Beer Style Guide: Get to Know Session IPA with Em Sauter

Session IPAs have been part of the craft beer world for almost a decade and they are incredibly popular. But how are they not just a pale ale? Time to explain.

To learn about the history of session IPA, you first need to learn about what “session” is. It’s a common phrase from English drinking culture in that you want beers to drink that wouldn’t bowl you over like barleywines. Read more about barleywine. Session beers are lower alcohol, meaning you can continue to drink throughout your session at the pub. This culture switch happened due to a number of factors—taxation, rationing of raw materials, etc. English beer culture still enjoy these session beers to this day and is a very large part of their drinking identity.

History of Session IPA

The modern session IPA arrived around 2010. Who first labeled their beer a session IPA? Breweries like Massachusetts based Notch Brewing were leaning into the session ale idealogy early. There were many beers that kinda fit what we think of when we think “session IPA” like Bitter American by 21st Amendment but the name Session IPA didn’t really show up until 2013 or so with beers like Founder’s All Day IPA.

What makes it a session IPA is loads of hops with under 5% ABV. But Em, isn’t that a pale ale? Not really but kind of haha. Session IPAs would tend to have more aggressive hopping and International Bitterness Units (IBU) than a typical pale ale. The Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) does not have a session IPA category but the Brewers Association (BA) who runs competitions like World Beer Cup do. The BA guidelines allows for up to 55 IBU for session IPA and 50 IBU for pale ale. But what did we learn about cold IPA? It’s all about marketing. IPAs sell and thus labeling something an IPA even though it’s essentially a pale ale is just good for business. Beer styles don’t have to make sense if people are looking for them.

Session IPAs are usually pale to light amber in color and are usually made with all pale malt and maybe some darker base malts for slight toasty aroma/flavor. American ale yeast is usually used. Since this is an IPA, the hops are the star of the show and session IPAs are great canvases for popular hops of the day like Citra, Strata and Galaxy. You’ll get flavors of whatever hops are used and that’s the most important part of the style.

Pairing Session IPA

Fish with vegetables — Fish by eatde from Pixabay

Session IPAs are lovely year-round fridge staples. I like them with lighter food items like herbal salads, veggie burgers or mild white fish. There’s nothing like a good session IPA on a hot day at the beach.

Beers to Try

Cigar City Jai Low

At 4%, Cigar City’s Jai Low is made with “moderation in mind” according to their website. It’s citrusy hoppiness is perfect for that humid Florida climate.

Dogfish Head Slightly Mighty

This beer is labeled a “low-cal” IPA which is a popular and new way to label the session IPA since many are around 100 calories due to the low ABV and light malt backbone. Dogfish Head knows their way around an IPA so this one is one to seek out and it’s only 95 calories per can!