Why Session Beer?

but so does having to run to pee repeatedly.

 

I approve this post! Amen.

 

Definitely try a Prima Pils if you haven't had it, since you'll notice that the big hop flavors in there aren't juicy in the same way they are in the session IPA or pale ale. The flavors are there, but they're totally dominated by the big, bitter finish. I think you'll find that it's drier than a fresh session IPA.

To your other point, I could get behind calling the style a "session pale ale" so as to not inadvertently mislead people. Generally though, I think that brewers still want to emphasize the high hop levels, which the I in IPA has arbitrarily come to mean in the US brew scene.

 

Many German Rieslings have 7-8% abv but are lively from the balance between acidity and ripeness. And no problem having 2-3 glasses over lunch and still being productive. For me Saisons come the closest to this balance, i agree it's difficult to make gentle ipas.

 

I don't know about you guys, but I have a hard time drinking the first beer on a Friday night after a long week of work slowly.

 

I never pay attention to the ABV while purchasing. Low or High doesn't matter to me as I no longer drink for a buzz. I just want something I can sip on for a while.

 

Still cheaper to brew and should reflect that in the price.

 

Not much cheaper at all. Same overheads, wages, fuel ,packaging ,distribution costs. Just a trivial reduction in materials.
It's cheaper here because of tax reasons. Beer in the US is hardly taxed at all.

 

This is pretty much it for me. Also, living in suburbia, driving is a part of social life - which often takes the high ABV beers off the table.

 

Depends.

 

Agree with this 100%. Give me a stone ipa over their go to ipa any day. However, even then there are very few ipa's i'd reach for on a summer day or for having 4-6 in a sitting. There's a reason summer beers mostly consist of pilsners, kolschs, etc. As the Op it comes down to personal preference as there are defintely some high quality brews under 5%. Its unfair to knock a beer because it takes you longer to get buzzed from it...

 

This thread doesn't seem to know if it's about session beers or "session IPAs."

I like the former a lot but the latter, less.

As Dr. Bronner reminds us, Dilute, dilute, dilute, OK.

 

If you are going to spend a day out fishing, you want something that you can drink several of without getting stupid. Hence the need for

 

This one for me. Like others said, it's about getting less of a buzz, and my first beer after work never lasts long. Another big bonus is that drinking 2 session ales relatively quickly leaves me much less thirsty (for water) than one 9%+ over the same amount of time. I frequently have dry/cotton mouth at night ( ) so that helps a lot.

 

I'm a definite light weight and do not drive even after just 2 "normal" beers. The sessions let me enjoy more than 1 before switching to Pepsi. I'm happy that breweries are producing these lowere ABV beers.

 

ahh, so that's how they do it?

 

I love beer and getting drunk is just a side effect. I'm on a large session beer kick that's been going for over a year now.

 

And this is why Notch is one of my favorite breweries. Your Černé Pivo on cask has been my favorite beer this year so far.

And I'm drinking a Heady Topper as I type this. So no, I don't hate hops or high abv beers.

 

I don't care for the session IPA's. The abv is ridiculously low , they have no mouthfeel and they taste a lot like hops. It's strange I tell you. I would much rather have a wheat beer, or a pale ale, or be genuinely tipsy off an IPA . . . I mean come on! Am I the only person that gets drunk from my beer? (I'm going, I'm going)

 

Why have 6-12? When you can have 1-3.