"Session IPAs"

Technically India Pale Ales were actually lower gravity than regular ales with ~5% ABV being fairly common, so purely from a historic perspective, a 5% IPA is perfectly within reason.

 

Those beers were also brewed with english ale yeast and noble hops, a far cry from the beers being discussed.

If somebody can tell me the stylistic difference between an American Pale Ale like Drakes 1500 and a "session IPA" I'll contact the BJCP and have them create a new style category.

 

Actually "Black IPA" is a really stupid name for an "American Black Ale."

 

Who the fuck cares?

I'll be honest, I'm saying this after reading only the OP and just a bit of kzoos' reply. I'm sure someone above has already captured my thoughts in amore eloquent manner but the question just needs to be asked. When a brewer calls a beer a 'session IPA' you know exactly what you're going to get... hoppy but lower in abv than the typical IPA. Nuff said. No need to create a new category for it.

 

There is always overlapping with styles. The BJCP lists American IPAs going as low as 5.5%. The Alchemist had an IPA (Holy Cow) at 5.16% ABV that was unmistakeably hopped like an IPA. If I had that beer blind I would have thought it was a really hoppy IPA. American Pale Ales can be as low as 4.5% according to the BJCP. How is it really that 'wrong' to call a high-IBU, american c-hop beer a 'session IPA' when it's practically in the pale ale range (just barely below the IPA range, modern and historical) and certainly is as hoppy as modern American IPAs are? The only issue here would be the loose use of the term sessionable. Otherwise you really are splitting hairs with how low (ABV) you can go with an american IPA.

 

Session IPA = Pale Ale. Or hoppy blonde ale.

I agree that a session IPA (<5% ABV) is a oxymoron.

 

so just to be clear--there's no exception for tanks?

 

Personally I dont give a rats ass what a brewery calls a beer, if I taste it and think it doesn't fit the style but I still like it, I will probably continue drinking it. As long as I can identify the beer again in the store I'm fine with it, otherwise I'd be fine with every brewery just writing "BEER" on every label and throwing it on the shelf.

 

English Bitter is session IPA.

 

Come to the UK and there will be a lot of session beers labelled IPA.To add insult to injury these are often low to medium hopped bitters.It's often said that these are incorrectly named but in fact they are well established and go back a century or so to the time when nobody cared too much , styles hadn't been invented and bitter, pale ale and IPA meant more or less the same thing.These beers are as close to the ones which went to India as are the present US interpretations of IPA, simply in the opposite direction! After all, the original IPAs were never strong (under 7%) , highly attenuated , well aged and usually with Brett.
Examples are Greene King IPA and Deuchar's IPA (which the Bros rate as world class) ,two of the top selling cask beers.

 

Funny you left out 21st Amendment Bitter American, it fits your criteria perfectly. I'd have to disagree with Daytime though, it definitely has a pils malt character as part of the grain bill.

 

They have these new low abv imperial stouts coming out soon.

 

In total agreement with you there, it's just a new name for a Pale Ale.

 

With Brett...unintentionally, right?

 

Fiddle dee dee.

I'm guessing many casual beer drinkers in these United States would be likely to recognize "IPA" as a style descriptor but "bitter" as merely a flavor descriptor.

 

For the American audience and for what the brewer is aiming for. It is what it is. A session(able) IPA. You can call it an American Bitter, which I agree with, but. We call football soccer and we can't even get our gallons right with the rest of the world. So, whatever.

 

We just reviewed All Day on Friday, and it honestly taste like a Pale Ale to me. It certainly didn't scream IPA that's for sure. I really don't care what they call it, but if All Day is an IPA, and Zombie Dust is a Pale Ale....something just doesn't seem right.

 

I think that in general most Brett was unintentional, it just happened and probably appeared to be part of the maturation process and IPA was no exception.It was quite common for everyday beers to be kept in oak for months or a year before being sent out for drinking.Brett was found in Bass as late as 1930.

 

Tomato, tomahto--who cares? It's all good. Whether you choose to call it either one, it's really up to your preference and taste. If Three Floyd's wants to ZD a pale ale, let them, If Founders wants to call All Day and IPA, let them. I was happy to have something after a little yardwork that doesn't wear you out. . The people will decide with their wallets. Can't we all get along?