Inherent Flaw In Session IPA's

Session IPAs are a difficult beer to brew, and few breweries have learned the secret. Hops always have an intense flavor, but they need to be balanced with malt, but when you add the malt to balance the hops, you've also added ABV. That goes counter to the 'session' concept, thus the quandary for the brewer. Finding the right malt that has flavor with minimal sugar is the trick, but few brewers have figured it out. Founders All-Day has been the only one that I've had, and I was quite satisfied with it doing what it's supposed to do.

 

My vote? Ectoplasmo.

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/9629/107464/

 

Boat boat boat boat boat boat beer (Jersey)

 

I don't know what dubbels you drink, but the ones I favor are 6% plus. If you can session those, yer a better man than I. I'm sleepy after one and a half.

 

Yeah, I imagine brewing this style without the hops literally smacking you in the face in the absence of a generous malt backbone would be quite difficult to produce.

 

And I forgot to add that since IPAs are typically light colored, the brewer is limited to light-colored malts, which effectively translates into light-flavored too.

 

https://beerforayear.wordpress.com/2011/11/02/85-inzane-brewing-caspa/

 

Many folks that I've met who are just getting introduced to craft beer often have made that introduction with IPAs, so session IPAs may very well resonate well there as well when looking for something that is more drinkable. I have yet to try one, so I really do not know. I have seen them discussed many times here and I know they have many fans in the BA crowd as well.

 

I think a lot of breweries could add some body building grain to their Session IPAs. I argue this quite often with other brewers. Throw in 5-10% flaked wheat or flaked barley.

I am in complete agreement with the OP. To me, session IPA are really just light pale ales that are heavily hopped. Mouthfeel shouldn't be 1/10, still needs to have the mouthfeel of beer. The term session need apply only to the concept of abv.

 

... and Quads are my Dubbels.

There is a big difference in the ABV of a typical session IPA compared to a typical pale ale. About 2 - 3%, which matters a lot of the course of a few beers.

 

I think that the US craft scene should move toward UK cask ales, such as bitters and milds rather than session IPAs.

Don't get me wrong, I love American IPAs on tap, but when it comes to session ale, the British do it better.

 

I dunno, maybe it's because I like a lot of different styles, but I've never really been attracted to session IPA's. I'd much rather drink a style that's already 'sessionable' on its own.

 

I've had quite a few and there has really only been one that I've thoroughly enjoyed: Muskoka Detour (Bracebridge, Ontario)

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/661/112687/?ba=bigox420

All of the same things that a good full-strength IPA has: Excellent body and a great balance of malt and hop flavours.

Lots of citrus and pine hoppiness that I've come to love (albeit not the same intensity) in a 4.3% ABV package. The ultimate hoppy summer beer IMHO.

 

My only experience with session IPAs is Easy Jack and I was quite impressed. It was pretty hoppy up front and very easy to drink. For what it is, its great, but when compared to IPAs it lacks a lot of characteristics. IPAs and IIPAs are far greater but if I want to have a few beers without a high ABV then I have no problem grabbing a six pack of Easy Jack.

 

I love the session IPA. Boat is not considered an IPA but it is my favorite

Even keel
Easy jack
Slow ride
Blue point mosaic..... Is this still made?
Pinner is pretty good
Day time

All day I think is horrible. Sure I missed a few others I tried but overall I like the low abv with the good hops.

Enjoy

 

Heh, yeah, I never said that marketing a dubbel as a "session" beer would make any sense at all (I would probably be getting pretty sleepy if I had multiple dubbels in a row, too -- definitely more in the "when I want to sit for a while and enjoy one really good beer" category for me.)

Was just a random thought based on your mention of how ridiculous it would be to see a "session quad" and how a "session IPA" is just a lighter, lower-ABV version of a regular IPA -- which sounds pretty much like the opposite of the difference between dubbels and quads.

Though I wouldn't go so far as to say they should ditch the session IPAs entirely (I liked the one I've tried so far, after all), moving more toward milds and bitters would be nice. I've been wanting to try some of the English ale styles, but it seems like they're borderline impossible to find, while you can find half a dozen different IPAs of various strengths in every grocery store (...heck, even most little gas station stores probably carry at least one IPA in their beer fridge now.)

I think I've seen a couple of bitters of various strengths show up in variety packs from some breweries, and I did really enjoy New Belgium's 2 Below Ale (classified as an ESB on here), but I've never seen any kind of English mild or bitter in six-pack format, or on tap at any restaurant I've been to... the only one I've seen being sold by itself at all is Foster's ale in the big green can (...and if not for this site's categories I wouldn't have known that's what kind of beer it was, since all the can says is "Premium Ale" which is about as vague as you can get.)

 

No.The name was borrowed from the UK where it's an industry standard.Practically all brewers and pubs have at least one session beer.It's simply easy drinking beer of 4% ABV maximum.

If you get palate fatigue then it wasn't really a session beer. The idea is that they are moreish leaving you to want another and another. Being low strength you can get away with it.

See my first reply. Session has to be 4% or under

All beers with PA as part of the name are by definition Pale Ales.Some are weak, some strong, some hoppy but Pale Ales nevertheless.

If you don't state quite what you mean by a term it becomes meaningless.Any beer over 4% dehydrates the drinker and unless you indulge in the idiocy of drinking water with your beer you can't drink it all day.

 

I guess the whole point of a session ipa is that the taste shouldn't be too pronounced. All those 'hopbombs' are just too much after a while.
Not an ipa but very bitter & hoppy, Taras Boulba has a low abv but I never drink/enjoy more than 2.
It seems my tastebuds get numb after a few (low or high abv).

 

'Session IPA' is nothing more than a marketing phrase invented by American Craft Brewers to re-brand the Pale Ale so that neophyte beer drinkers who don't know what the acronym 'IPA' stands for will buy more beer.