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.