A session IPA is exactly what it sounds like: an IPA that you can have more than one of during a “session.” This style of IPA is brewed to have hop and malt flavor while keeping ABV low, usually in the 3.5% to 5% ABV range.
If you like visiting breweries but don’t want to commit to a 7% West Coast IPA, then a session IPA is perfect for you.
What ABV Is a Session IPA?
As with many American beer styles, there are no specific rules determining what is or isn’t a session IPA. However, most brewers follow similar guidelines, so most session IPAs will be right around 4-4.5% ABV. This is quite a bit lower than a traditional American IPA that’s in the 6-7% range, and a lot less than DIPAs with an 8-10%% ABV.
This low ABV ceiling is what makes the session IPA so great, but also difficult to brew.
Session IPA vs. Regular IPA: What’s the Difference?
The main difference between a session IPA and a regular IPA is the alcohol content. But there are other differences between the two styles.
IPAs get a lot of flavor, body, and mouthfeel from the malt, which also provides the sugars needed to kickstart fermentation and produce alcohol. Because a session IPA has reduced alcohol, it also has a naturally reduced malt structure. When done poorly, a session IPA would taste thin and watery with too much harsh hop flavor.
To avoid this, brewers use higher temperatures to leave more unfermentable sugars and add adjunct ingredients, like wheat or oats, to add fullness. Brewers also rely more heavily on dry hopping to make sure hop flavor doesn’t overwhelm the beer early in the boil. The end result is a sessionable IPA with more flavor without more alcohol.
Session IPA vs. Pale Ale: Aren’t They the Same Thing?
If you’re thinking that a session IPA and pale ale sound pretty similar, you’re not alone; after all, both have a similar ABV range and are more approachable than an IPA. The difference between the two is in the approach.
- A pale ale is a distinct style that’s built for a perfect balance between hops, malt, and alcohol.
- A session IPA is trying to emulate an IPA without the added ABV, so it has a stronger hop profile than a pale ale.
What’s more is that some brewers make session pale ales, which are 3-4% ABV riffs on your traditional pale ale. So, if something is sessionable, it basically means that it’s an alcohol-reduced version of a traditional style.
What Does a Session IPA Taste Like?
The goal of a session IPA is to emulate an IPA, but without the high ABV. You should get a strong hop character from a session IPA, which usually means flavors like citrus and pine with floral notes. Citra and Mosaic are two popular hops for the style since they bring a lot of flavor and aroma without a ton of bitterness.
Flavors you shouldn’t get in a well-made session IPA are those heavy, resinous, bitter flavors that linger in strong IPAs. You should get something light, clean, and easy to drink more than one of.
Where Did Session IPA Come From?
The idea of a “session” beer is pretty old, with a lot of origin stories tracing the style back to 20th-century wartime England. Because of wars, pub hours were restricted to two daily drinking windows called sessions. During these sessions, lower ABV beers were a popular choice, since people would theoretically come to drink during both sessions.
The session IPA is much newer, and it’s not even officially recognized as a style. We do know that the session IPA style first started popping up in the early 2010s, with the Founders All Day IPA (one of my favorite low calorie beers) popularizing the style in the US.
Best Session IPAs to Try
If you want to try a session IPA, I recommend checking a local brewery first, or trying one of these options that are available around most of the United States:
- Founders All Day IPA: The “original” session IPA that’s still great to drink today.
- Firestone Walker Flyjack Hazy IPA: Great hazy IPA flavor with just 4% ABV.
- Lagunitas DayTime IPA: Another 4% ABV option with good IPA flavor.
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