"Session IPAs"

http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/why-session-beer.168958/page-6#post-2349554

http://www.beeradvocate.com/communi...to-ipa-session-ipa.150407/page-6#post-2344660

 

They are both beers that came out before the Session IPA moniker was invented. They are APA's with aggresive modern hop profiles, with a bit of malt to them.
Balanced Session IPA's or Hoppy APA's, I'm convinced those two are one in the same.

 

This topic has been beaten to death. Some people like/love them, some don't. Same with any beer really. I'm not a big fan. I thought Notch Left of the Dial was nice but besides that have been underwhelmed. My opinion is notthe important one. People are buying these in mass, so they will be around in mass.

 

Mirror pond
Drake's 1500
Dale's

The reason being, all three of these beers are full flavored beers with the lightness of either abv or mouthfeel. I like these beers a suggestion..good category of beer too..the good ol' Amercan Pale Ale.. Takes go

 

Yes to that.

 

Yes. I mean if there's no malt there's no ABV and there's no joy!

 

If you don't like em, don't drink em. Seems you have made up your mind and people are not going to change it. Which is fine. I love Pale 31, All Day, and Loose Leaf and those all make regular appearances in my fridge over their bigger counter parts.

 

ALL DAY in okc is $16 for 15pack. No complaints from down south

 

Sounds like you simply crave hops, and don't enjoy more balanced pale ales. I can't speak to Mirror Pond, haven't had it (5%, so lower), but I would say Sierra Nevada Pale Ale (5.6%) and Stone Pale Ale (5.4%) are on the hoppier side for pale ales. These aren't as sessionable.

Pale Ales are not "bastards of a beer" though. They're excellent beers. Personally I think Firestone Pale 31 (4.9%) and Victory Headwaters (5.1%) are incredible.

Why am I listing the abv's in parenthesis along with the names? Because people are claiming session IPAs are simply pale ales, and then listing their favorites. But what brewers have pale ales that are 40+ IBUs AND are ~4.5% and lower in abv? I'm sure there's some but the list is short, and I would bet the body is thin.

Oh, and one more thing. Can people stop referencing beers like Zombie Dust (6.4%) and Dale's "Pale Ale" (6.5%)? These are IPAs. The brewers can call these fucking Belgian Quadrupels for all I care, the specs cry out IPA. And certainly not a sessionable one.

 

I picked up a 6 pack of Fat Heads Daydream Sunshine Ale this afternoon. I am about to crack one. I like the concept but I don't love it.

 

As I understand it, to make a session beer malt-forward without upping the ABV you must use less hops. Then it kind of becomes a pale ale instead of a session IPA. With more malt comes higher ABV, then it becomes a standard IPA. It's a fairly rigid category, and hops (and minerals) get the spotlight.

 

Hop Rise from Central Waters, it's the way to go.

 

Prolonged enjoyment from short's is my favorite. I just bought two kegs of it today

 

Drakes 1500 Pale Ale is 5.5% abv and 48 IBUs.

Drake's Alpha Session IPA is 3.8% abv and 50 IBUs.

How do you think they lowered the alcohol that much and actually INCREASED the IBUs in their session IPA? Magic? They cut some of the malt, less fermentable sugars.

Unfortunately this also makes the beer unbalanced, thinning out the body, and increasing the bitterness (and not the fun kind like in Stone Ruination).

 

I would rather see more lower strength well-made Belgian Ales like Orval, Taras Boulba and Ranke XX. I think that the style lends itself far better for lower ABV’s but sadly this is rarely done. I have nothing against the idea of Session IPA’s but so far I found myself mostly saying, this is good for a low ABV beer but they seemed to be missing a malt body and came across as quite watery. I am not even mentioning the fact all Session IPA’s I have seen so far were prized as premium specialty beers meaning that they cost more than a Rochefort 10 or Orval at the supermarket where I live. They cost roughly the same as higher ABV beers of the same brewery.

 

In truth, I don't see the point. The body on most "session" IPAs is totally lacking, as in thin mouthfeel. And as many have previously said ,w/ out that malt backbone, it just doesn't work.

 

I have a question. Have the stronger abv IPAs been replaced by session IPA at your local stores? I haven't seen that happen where I am. The way people complain about session IPA's makes it seem like they are taking the great "big" IPAs off the shelves and banishing them forever, leaving shelf space for session IPAs exclusively. I

f your liquor store/bottle shop/etc. is selling session IPAs right along side the regular stuff, then what's the problem? Are you also upset that your store carries cheap white wine?

Don't like 'em, don't buy 'em.

 

I would also suggest people consider trying a traditional ESB aka English Pale Ale. Been around a long time and have the lower alcohol but still with a nice malt backbone and enough hops to provide a very nice beer. There are plenty of good ones to choose from in the 4.5 to 5.5 ABV range.

 

I am enjoying All day and Go to way too much and Day time blows everybody away. They don't fill you up and then you can go to the to regular ones later in the evening which saves them for other days in the week. Warm days I believe is the main reason for the enjoyment plus the IPA flavors stand out more . 5 % and lower is a good standard for these flavorful hop bombs. They will be in my fridge every week from now on and the trend continues with all the breweries. Maybe ballast point will have one that tastes like hi res, oh yeah!

 

Go To is delicious- I find that it has the right amount of graininess with a very nice floral citrus hop bite. Could drink it all day, unlike the all day IPA by founders which I find to be generally lacking in flavor and mouthfeel