Are "session IPAs" improving?

Chris, FWIW every beer that I drank which was labeled as "Session IPA" was too watery for my palate.

I have about given up on this sub-style of beer. Lots of other good styles of beer to drink instead including tasty APAs.

Cheers!

 

Exactly.

If you're concerned about abv, you're doing it wrong. Stop whining and get in proper shape. Start by gaining fifty pounds and drinking a 750ml IIPA with every meal. Soon you will find that you do not have enough hands and mouths to process all those tasty high abv beverages quickly enough.

 

I love this style. I had gravitated to my love of hops and couldn't get enough of it but that used to require huge alcohol bombs to get to. There is indeed an art to making a balanced beer that the bottom doesn't fall out of and even some of the most popular have difficulty there. They are getting better and I like being able to drink many - or have a big beer if I want to. Easy Jack is great, Even Keel is great. If they bother you - drink around them. I will happily fish another cold one out of the cooler all night. (not to mention how nice it is to have all these offered in cans)

 

More people are making them and most of them suck. So they're getting worse because now they're all over and mostly bad.

 

I think they're getting better and am glad for the change of pace they offer.

 

The problem with "session" styles in the US is that we don't seem to understand what a true session ABV is. I'm sorry, but anything over 4% is too much for sessioning. Before someone claims that they personally can session BCBS all day, it isn't subjective nor is it a matter of tolerance. Research has shown (per an article recently posted to this very site) that there is a huge difference between drinking several beers at 5%+ than there is in drinking the same total alcohol but in the form of more beers at an ABV less than 4%.

I would gladly welcome more sessionable styles that fall below 4%, but I'm just not sure the "bigger is better" American mentality will allow that for some time. I'm talking about milds, bitters, ESBs, porters, brown ales, and yes, even pale ales and IPAs of <4% ABV. I just had a GREAT session IPA from England's Magic Rocks Brewery at a whopping 3% ABV, that was full-flavored and had all the trappings of an actual IPA (or maybe a Three Floyds Pale Ale). The only way you could tell that it was lower ABV was the slightly thinner mouthfeel. I would love to have something like that available, but American brewers just can't seem to grasp actual sessionable ABVs.

Tossing a ton of hops into a low ABV beer also just doesn't work; great beer is about balance, not hop flavored water. Session beers are no different.

 

I usually stick with IPAs but I think a lot of the session IPAs are tasty. I still think it's weird that some of you seem angry that brewers make them. Just...don't...drink them.

 

I'm holding out hope that this session IPA craze has opened the door for American craft beer drinkers to consider the lower ABV styles and I think it's starting to happen. Styles like gose, berliner weisse, kolsh, and grisette saisons, although far from widespread, seem to be gaining popularity. If Sierra Nevada is any indicator of craft beer market trends, then their last summer mix pack (nooner pilsner, kolsh, kellerweis, and SNPA) is a welcome addition. Some breweries are quietly putting more low ABV options that may not say "session" but would probably qualify or come really close, like Smuttynose Hayseed (3.8% saison), Long Trail Summer Ale (4.3%), Long Trail Harvest (4.4% brown ale) and many more, but you wouldn't know that by reading what people talk about around here.


On a related note.... I think there are other signs that American craft beer community is becoming more accepting of low ABV beer styles. I've been around these forums for a long time and I can a remember a time people would frequently state they simply would not drink a beer, irregardless of style, below an ABV percentage that varied between 5 to 8 percent depending on the person. The reasoning was always that there wasn't enough flavor, body, etc. and/or they simply preferred the buzz/intoxication. I don't think those sorts of topics/posts happen as often these days, and when they do it's mostly limited to individuals in these session IPA threads.

Also, people seem to argue much less these days about the definition of a session beer. Years ago there were some EPIC discussions/arguments over the definition of a session beer, which we don't see anymore (Oh, Ding, where art thou!? ). @marquis still has to set a few people straight from time to time, but not as often as he once did and he usually has people supporting him now.

These are good signs...

 

I think a lot of that has to do with the bigger craft breweries just trying to put a session ipa out because of the market demand.

 

I am not a fan of session ipas. If I want to drink something hoppy all day I can easily find a pale ale under 6% that'll do the trick.

 

I've really enjoyed the Sierra session but hoppy offerings like Nooner or Beer Camp (technically not IPAs). Drift is my favorite session IPA - juicy, sharp hops, but refreshing and utterly crushable. I've heard good things about Ballast Point and Port's offering. Go To by Stone was not that memorable. All Day by Founders is pretty solid. During the hot summer months, if you're out camping or boating, this style can be a great way to get your buzz on without bombing out.

 

No... next!

 

Its all about the taste. If you like it, it is good, as far as the citra sunshine slacker, I thought it was very good

 

No.

 

I am not going to be one of those people who says "pumpkin ales should die" or "great, another black ipa". To each their own. However, I am pretty much done with them myself. I will gladly take another 2% in ABV to fullfill my flavor balance needs. That is the long answer to this question. In short, I say not really. There isnt much more you can do without some sort of malt base.

 

Session IPAs for some, tiny american flags for others.

 

Left of the Dial by Notch has been the only session IPA that I've actually been able to session. And by that I mean drink more than one of. I think I had three once and two a few more times and only stopped because I don't like to drink more than 3 containers of beer in a day. All the others that I've tried never really left me wanting more.

 

This is the best post (with the exception of JessKidden's posts which are a class unto themselves ) that I have read on BA all year.

 

Since I don't drink "Lite" beers, sessions are my light beer. Left Hand introvert may be the best one I've tried yet.
Plus, I don't want to necessarily be buzzed after 1-2 beers ALL the time. Don't see the big deal...

 

I went through gallons of Citra Sunshine Slacker this summer... crushing cans in the warm weekend sunlight, doing yardwork and grilling. I would imagine that if you poured one in an expensive hand-blown IPA glass made of the finest virgin crystal or whatever, it wouldn't be a big deal... but... in a hundred degree heat trimming the hedges, an ice-cold can of that stuff is fantastic.
It's the only one I've had that does that for me, though. Most of them are just watery bitter-bomb yuck sauce.