Session IPA

What's the deal with the whole session thing? Well the obvious answer is to drink more of the same beer without having to worry about getting too drunk. But, what makes them so great? You'll probably start seeing a lot of commercial, micro and nano breweries putting out these session styles in the summertime, in light of easing more consumers into the craft beer world. Well, you don't have to tell me twice to try a new beer, but if half the alcohol means half the flavor then "No, thank you." Which brings me to American session beers that have a lot of flavor. Like, I don't know... an IPA perhaps... That's right, Session IPA. What is it? What goes into it? Hop flavors? Aromas? What does one expect out of a beer when they order a Session IPA at the bar? We'll get to that in second. But first, the reason why I like Southern California's take on an IPA is because it defies the "rules" of building recipes... Other parts of the country, and even world, boost their ingredients at similar rates. I'm talking about hops and malt characters. Outside of California, it's pretty easy to find these IPAs relatively balanced between bitterness and sweetness of the malt. Even further, its very common to sip on an Imperial IPA on the East Coast that can easily be confused with an American Barleywine. I guess that's why I like Socal beers so much, the hops are always showcased in the beer despite the style. Going back to IPAs, us Californians tend to back off on the malt complexity a bit when designing beers and trek on to find the best hops to feature in our beer. Well if you ask me, it's a perfect time to brew the IPA. Oh and for those who are completely lost at this point, IPA stands for India Pale Ale. If you want to know where the name comes from you're going to have to read "IPA: Brewing Techniques, Recipes and the Evolution of the India Pale Ale." I mention that book because it's a little more accurate to what was actually happening at the time.

Anyway, let's answer that question on what to expect from a Session IPA. Now, I understand everyone is partial to what they feel is their preferred beer but putting that all aside, I think we can agree on a few things... The first element would be the malt, or lack of. The beer should be clean and refreshing with minimal caramel malt character to keep the beer honest but not obtrusive. Next the alcohol needs to be kept relatively within session guidelines. I don't like saying guidelines because it hinders creativity but leave that for the main event. To put a range on ABV, I would suggest flirting in the 4.5-5.5% range, with a slight deviation. The beer should be clean, meaning the yeast should be thorough and well attenuated without any ester profile. Color can range but in order to keep from confusing the consumer, the beer, in my opinion should be relatively light. Ok, so we have light body, low ABV, clean yeast strain, light color, what are we missing?

HOPS! Ah, yes the bride herself. Well this is the one ingredient that you should feel you can be the most creative with. Of course, that means you can also do what ever the hell you want... Or sort of... Don't go tossing the whole vine in but keep it relative to what flavor and aroma profile you are trying to achieve. And let's not forget about the bitterness either, were still talking about an IPA here... Going back to the topic of hops and malt, keep in mind that its almost exponential in regard to adding hops to a low density wort. A little bit goes THAT much further now. Keep the bitterness level honest but don't push the 100+ IBU in a 4% beer... You're going to get much more than you bargained for and it's not going to be the next big thing. I would suggest sitting somewhere in the 40-65 IBU range. Ok, that's great but the biggest question of all needs be addressed, what type of hops? Ok, you're on your own for this one. Really, though. There are so many hop varieties that would work great in a session IPA, I personally like the citrusy/tropical hops in my lighter, drier beers. I went to Steinfillers, in Long Beach and asked them to order Mosaic, a somewhat newer hop variety. From the Northern Brewer website, "A new dual-purpose hop, bred from Simcoe. Mosaic is so named because it gives a range of aromas and flavors which are complimentary to other common hop aromas. Everything from citrus, pine, earth, herbal, mint, bubblegum, blueberry, lime peel, black pepper - the character seems to change depending upon the conditions it is in." Now, I don't know about all the bubblegum and what not, but this was a perfect hop for what I was going for. So enough is enough, here is my recipe I brewed a few weeks back.

obSESSION IPA 4.7% (6 gallons)

7g Gypsum
6# Pale Malt
2# German Pilsner
.5 # Crystal 60L
.5 # Dextrose

1 oz Mosaic @ 60 min
1 oz Mosaic @ 10 min
2 oz Mosaic @ 0 min
2 oz Mosaic Dry Hop 10 Days

WLP001 White Labs California Ale

Tasting notes to come...