Favorite session beers?

80 Acre / Gumballhead / Little Sumpin Sumpin (the last being a bit more dangerous, but easier to obtain)
Fuller's ESB
Hopsession Super Pale Ale

Basically wheat pale ales are my go to session. Something about them is just too damn refreshing

 

Go To doesn't have Nelson.

 

Marquis, is this pretty widely available in England? May be traveling there later this year and would love to know which true session ales to look out for.

 

For me its gotta be Mirror Pond. Could drink it all day

 

Easy Jack & Lil' Heaven...

 

@breadwinner I've never seen Belvoir up here, but Marquis lives in an area much better for traditional cask ales, I think he lives near
Nottingham if I'm not mistaken

There area lot of very local breweries in England especially, and I think that the traditional beer is better in the north, so it really depends on where you go.

I know the UK looks tiny to an american visiting, but the differences between regions can be huge in the uk, moreso even than you may find even across the US

 

Deschutes River Ale. Refreshing and flavorful at 4% ABV.

 

There's a few, but this one is really, really good.

 

Cigar City Happening Now Session Ale

 

Wells' Bombardier Bitter or Fuller's London Pride.

 

There are tons everywhere around the country. I think it's easier to find out where the good real ale pubs are and do some sampling.

 

Two Brothers SideKick XPA

Every "Session" IPA that I've had has tasted like hop water.

 

Three Floyds YumYum is one of my new favorites.

 

Sierra Nevada Nooner Session IPA. Great tasting beer with a hop profile thats not unappealing. I've tried some session IPA's that have an off-putting bitterness about them to me, notably Founder's All Day IPA.

 

I would love to see it available in a six-pack format, rather than just in their IPA variety pack which I'm assuming will only be available in the summer. With the exception of Torpedo (which is already available in six-packs), I think it was the one that stood out from the rest. The Snow Wit and Blindfold Black IPA weren't solid enough offerings in my opinion to go into full production.

 

It's a small local brewery so of course not widely available. But all over the country there are over 1000 breweries, practically all brew at least one session bitter and a lot brew a mild as well.

Yes, I live just outside Nottingham on the edge of the Vale of Belvoir (pronounced Beaver) and my avatar is Belvoir Castle which looks out over the Vale.
The CAMRA publication is the Good Beer Guide http://camra.org.uk/gbgresources/ but there are a few caveats.
One is that the details were submitted last March and things can change by the time the book is used. Also the local branches go round all their pubs and recommend those serving good beer.A branch like ours with so many cracking good pubs is forced to leave out many which really ought to be included , other branches may be struggling to find enough good ones to fill their allocation. So it is just a guide not a bible.
There is a website www.whatpub.com which lists most (36 000) real ale pubs and the beers served (these can of course change from week to week) but with no information as to beer quality.

Back to topic, a true session beer is a) not over 4% ABV and b) the sort of stuff you would be happy to drink pint after pint of without getting tired of it. A good one seems to get better the more you drink of it.

 

Yes, even Sierra Nevada Pale Ale is far too strong to drink many of. In this country, to drink four of them would be considered dangerous drinking, that amount of alcohol consumption would be considered binge drinking.

 

Sorry Marquis, but Augustiner Helles does it for me. Bayerischer Anstich, I can drink it forever.

 

No need to apologise for such a taste. What happened to Tetley's Mild though?

 

Boat would be my choice- excellent. It goes for about $12 a four pack of 16 oz cans (my favorite beer delivery system by the way).