Session IPAs are India Pale Ale's with lower alcohol content and a more hoppy profile. So do you love sunshine? Do you like drinking beer? And do you sometimes like to combine the two? Then get yourself some tasty session beers! A session goes great with warm weather and sunshine. Check out some IPAs that go great with a Session IPA!
Significance of the Session IPA
What do we want? Session beer! When do we want it? Den ganzen tag!
A young presence on the international beer stage. The term session beer tends to be confusing. According to BeerAdvocate, the definition of a session beer is "a beer of less than 5.0% ABV with a nice balance of malt and hops that exhibits a clean finish and high drinkability." Looking at Untappd's Top Rated Beers, the term session only applies to IPA: IPA - Session/India Session Ale.
Session IPA vs.
RateBeer also classifies Sessions among IPAs, telling us that "this class of beers emerged from the Craft Beer tradition around 2010 as a response to the trend of increasingly stronger beers and a greater public appreciation for hoppy beers. They differ from American Pale Ale in that they typically have a lower alcohol content and a more hoppy profile."
What types of Session IPA beers are there?
From these sources alone, we can deduce that Session applies only to hop-dominant (but balanced) beer styles, with an ABV below 5%. But, - there is always a but - if we look deeper on these sites by actually searching for Session beers, we come across very different varieties:
Session Porter
Belgian Session
Session Brett
Session Wheat
Session Amber
Session Lager
And one of our favorites:
Session Saison (now say that five times in a row). Let's see if history can tell us a little more about where the term Session beer came from.
What is a Session or what are Sessions?
Like anything to do with beer, history is a bit fuzzy. Most of the stories we found after the most lax attempt to google "history of session beer" all tell us the same thing (NB: if it's about beer, it usually means it's not true, e.g. the history of IPAs). The bottom line is that "session" comes from British law at the time of World War I, when pub hours and food were rationed. As a Brit you only had a certain period of time (a session) to drink your ale and eat your daily snack.
Other stories talk about an old-fashioned British tradition of drinking large amounts of beer in a pub, and beers with less alcohol allowed pub goers to stay longer in their regular pub and spend more.
Significance of the Session IPA
Closer to our current time, session could be a reaction to trends in the craft beer industry. Looking at the top-rated beers on the aforementioned websites, these lists in the early '10s were completely dominated by strong and hearty beers. Russian Imperial Stouts and Double IPAs were here in abundance. However, these beers were not meant to be drunk in the same copious quantities as our Western neighbors did a hundred years ago. The market responded by demanding beers with a similar flavor profile, but lighter in body and ABV. Brewers began brewing different beer styles with these characteristics, the challenge being to maintain quality and balance, hence the presence of different styles and types of beer in beer lovers' lists with the prefix or suffix "session."
Wherever the term session might have come from, when it comes to Session beer, we know what we like. At Uiltje we pride ourselves on making the best hop-forward beers on the Dutch market, and our session beers reflect that commitment. A lower ABV, but with no lack of body, flavor and aromas.
Session IPA from Uiltje Brewing Company
The big question, of course, is; does Uiltje Brewing Company brew sessions? The answer, of course, is YES! We certainly do. And not your average session. It's called: FF Lekker Met Je Bek In Het Zonnetje. That's our Sessionable Pale Ale that's pretty much always in stock. It's a bit of a "summer beer," so we brew it more often in the warm months, but during a winter session it definitely does well, too! Want to buy Session IPAs? Then head over to our web shop soon!
What do we want? Session beer!
When do we want it? All day long!
Order the tastiest session IPA online at Uiltje
As trendsetters in hop culture, we brew drinkable, crisp session IPAs, without compromising on the flavor or body of the beer. A session IPA is a perfect beer for sunny days, but if you want to drink them in other weather conditions, of course that's okay too. Either way, we make sure your beer is delivered super fast and sizzling fresh. That's when session IPAs are at their best. Drink them fresh and stay fresh!
Shop FF Lekker Met Je Bek In Het Zonnetje, the session IPA from Uiltje
Our most popular and almost always available session IPA is FF Lekker Met Je bek In Het Zonnetje. This sessionable pale ale, as the name suggests, tastes best when you're out in the sun. It is a typical summer beer that also comes into its own on colder days and even in winter. As long as there is a bit of sunshine to be seen. With an alcohol content of only 3.6%, it is in any case a perfect beer for longer drinking sessions. Order FF Lekker Met Je Bek In Het Zonnetje here.
Looking for more than session IPAs?
Are you looking for other beers besides session IPAs? Then click through our online beer shop. For example, try our other low-alcohol beers or taste our summery weizen beers. Or discover our hoppy IPAs and pale ales. Of course you can also find them all in our beer packages.
Why order session IPAs online from Uiltje Brewing?
We've already hammered on this page a few times that you should drink session IPAs as fresh as possible (you can read more about the benefits of fresh beer here. When you order your session IPAs online at Uiltje, your beer goes straight from our brewery into your fridge, without unnecessary stops in stores or warehouses. So you always get really fresh session IPAs. Another advantage of shopping online is that you can browse the different beers and styles without feeling the eyes of an impatient store assistant poking into your back.