"Session IPAs"

But these breweries are not intending to brew Americanized Bitters, they are intending to brew sessionable IPAs. Why call it ridiculous marketing when you are calling them what they are? When I have had American versions of Bitters, Founders included, they are significantly different than the sessionable IPAs out there. Let's not mislabel the breweries intention, that would be ridiculous.

Bitter Brewer is brewed as a "not really an British Bitter" style, it is not a session IPA. Sure there may be some similarities but I don't think it should be included in your argument.

 

Well, I think it is ultimately determined by the Brewer's Association. That said, American Black Ale is a really stupid name for a Black IPA, so what the fuck do they know.

 

I think Founders knows a little more about what they should label their beer than you do. It tastes like an IPA--hmmm maybe it is.

 

meh, i think "IPA" says "expect the dryhopped hop-oil burst of a good IPA" while "session" begrudgingly has started to mean "low ABV" (as opposed to meaning below 4% ABV).

i didn't like the american adoption of 'session' because use of it was mostly pretentious. for those of you following along at home who either call everything or nothing 'pretentious', old use of 'session beer' in america was genuinely pretentious; it implied that there was some further qualification necessary when using it, e.g. "damn this is a great session beer!" when meaning exactly "damn this is a great beer!" the implication functions to let the hearer know that the speaker is familiar with this further qualification (ie s/he's Into Beer). "i could drink a lot of this--it's a session beer!" no shit you could drink a lot of it, it tastes good. i could drink a lot of speedway stout.

incidentally, the utterance "that was a great session beer!" would make sense if *it really was a session beer* (ie < 4%) and you were comparing it to *other session beers* (just one or the other won't do the whole trick). e.g. "damn, this is a great porter!" is better than "damn this is a great beer!" if you're saying "of the porters, THIS one is really great!" additionally, it's not being pretentious and using unnecessary "precision" (AKA being bombastic and/or pedantic).

c.f. "she's a great chess player!" vs "she's a great female chess player!"--not pretentious, but the excessive (and redundant) specificity is doing something. (in the 'session' case, what it was doing was telling everyone the speaker Knows More About Beer Than You, while in the 'female' case, it's telling everyone that the speaker is a sexist)

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that said, session is steadily moving into the american beer vernacular to mean low ABV beer, preferably low ABV beer that isn't usually low ABV (so session stout, session IPA, etc make sense). this is totally perverse relative to the british usage, but at least its a substantive meaning. as long as the words contribute to the act of communication in a non-douchy way i'm cool with it.

e.g. breweryA calls 5%ABV and 60IBU beer IPA, 4%ABV and 50IBU beer APA. breweryB calls 7.5%ABV and 90IBU beer IPA, 6%ABV and 60IBU beer APA. that's confusing to some people for some reason, but as far as i can see each brewery is telling me something ("the first beer is stronger and hoppier than the other one we sell") easy to understand, so it's fine.

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lol no.

 

i'd be surprised if most of the better brewers are really set that "THIS IS AN IPA!" or "THIS IS A BELGIAN TRIPEL!" etc... unless they're brewing an homage to something, or they're talking about traditional flavor profiles or brewing techniques / flaws. it seems vastly more likely to me that most brewers just care that the end product 1) is beer, 2) tastes how they wanted it to, 3) tastes good. ( 4) sells well)

 

Being a huge hophead I would be more inclined to buy these more often if they are labeled IPAs rather than bitters. I love this style and have not found one I like. They are usually less hop forward than I want. I made one for my tastes and will develop it over time.

 

They're American Pale Ale's. Calling them "session IPA's" is clever marketing based on the fact that IPA's are the hottest selling craft style.

Drake's 1500, FW Pale 31, Daytime, and All Day are all the same style beer; a hoppier than normal APA.

 

100% agree with you, Daytime "IPA" was way less hoppy then most APAs I drink at around the same ABV, NG Moon Man is 5% abv and a hop forward pale so I guess they should start calling NG Moon Man No Coast IPA instead of pale. But that is why most style lines are pretty stupid anyway.

 

Let me be the first to say I don't care what they're called. I just drink 'em, and enjoy 'em.

 

Session signify's an ABV of 5% or under. I don't recognize a true IPA with less than 6% ABV.
A session IPA is an oxymoron?

 

I guess this means some purists are getting slightly butthurt. Whatever. byo. Session IPA just means a beer with more hop presence that is going to be drinkable over the course of an afternoon without getting completely hammered. Cool. That's a nice break from the 9% creepers that so many brewers seem content to be flexing their prowess with. I like the Daytime, just like I like the All Day. They both are nice additions to the summer offerings. So, why frown?

 

I think session signifies an abv of 4% or under.

 

Nope, IPA is a rather ubiquitous style and an excellent descriptor for the masses. You brew a beer that is lower and alcohol and tastes like an IPA what you have is a very appropriate description. This also holds true with the Black IPA which has historical basis.

 

The problem is "Session." I can kill a six pack of DFH 60 min IPA without too much harm done to me. Many people would get really drunk trying to do that. A session beer for me is around 6.5% per 6 pack. Some people would say that 4-5% is their session beer. My limit for session beers is Sierra Nevada Torpedo. I can do that going into it fully hydrated and well fed. That would be MY session IPA of choice. As most have said, session IPAs are typically an oxymoron as most are above 6% and an average size person would have trouble against a 6 pack of them in a fair amount of time.

 

I think this is an issue of misapplication of terms. Session has a set definition, though many cannot agree on what that is. Sessionable is a variable term that can change with the individual. Just because one has a session with a beer of a higher abv that does not mean it is a session beer.