Are "session IPAs" improving?

I've had Hop Rise Session Ale from Central Waters Brewing, and Founders Brewing's All Day IPA. Both are quite good, IMO. I give Hop Rise the slight edge since it is better balanced in my view. However, for beers in the sub-5.0% category, I actually prefer Surly's Bitter Brewer. While Surly claims it is a British Bitter style (well, they do with a wink and a nod), it is too hoppy for that style. Maybe they didn't want to call it a "Session IPA"? Bitter Brewer is a seasonal from Surly.

 

Just had FW Easyjack and it was delicious good hop presence and the flavor did not drop off the way other session ipas I've had and heard about do

 

Sessions IPAs are relatively different than regular pale ales. They have much less of a malt presence as pale ales, and generally a much bigger hop presence than a pale ale, more in line with a regular IPA, so they come across a lot of time as unbalanced. Hoppy beers still do need a somewhat decent malt presence to keep it balanced, otherwise- the beer comes across as bitter and watery.

 

Or brewers can, you know, just not make them overly bitter. I think this "style" is showing the weak spots on a lot of brewers' game.

 

Thank you. I definitely agree with the word relatively being key. Though just about any "session ipa" I've tasted I'd call a pale ale in a blind taste test.

 

Exactly.

I was going to create a thread that was generally going off on "session" IPAs but figured I'd undead another thread since the "that's been brought up 100's of times" police may be out in force.

Basically, I had what's likely my last bad experience (hopefully) with a session IPA this past weekend. Had an Evil Twin Citra Sunshine Slacker and it was nearly undrinkable to me. IT really told me that the bloom was so far off the session IPA rose that I should stop drinking them altogether. In reality, had I read the can more thoroughly I would not have bought it in the first place. I'll admit that I read "Citra" and became all wiggly with the prospects of enjoying a Citra slammer, as I love the use of Citra. Sadly, this one was a waste of untold thousands of Citra hop buds.

Though there are exceptions (Easy Jack, Go-to off the top of my head) for the most part, wouldn't BEER in general be better off if people wishing for a lower ABV just seek out another style? There are plenty of styles with overall "lower" ABVs out there (hefe, both pils, Vienna Lagers, kolsch just to name a few - not to mention APAs) that can certainly quench a thirst, provide accompaniment through a long period of drinking and keep the goofy at bay while offering great flavor.

I know, that's not the point. People WANT hop attack without the commitment. Too bad it is coming at the cost of balance and overall quality when compared to actual IPAs. My suggestion is to explore a low ABV style when you don't have the time or right circumstance for an IPA. Enjoy a full bodied IPA when you actually have the time to enjoy it.

 

No.

 

Eliminate them

 

Fucking Agreed. They can never improve.

 

As far as I am concerned that is the 'answer'.

I would much prefer to drink a tasty APA vs. any beer that has been labeled with the term "Session IPA" (including Easy Jack and Go To).

Cheers!

 

If someone hands me an FW Easy Jack, Oskar Blues Pinner or BP Even Keel, and I am perfectly content.

 

It's weird. All the mass produced session IPAs I've had have sucked with maybe the exception of All Day, but every time I have a "session IPA" on-tap at a small brewery, it's great. Maybe because it's super fresh? Maybe because of smaller batches? Both?

 

I'll spend my money on a higher ABV beer and get more enjoyment out of the experience

 

I don't know if BEER is worse off, or the BEER BUSINESS, because people are drinking a lot of sessions. I know that i'd prefer to see more Pales and Pilsners or Bitters and Hefes or whatever lower ABV styles on the shelf instead.

 

People are going to drink what they like?

The majority of US beer drinkers are drinking “yellow fizzy” beer like Bud Light, Bud, Coors Light, Miller Lite, ...

I personally do not drink these mentioned beers and I choose to not drink beers that are labeled as “Session IPAs”.

Thank goodness that there are so many other tasty beers to drink like APAs.

Cheers!

 

While I'm not a fan of them, I have had more that I enjoyed lately. I think Ska's Rudie is full-on fantastic and that's something I never thought I'd say. Not my favorite style at all, but they do finally seem to have to heart and soul beyond hop water.

 

Chris, how would you describe the body/mouthfeel of Ska's Rudie?

Cheers!

 

There seems to be alot of breweries that focus mostly on IPA variants these days so they don't make lower abv beers like ESB, porters, wheat/wit, etc. That's really a shame. We've reached IPA critical mass - haven't we?

 

Have y'all tried Ballast Point's 'Even Keel'? It is a damn fine beer.

 

It's still on the light side, but it doesn't feel watery. It does have some malt character as well. It isn't Modus Hoperandi, but I think it's heftier than All Day and the like. A lot of session IPA's either feel artificially foamy or even soda-like. It feels more like a normal-strength beer. I don't know what goes into the creation of most session IPA's out there, but most taste and feel like a watered down IPA. Rudie (and some other good ones like the one from BJ's and DayTime) feels like an extra pale ale that was brewed with more hop character.