All About Session Beer: 6 Types of Session Beer

A session beer is a beer with a low alcohol content measured by ABV (alcohol by volume), usually 4.5 percent or lower. There is a tendency to associate the label “session beer” with light-colored, crisp-flavored beer styles, such as pilsners, lagers, and pale ales. However, dark beers like dry porters or stouts can be session beers with low alcohol content.

A session beer refers principally to the alcohol content, so session beers span several beer varieties. Increasingly, American craft beer labels and home brewers experiment with making session versions of styles of beer that are ordinarily heavier and boozier. Popular session beers include:

1. 1. Session IPA: Perhaps the most widely known session beer, session IPAs are lighter-bodied, lower ABV versions of their IPA (India pale ale) counterparts. Session IPAs retain the citrusy, hoppy punch and aromatic complexity but aren’t as filling or high in alcohol.
2. 2. Kettle sours: These quick-brewed sours tend to be powerfully sour but still low in alcohol, as well as relatively light-bodied and drinkable, thus serving well as session beers for those who appreciate the puckering charms of sour beers.
3. 3. Craft light beer: Brewers can produce sessionable versions of low ABV beers like lagers and pilsners with without sacrificing interesting flavor in the microbrewery movement.
4. 4. Belgian sessions: While most Belgian varieties tend to be on the heavier side, there are some types, like witbier, that can be made to qualify as a session beer, offering lower alcohol beer with plenty of complex flavors.
5. 5. Stouts and porters: These beers can pack a good amount of flavor into a surprisingly light beer. Contrary to popular belief, some popular stouts have a relatively low ABV.
6. 6. German sessions: Older styles such as kolsch and gose, while not typically advertised as session beers, in some cases have a low-enough ABV to fit the requirement, combining great flavor with easy-drinking accessibility.

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