Session IPA vs. Hoppy Pale Ale

[ikaris]

Aren't these two styles essentially the same? Both come in around 5% abv. Both are malted with 2 row and crystal malt. Both have similar ibu hop characteristics and both are similarly dry hopped. What's everyone's take?

Btw, I am currently enjoying a delicious Kern River BC Gravity Check which is what prompted this post...

 

[hopstupid]

Yes, just a play on names. You could say the same thing for iPas and pale ales. Just look at zombie dust and blind pig.

 

[KeyWestBrewing]

Its a marketing gimmick taking advantage of the fact consumers will buy more Session IPAs than Pale Ales because they're drinking an "IPA." Thats why Im playing their dumb little game my way and brewing an imperial session IPA lol.

 

[OleBrewing]

well from commercial samples i have had with session ipas they are different than pale ales as they seem a little overwhelming with the hops compared to the malt bill. pale ales generally stay toward a more rounded profile.

but i have only had a couple different takes on session ipas, my impression is why waste the hops.

 

[OleBrewing]

Its a marketing gimmick taking advantage of the fact consumers will buy more Session IPAs than Pale Ales because they're drinking an "IPA." Thats why Im playing their dumb little game my way and brewing an imperial session IPA lol.

agree, just like when "lite" beer was introduced, heavy marketing convinced the population beer made with heavily used adjuncts was the way to go. hence saving the brewery pile of dough of not using barley malt.

i say this as i am drinking a PBR by the way.

 

[KeyWestBrewing]

agree, just like when "lite" beer was introduced, heavy marketing convinced the population beer made with heavily used adjuncts was the way to go. hence saving the brewery pile of dough of not using barley malt.

i say this as i am drinking a PBR by the way.

Outside of the marketing aspect what really bothers me is its taking away interpretation of another existing style. I like when styles have a little room to let brewers create some diversity. Calling hoppy APAs "Session IPAs" just makes the APA style more narrow.
To sort of give a more drastic example of what happens... look up some of the posts people make about entering Cali Commons into comp. You see a lot of complaints where people got dinged for not trying to be an Anchor Steam clone because theres no wiggle room.

 

[benco]

Yeah I always thought zombie was a IPA, but it's not. The difference that I always noted is pales are not dry hopped.

 

[dryboroughbrewing]

I think it depends ...I mean a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale is a *very* different beer from something like a Founder's All Day IPA. So *if* you care about styles I think they probably should be considered as different beer styles.

 

[OleBrewing]

Outside of the marketing aspect what really bothers me is its taking away interpretation of another existing style. I like when styles have a little room to let brewers create some diversity. Calling hoppy APAs "Session IPAs" just makes the APA style more narrow.
To sort of give a more drastic example of what happens... look up some of the posts people make about entering Cali Commons into comp. You see a lot of complaints where people got dinged for not trying to be an Anchor Steam clone because theres no wiggle room.

i don't get into competitions or keep up with the guidelines, but with more and more breweries they have to come up with marketing campaigns to sell their product. I would also agree with your comment about narrowing styles, but as i said i don't keep up with the guidelines. I hope that the bjcp isn't going to bow down to fad styles even though I acknowledge they have to keep up with the times and/or input from brewers.

 

[GPP33]

I'd bet most beer drinkers can't tell you the difference (or similarities) between an IPA and a pale ale. Selling it as a "session IPA" makes it clear that you have a beer they like but with lower ABV. You sell it for the same price but they drink twice as much. That's a whole lot easier than trying to convince them to try a different style.

And I second the comment about pale ales being balanced and session IPAs being out of whack. I love me some hoppy beer but it needs to be balanced.

 

[bobeer]

Traditionally speaking a pale ale is usually maltier and not as dry as a session IPA or even a regular IPA. I wouldn't mash a pale ale at 148 F but I wouldn't think twice about it for an IPA. Between a session IPA and a Pale ale I'd have to say I'd expect the pale ale to have a higher abv (5-6%), and have more body. Now that's not to say that an IPA couldn't have these things too but an IPA should have more of an emphasis on hops rather than malt character.

These days though I do agree the line in the sand is getting more and more covered between styles but that's just because hybrid beers are more and more popular.

 

[KeyWestBrewing]

So I guess were calling hoppy blonde ales "Session APAs" now too

 

[Weezy]

I expect an APA to be more malty and no dry hops, traditionally.

I expect a session IPA to be very dry and reserved maltiness with boiled, hopstand and dry hops.

People aren't really sticking to traditions when brewing any style anymore so it's a krapshoot anymore. Baltic Peters traditionally aren't roasty but most are anymore. scotch ales don't use smoked malt traditionally, but people keep putting some in there. Etc etc

My $0.02 anyway

 

[kristiismean]

as long as what is said on the can/bottle/bomber matches somewhat to what i expect the beer to contain, then i am fine with it.

if i open a can marked "IPA" and it's a heavily hopped blonde Belgium, then I would be livid.

But there can be a fine line between pale Ale's and IPA. Doing my first Borderline pale ale, or ipa, and dont care. it's 6%, 50 IBU, dry hopped with 7.5 oz of hops. used 5 oz in the boil. I want a very very very very very hop forward Pale Ale...... so i did it.

 

[mattdee1]

as long as what is said on the can/bottle/bomber matches somewhat to what i expect the beer to contain, then i am fine with it.

Me too, but the game of expectations does not have universally accepted rules.

This brings to mind something I remember from the summer. I was on my way home from a vacation, passing through a town and decided, as I tend to do, to stop at a local brewery to grab a flight and possibly some bottles from the shop. They had a beer on tap and in bottles that they were calling, simply, "India Pale Ale." I sampled that beer and it had a strong malt component with an assertive bitterness--clearly inspired more by the English take on that style than the more common one-dimensional hop juice that is all the rage in North America. I didn't think twice about the name of the beer vs. what it tasted like; I really liked it and bought a few samples to take home. But I remember this loud-mouthed old rich guy rolling up in a Corvette and asking to sample this same beer; now, this guy clearly fancied himself very "with it" for having a taste for hop bomb beer that all the cool kids drink, as he expressed utter disbelief to the server that the brewery would dare call this crap India Pale Ale. He didn't even finish his 5-oz sample and walked out.

 

[Steveruch]

Aren't these two styles essentially the same? Both come in around 5% abv. Both are malted with 2 row and crystal malt. Both have similar ibu hop characteristics and both are similarly dry hopped. What's everyone's take?

I think they're close enough that only a small recipe adjustment would be needed to convert one to the other.

 

[Tknishi]

My favorite session IPAs are Stone Go To and Golden Road Wolf Pup, and for hoppy pale ales it would be Lagunitas 12th of Never.

to me, they are the same kind of beer

 

[bobeer]

I want to like session IPA's but I just can't bring myself to spend the same money on half the abv when it comes to commercial offerings.
Brewing a session IPA myself is one thing because I get a little bit of the savings from using less grain but the time spent is still the same. I guess the main difference really is, when it comes to brewing, is the time spent. The juice just aint worth the squeeze but I can see how a session beer could fit a certain circumstance.

 

[inhousebrew]

It's all about personal perception unless of course we're talking about BJCP guidelines.

So... in my personal opinion a session IPA has less body, preferably little to no crystal malts, has more hop aroma and flavor meaning more back end hops, and comes in between 4-4.5% ABV. APAs are more balanced with body and hops while session IPAs are light and overtly hoppy but not bitter.

I have a recipe I like to make that is basically all 2-row, with some white wheat and a tiny bit of honey malt that is lightly hoped up front at 60 minutes and then loaded in the back at 15, and 5 with a hopstand before chilling and dryhops. I've played with no 60 minute addition with success as well. It's good and I can drink it all day

 

[pdxal]

IMO no such thing as a session IPA. Just a pale ale. Perhaps hoppier than guidelines, but a pale ale. Some might call these XPAs too.
Marketing.

 

[martiniw2olives]

agree, just like when "lite" beer was introduced, heavy marketing convinced the population beer made with heavily used adjuncts was the way to go. hence saving the brewery pile of dough of not using barley malt.

i say this as i am drinking a PBR by the way.

I like PBR

 

[Homercidal]

Pale ales, IPA included are all over the place these days. Everyone seems to have their own idea about what is what. The 2008 guidelines had them overlapping in several characteristics.

Add in the fact that Lupulin shift has caused many to believe a beer has to be VERY bitter or Hoppy to be an IPA and it kind of muddles things further.

Dry hoping is certainly possible in a Pale Ale. Many people do it.

I think what makes a session IPA not necessarily a Pale Ale is the dryness, and the amount of late hops/dry hops when compared to the average Pale. Of course, people can brew whatever they want and call it what they want, and there is going to be some overlapping between all styles, but a Session IPA will be thinner and dryer, and have less alcohol than the regular IPA. Probalby in the lower end of the Pale Ale category.