Inherent Flaw In Session IPA's

I have and will continue to enjoy these beers. But, I have found that I can't drink them after an IPA or DIPA. The few times I have, the sessions really taste like watered down beers. Try a Boat after an 077xx and you'll feel the same way

 

I have to admit, at first I was staunchly and comprehensively opposed to any and all "session-y" beers. I was the guy who'd chime in on a thread like this with a picture of SN Torpedo and I'd say "this is what I "session" with..." or something like that. However as time passes I do find myself beginning to understand at least the general idea behind session beers. Sometimes I want a beer with lunch but I don't, or at least really shouldn't be buzzed in the middle of the day. Sometimes you're hanging out with friends for a few hours, or you go on a camping trip and you want a few beers but don't want to be hammered. I get it. 4 Hands and Civil Life breweries in Saint Louis have had a big hand in changing my mind at least a little bit. They seem to have a knack for packing a lot of flavor into all their beers regardless of abv. With all that being said..... I still cannot get behind the pricing of session beers. As someone who brews a lot of the beer I drink, and being at least reasonably familiar with the process of brewing. I just don't understand why a session beer should cost, in a lot of cases, more than other beers. Lower abv means less malt was used, it's a fact. Also with less sugars/alcohol, that means less hops are needed to hit your target abv, fact. It seems like a simple equation to me. If I want to brew a big beer at home, it's expensive. If I want to brew a low abv beer..... it's a lot cheaper. I just can't see how this can be that different on a commercial scale. I've heard unconvincing arguments made about how packaging/logistics are what keeps the price high. I don't buy it. The truth is while I have enjoyed some of the low abv offerings in my market, there are beers like Modern Brewery's Citrapolis which pack a TON more flavor. SN's Torpedo can be had for 8 bucks a six pack at every shop around, where I see session beers consistently priced at 10-12$. It just seems like novelty pricing to me. Until I hear an honestly convincing argument, session beers still haven't won me over. I'll drink them with lunch, but I won't be stocking my fridge with them.

 

how can it cannibalize sales when its all coming out of the same tank? :-)

 

I came here to say Carton Boat, enjoy the rest of the thread. Those of us that have access to this don't really need to read it because it's irrelevant.

 

IPA shipped to India in the 1840's was 5-7% ABV. Ordinary Mild of the same period was 6.5% ABV.

 

It's beause there's a flat rate tax per barrel in the US. The ingredients make up a tiny part of the cost of a beer.

 

It took British brewers a while to get brewing low-gravity beer right. Basically most of the interwar years.

The gravity drop after WW I I believe saved cask beer. It's even harder to brew a tasty keg beer of 3% or 4% ABV. Though it buggered British bottled beer, because it's pretty hard to brew a bottle-conditioned beer of that strength.

 

I find them thin too, but how could it be different with the dumbed down malt, it's why it lacks balance and reduces the Abv. But what I really find annoying and canceling out its reason for existence is its exhaustingly hard on the palate. To me it's all bitter hop juice vs being a great IPA. I can drink one, but want no part of two, this is my perception let's be clear here. It's created to have a few and be a responsible alternative when you want a couple of beers or three. If I drank 3 I'd need Zantac to calm my stomach and would hate IPAs for a month, 3 would be abuse.

 

If i want something lighter than an IPA ill stick w/a pale ale. I feel like when something is intentionally lightened up it loses its foundation of flavor.

 

Then it fails the test for a session beer. Which is a beer of low enough alcohol content that you can drink it over an indefinite period without suffering undue consequences but which is also a beer constructed so that doing so is a pleasurable experience.
One thing though. It is not the duty of beer to be highly flavoursome or strong any more than it's the duty of a car to do 200 mph or of music to deafeningly loud. Beer owes its very existence to the need of a long drink which can replace water rather than being a surrogate wine or spirit to be drunk in small amounts.

 

I agree IMO the style fails. I've had Milds that clock in at 3.8 % abv that was tremendous. IMO ipas need enough malt to make the load of hops enjoyable, the. The abv goes up.

 

You may want to edit your first sentence.

 

I edit for a group that cannot write very well, but I type fast and sometimes I drink when I post! But I do write all of the time and mess up on occasion. My brain works faster than my fingers. I work way better on paper. Cheers!

 

American brewers are creative when it comes to brewing beer. They are not very creative when it comes to naming them. They should have come up with a new name or just called these beers what they are lite IPA's. There was no need to misuse the British term "session".

 

This is how I feel. I've had Boat Beer and a bunch of session IPAs from Lawsons, Hill Farmstead ('Blonds'), Trillium, and Tree House, among the more easily obtained, and each one of those beers has an AWESOME nose, then you take a sip and your shoulders sulk because the flavor/mouthfeel is NOTHING like the aroma, which is no surprise. The best low-abv IPA I've ever had was the ORIGINAL Holy Cow from Alchemist. At 5.2%, it drank almost as good as Heady Topper. But that's 5.2%. Trying to get closer to 4%, it's just impossible to achieve the mouth feel and body necessary to highlight a hop bomb. You just can't do it.

They ARE watered down IPAs. I think I prefer sticking to a Pils or English session style over session IPAs. Drinking a session IPA always just leads me to WANT a real IPA rather than just enjoy what I'm drinking.

 

I was able to have conversations with Mitch Steele (author of an IPA book) and Frank Clark (beer historian at Williamsburg, VA) at the 2013 National Homebrewers Conference in Philadelphia. I asked both gentlemen questions concerning the ‘first’ IPA of Hodgson’s Pale Ale circa 1800.

Mitch Steele expressed his opinion that the Original Gravity of Hodgson’s Pale Ale was around 1.070. He emphasized that there are no know written records (e.g., logbooks, recipe, etc.) that documents this value but he thinks that that this value of 1.070 is valid.

Frank Clark discussed with me his opinion on what the Final Gravity would be of the Hodgson’s Pale Ale. He stated that the Final Gravity would have been below 1.010. For discussion purposes he made mention of 1.007. He emphasized that this low Final Gravity was likely since there would have been some Brettanomyces present in the wooden vessels utilized in the beer making/storage process. He reminded me that Brettanomyces is a Greek word which means British Fungus.

So, if the Original Gravity of Hodgson’s Pale Ale was 1.070 and the Final Gravity was 1.007 then the alcohol content of that beer would be around 8.3% ABV.

Cheers!

 

That makes a lot of sense. Probably the reason larger operations are able to offer their 6 packs at a lower cost to the consumer.

 

Session IPAs are simply the latest marketing angle. All Day is one of my go to beers not because I can pick up on a slightly lower ABV and maybe drink one more of them. It's simply a very flavorful well made beer. I can actually think of some "regular" IPAs, Bridgeport to name one, that I find lighter and easier drinking. The idea that brewers would start with a good beer and tweak it to reduce the abv is idiotic and ultimately self defeating.

 

They are thin, but I don't think watered down as much as malt dumbed down. So they are terribly bitter, which IMO sucks. I like bitter IPAs, but they have more going for it than just bitter. Bitter is easy, but not necessarily a good thing. It can be, but IMO the style is just wrong for the purpose.

 

The problem is you expect a certainly level of bitterness with an IPA. Sure, you can have a mildly bitter light pale ale with loads of dry hops, but it's not going to taste anything like an IPA. You just can't get a hop-bomb with that awesome sticky bitter resin without the malt backbone.