Session IPAs or Sensational IPAs?
I think my first Session IPA was a Lagunitas DayTime. This changed... Everything.
Some beer reviewers find them lacking. EasyJack by FireStone Walker, easily my favorite at the moment, wasn't really liked by some rating sites as lacking malt and aftertaste. To each his or her own. But for me, without getting your ass kicked by ABVs, the definition of a good west-coast IPA is this: Citrus aroma and flavor, light enough to sip a long time--or chug if you want (who wants to play beer games with Miller Lite anymore?), hop-forward, and just plain refreshing.
Hey that's me. I like what I like. And I'll keep trying new brews to find something else I'll like.
That said, a big point of the "debate" here is the branding of "Session" beers. To me its the new "Tastes Great, Less Filling", just without a good tagline. I don't know who came up with the term "Session", but I do know that it has caught on.
Prost!
Before that, I had been a big DogFishHead 60 Minute fan. DayTime brought me lots of flavor in a format that I could enjoy more of, and not regret it as much in the morning.
Some beer reviewers find them lacking. EasyJack by FireStone Walker, easily my favorite at the moment, wasn't really liked by some rating sites as lacking malt and aftertaste. To each his or her own. But for me, without getting your ass kicked by ABVs, the definition of a good west-coast IPA is this: Citrus aroma and flavor, light enough to sip a long time--or chug if you want (who wants to play beer games with Miller Lite anymore?), hop-forward, and just plain refreshing.
Hey that's me. I like what I like. And I'll keep trying new brews to find something else I'll like.
That said, a big point of the "debate" here is the branding of "Session" beers. To me its the new "Tastes Great, Less Filling", just without a good tagline. I don't know who came up with the term "Session", but I do know that it has caught on.
A successful session-able beer should do the following:
- 1. Respect the style. Don't call it an IPA (or a Lager) if it doesn't walk and talk like one.
- 2. 4- 5% ABV. Sure, there's debate on this one. Let's just all agree that anything less than 4% is not really a beer, and anything more than ~5% is just an IPA (or Lager or whatever).
- 3. That's it.
Prost!
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