With new beers released, older beers coming back into popularity, and a whole lot of national media coverage about session beers in general, it’s quite clear that all eyes are on this subcategory of India Pale Ale.
Tom Hennessy of Colorado Boy Pub & Brewery in Ridgway, Colorado, was brewing session IPA long before it got trendy. “I’m not brewing huge beers,” he told me in 2012. In fact, he said, “I’m going the opposite way from a lot of breweries in Colorado. Usually most of my beers are session beers in the 5 percent ABV range.”
Just two years later, session beers are seemingly everywhere. IPA is still the top-selling beer style in the United States—it’s just getting lighter in color and lower in ABV.
"I love the idea of Session IPA,” says Jeff Erway, the president at La Cumbre Brewing Co. in Albuquerque, New Mexico. “There’s always going to be a place for that barred-aged, 15 percent ABV stout that’s aged on cocoa nibs and chili peppers, but that’s not the sustainable move for our industry. . . . Brewers brewing session beers are at least taking a stab at encouraging responsible drinking.”
Mike Sardina, the assistant executive officer at Societe Brewing, weighed in on session IPA as well. “To me the session IPAs are some of the most interesting beers I’ve been drinking lately,” he says, citing Lagunitas Brewing Company’s Day Time Ale and Stone Brewing’s Go To IPA as examples.
Here’s a non-exhaustive list of Session IPAs to try. What session IPAs have you been drinking this summer?
Alpha Session IPA
Drake’s Brewing (San Leandro, California)
3.8% ABV 50 IBUs
Nooner IPA
Sierra Nevada (Chico, California)
4.8% ABV 40 IBUs
Easy Jack Summer Session IPA
Firestone Walker (Paso Robles, California)
4.5% ABV 45-50 IBUs
Rudie Session IPA
Ska Brewing (Durango, Colorado)
4.5% ABV 52 IBUs
Go To IPA
Stone Brewing (Escondido, California)
4.5% ABV 65 IBUs
All Day IPA
Founders Brewing Co. (Grand Rapids, Michigan)
4.7 % ABV 42 IBUs
Trader Session IPA
Uinta Brewing (Salt Lake City, Utah)
4% ABV 42 IBUs
Day Time
Lagunitas Brewing Company (Petaluma, California, and Chicago, Illinois)
4.65% ABV 54 IBUs
Bitter American Session Ale
21st Amendment Brewery (San Francisco, California)
4.4% ABV 42 IBUs