Why Session Beer?

It has nothing to do with ABV for me. I like IPA's and you cannot make a good one at under 4% without sacrificing a lot, they just don't taste right, you need the malt to balance the hops or its painfully bitter. There is a reason the majority of IPA's float about at the 7% mark. There is a brew pub here locally that makes English Style brews, amazing at 3.8% ABV, tremendous all the way around. Some styles I suppose lend themselves better to lower ABV, but IMO IPA's are not it.

 

I still stand by what I said. Good beer is good beer, no matter the strength.

 

It's just an option. Having session beer available does not prevent you from enjoying the opposite.

Cheaper to make due to less aging time? That is not an informed comment, especially regarding lagers.

Also, let's get past this year's trend and remember that session beer is not all session IPA. I've brewed 24 commercially available low ABV beers and only four have focused on new wave hop profiles. There's a whole world of lower ABV styles out there.

 

I love session IPAs because I can get that huge hoppy flavor with out the huge ABV. I don't drink beer just to get a buzz.

I noticed that while I'm getting older, my tolerance is going way down. So it's nice to get those hop flavors I really enjoy without being being wasted after a few hours of drinking.

 

This movement towards session ipas is another boon for the breweries. Why the hell would I pay the same price for a 6x of looseleaf when I can buy the regular ipa and get "more beer"? Half the ingredients go into these session ales, and from I have experienced half the flavor comes through. The price to manufacture these beers far less than a regular ipa, so why should I pay the same price for it? At least with an overpriced bomber I get a decent beer, not some watered down shadow of a beer.
Edit, this isn't a rant against sessionable beers, I love a good berlinner or english mild, however it is a rant against the bastardization of the american ipa.

 

Drinking one good Beer with High ABV <<<< Drinking several session beer

 

i like to drink good beers AND get buzzed (i wish somebody else would admit this). i like to get buzzed but not obliterated so if im going to be drinking for 6 hours its not going to be a bunch of imperial stouts

 

I really don't get the hate for session beers. Sometimes I just want to drink a hoppy beer before work/school without it kicking my ass, and it's nice to have that option. Not to mention that a lot of these beers are advertised as beers to drink during recreational activities. All Day IPA? Easy Jack? RecreationAle? They're all advertised as beers to drink as you go outside to do shit. When I go hiking or work on my friend's farm, I don't want a fucking RIS as I work, I want something crisp, hoppy, and refreshing, and I don't want it to bog me down in ABV. I want to enjoy my time outside doing recreational activities, not stumble around half the day and then fall asleep the second half.

It's simple: Drink more, do more. If this doesn't click in your brain, there's something wrong with you. I REALLY don't understand what's so hard to understand about session beers.

 

I think we all get why session beers are around, but there isn't a great "session" IPA on the market. All Day is drinkable that's about it, I had some of Lawsons when I was up in VT last year and IMO they just kill IPA's, and even their Session offering was just ridiculously bitter and unbalanced. Nothing refreshing about it at all.

 

For me, and for most British drinkers, 5% is strong. I could probably drink two pints at this strength and just escape a hangover if I've eaten, or drunk lots of water. Even 4.5% is too strong to drink many of. In British pubs, beer tends to be weaker than this. Still, it is easy to get drunk on beers less than 5%.

 

You're a bit misinformed on a couple points.
1. Half the ingredients? The most expensive part of making a hoppy beer is the hops. To make a session IPA you still use quite a bit of hops, just towards the end of the boil as to keep the bitterness low while imparting hop flavor. The 'hop bursting' technique is very expensive for brewers.
2. Session IPAs are not bastardizing the American IPA because they are two different styles. This may or may not be recognized by the BJCP but a session IPA does not fit the criteria for an American IPA. So two different styles. Don't compare them. Maybe you're just not a fan of the style?

 

In most cases with USA "session" beers. low alc = low flavor. I'm sure Brits have perfected the art of low alc. full flavor beers.

 

You and I were obviously thinking the same thing this morning. I almost started my own thread on the subject before I found yours. I understand the appeal of an IPA that you can pound at a BBQ without making a drunken ass out of yourself. But of the session IPA's that I've tried (Founders All Day, Stone Go-To, Boulevard Pop-Up, Terrapin Recreation, Schlafly Session), they all seem to have a very bitter, one dimensional profile. I look for balance in an IPA. Give me an Odell, Two Hearted, Mothers Lil Helper, Stone Ruination, Modus Hoperandi or Dog Fishead 60 min with a low abv, and I will buy it. Maybe there some really great session IPA's out there, I just haven't found one. Anyone have some suggestions?

 

I love session beers. Im big time into outdoors stuff. Camping, fishing, snowboarding, wakeboarding, golf, tailgating, etc. I love drinking beer and with most of these activities I drink for a long period of time. Drinking a 7-8% beer all day is not very appealing to me and i dont want to be shitfaced. Lagunitas daytime and stone go to fits the bill.

Also there are times when I have to drive. Ya I shouldn't be drinking and driving, but a couple session beers probably won't even give me a full buzz. I feel safe behind the wheel and completely coherent.

 

1. Hop utilization is a function of boil time and wort gravity, even when hop bursting. Less malts mean less hops.
2. Session IPA is being added too bjcp guidelines along with other bastard styles.

 

It looks like you don't like bitter beer. It's hard for a session IPA to not be that. Even after dry hopping the hops in the boil are going to bitter the beer somewhat. If you're used to "juicy" IPAs, a dry beer will not be as welcoming.

That being said, I don't think I've ever had a truly dry session IPA. A session IPA is nowhere as bone dry as a well-crafted pils. Compare something like Victory Prima Pils and a Founders All Day IPA and you'll notice the session IPA is much sweeter (less bitter). Prima Pils is an excessively hopped, 5.3% German Pils, so the hop expression and ABV is similar between the two styles. If you're not used to good pils though, I can understand why a session IPA's bitterness compared to regular IPAs or DIPAs would be off-putting.

 

They're refreshing, they go down easily, they enhance social gatherings, you can drink for hours without getting wasted and they taste great.

 

Remember when DIPA wasn't a style? Now it is. Same is happening here. You don't have to like it. Just don't compare a 4.5% beer to a 7% beer. They are inherently different.

 

Because my games of beer pong with bourbon barrel stouts ALWAYS ended real early!

 

You're half right. I don't like beers that are bitter if that's their only aspect. A well crafted IPA should be bitter AND juicy. Brewers shouldn't label their session beers as an IPA if it's not true to the style. Called it a bitter session ale so people know what to expect. As far as Pils, I'm not a huge fan because their so hard to get right. But i've never had a pils that was less sweet than a session IPA.