drinking for over 50 years and they had been around for a few decades before that. Sorry, Harpoon.Given the basic ingredients of water, malt, hops and yeast there isn't much scope for breaking new ground

 

This. I've yet to hear a logical reason why session IPAs are different than pale ales. Oh wait.....marketing

 

Are most pale ales 4.5% ABV?

 

Most ignorant, ridiculous post of the year.

 

That's the difference between UK "session" beers (also just called beers) and US session IPA's. Most US session IPA's taste like they are regular IPA's watered down. "IPA Lite" if you will. British bitters, milds that are around the 3.5% mark are carefully crafted to taste great regardless of ABV. There is no compromise between flavour and ABV.