![]() ![]() The bitterness was too harsh, the grain flavors disappeared, and it was drinkable but really, really boring. I thought, "OK, let's keep the grist nice and clean," and I used mostly American two-row and some Cara-Pils and Victory. RECIPEĪ first pass at this recipe was a disaster for me. The hopping is the easy part, but if you try to go too simple with your grains you'll end up with a weak, naked-feeling flavor profile that's more like heavily-hopped pale malt liquor than session-strength IPA. The target is surprisingly clear for something that isn't even fully described as a style, but hitting it requires us to get creative with our grist. So, take an American Pale Ale, lower its ABV to about four percent, make it more bitter and hops-focused, and you have a Session IPA. To quote the one and only mention of Session IPA in the 2015 BJCP Guidelines (from the American Pale Ale entry): "More balanced and drinkable, and less intensely hop-focused and bitter than session-strength American IPAs (aka Session IPAs)." We can, though, make a number of useful assumptions based on what the guidelines tell us about session-strength beers in general (which identifies our ABV range), and specifically what Session IPA is in relation to American Pale Ale. Let's crank up the AC and get to work, shall we? STYLEĪs I mentioned earlier, there aren't guidelines for Session IPA, per se. Otherwise, you're really just brewing an American Pale Ale. ![]() This isn't just a question of reducing the gravity (although that's one way to go, and we will be): it's a question of generating a lot of flavor from hops and finding light ways to balance those flavors. Brewing a keg of this to have on hand throughout the summer will be a good investment of your brewing time, and they're actually a bit more complicated to make than we might assume! ![]() Light in body, bright in flavor, and surprisingly approachable (for something with "IPA" in its name), it's a darned-near ideal warm weather, happy-hour-through-dinner easy-drinking beer. For something that isn't even a recognized BJCP style, Session IPA really does get around! This time of year, I'm always looking for good beers to take to the beach, and I don't know that anything fits the bill better than a good Session IPA. ![]()
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