The Brew SiteThe next Session (#40): Session Beer
The topic for next month’s Session (#40!) is up, and being hosted by Top Fermented: Session Beer.
What is your definition of a session beer? Is it, as Dr. Lewis suggested at the Craft Brewers Conference this year, “a pint of British wallop” or is your idea of a session beer a crisp Eastern European lager, a light smoky porter, a dry witbier, or even a dry Flemish sour?
Is it merely enough for a beer to be low alcohol to be considered a session beer, or is there some other ineffable quality that a beer must hold in order to merit the term? And if so, what is that quality? Is it “drinkability”? Or something else?
What about the place of session beer in the craft beer industry? Does session beer risk being washed away in the deluge of extreme beers, special releases, and country-wide collaborations? Or is it the future of the industry, the inevitable palate-saving backlash against a shelf full of Imperial Imperials?
Be here Friday, June 4th for that one.
And, Mario has the roundup for this month’s Session posted over on Hop Press.
I think there is always going to be a place for session beers. Sometimes you want to have 3-4 or rather than getting thrown on your butt by just one.
A session beer, to me, is one that I don’t get too full on or tired of drinking after just 2 or 3. It’s a beer that’s typically lower in alcohol but as long as its body isn’t too heavy and it’s not over-carbonated, it’ll do just fine for a session, IMO.