session ipa?

I'm looking for opinions on the best session ipa... I want to be able to keep up with the light beer drinkers in deer camp next week but I also want to taste what I drink! The beer needs to be available in MI..... Thanks, can't wait to hear the opinions!

i don't think you really mean IPA.

IPA is a style of beer made with lots of alcohol and hops that was originally designed to help keep beer from spoiling on the long trip from England to India.

I suggest a hoppy pale ale for you.

Dogphish said:

i don't think you really mean IPA.

IPA is a style of beer made with lots of alcohol and hops that was originally designed to help keep beer from spoiling on the long trip from England to India.

I suggest a hoppy pale ale for you.

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Oy, +1. Session beers are lower gravity and pale with a good hop profile would do best for you

Agreed.... Perhaps ipa was the wrong terminology. Any suggestions on hop-ier pale ales? I had a favorite in Nashville but can't get it up north.

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale.

jake331 said:

I'm looking for opinions on the best session ipa... I want to be able to keep up with the light beer drinkers in deer camp next week but I also want to taste what I drink! The beer needs to be available in MI..... Thanks, can't wait to hear the opinions!

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Bell's Two Hearted Ale is awesome and brewed there in Michigan.

Seven said:

Bell's Two Hearted Ale is awesome and brewed there in Michigan.

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I have to agree with this, two hearted is my favorite offering from Bell's

Seven said:

Bell's Two Hearted Ale is awesome and brewed there in Michigan.

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Two hearted is great, but it's not a session beer. I think the OP is looking for something super hoppy but lower ABV.

My advice. You have to balance your bitterness with malt. I'd shoot for 4.5-5%, shoot for maybe 30-35ibu and hop burst the hell out of it.

Take your basic pale ale recipe, add a pinch of hops at 60mon, then add 1oz of hops at 15, 10, 5, and 0 minutes left in the boil. All those late hops will give you that big IPA hop character, but your bitterness will still be in line with your malt bill.

I am always happiest with an ale when I dry hop with 2 oz of whatever hops I have on hand. I feel that even a low bitterness, low alcohol session benefits immensely with dry hoppage...at least as my palate is concerned.
-Jefe-

Lagunitas IPA is quite flavorful and light on alcohol (for an IPA). I believe it's like 5.8%.

2 hearted is a damn good beer.

I believe its classified as an amber ale but stone levitation ale has a good hop profile with only 4.4% abv. Not sure if its available in michigan or not though.

dave5155 said:

I believe its classified as an amber ale but stone levitation ale has a good hop profile with only 4.4% abv. Not sure if its available in michigan or not though.

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+1 on this. also, Bitter American by 21st Amendment is right up that alley...

North Peak makes what it calls a session IPA called Wanderer. Brewed in Traverse City. I want to say low to mid 4's on abv. I didn't love it, but I'm not much of a hop head, either. It comes in stubby bottles...always a plus.

Sawtooth from Left Hand is a good, sessionable pale ale. I can get it in Lansing.

Trader IPA by Unitas in Utah is a good session IPA.

Utah has some f'ed up laws about the alcohol in beer, so Trader comes in at 4%, but with lots of hops.

Thanks for all the great suggestions and yes 2 hearted is a fantastic brew! However, on a recommendation from a coworker, who I had no idea was a beer nerd, I decided to try Founders Pale Ale. Perfect, great hoppy punch at about 5.2%.
I also should have mentioned i was looking for stubby bottles that I want to use for my vanilla porter that's about to go into secondary!

It's definitely a little higher on the ABV (6.something) but Dales Pale Ale is in cans, which makes for easy transport and easy to haul emptys away from camp.

Back on topic?

My first brew was from a Coopers kit.. The supplied LME was called their Lager but was brewed with their ale yeast. I also added the supplied sugars and the result was, while lower than I expected, 3.54 ABV.. not counting the priming tabs that were supplied. I understand that brings it up enough to put it at about 4.2%. My only addition was 1 oz Cascade dry hop for a week.

The beer that I have in capped glass bottles is very good for what it is.. while the brews in the 750ml bottles are still carbing... oh so slowly.. maybe best to take out of the fridg. Anyhow, the calculated IBU for this batch.. assuming the dry hopping doesn't add anything to that.. is 29.

This is truly a session with nice flavor and aroma. I'll definitely make it again.. but will modify it with some DME to bring up the ABV and add some more general goodness.. I'd like to keep it at about 5% ABV.

Ale La Reverend from Short's Brewery is what you are looking for. A 4% IPA which they call a Wedding Ale on the label. It's fantastic!! I've had it on tap at the brewery and in bottles from a local Meijer store and it's one of the best beers I've ever had.
Ale La Reverend

It might be hard to find in stores but it's worth looking for.

wolverinebrewer said:

Ale La Reverend from Short's Brewery is what you are looking for. A 4% IPA which they call a Wedding Ale on the label. It's fantastic!! I've had it on tap at the brewery and in bottles from a local Meijer store and it's one of the best beers I've ever had.
Ale La Reverend

It might be hard to find in stores but it's worth looking for.

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I will look for this one!

Not an IPA, but if you can find it, Stone's Levitation drinks really big and comes in at about 4.5% IIRC. First time I ever had one I would have guessed it was 6 or 7%.

Bob