It should come as no surprise that most frequently, when given the choice, brewers typically reach for easy-drinking sessionable beers over their big boozy counterparts. All week long we’ve profiled the rise of Session beers, generally categorized as beers 5% in ABV or lower, as well as a preview of this weekend’s Sesh Fest, a celebration of Session beers. Sesh Fest features over 50 breweries, food trucks, lawn games, screen printing, water games, a shandy tent, slushie station and much more. Now hear from the brewers themselves!
“I personally like session beers because I can have a couple pints of great beer without same effects that two pints of stronger beer can have. It can be difficult to get big and bold flavors out of smaller beers and to us that’s part of the challenge. Figure out how to making great tasting beers with big and bold flavors that are also very sessionable.”
Westfax Brewing at Sesh Fest 2016, Anthony Martuscello right | Photo by Tristan Chan
“Session beers just make sense. If you feel you’re burly enough to drink numerous glasses of Imperial Stouts, more power to you – but I prefer to enjoy easy drinking, low-ABV beers whenever possible.
The layers of flavor and complexity a brewery can achieve in a session beer can easily match up to the depth of aroma and flavor of any barrel-aged, high-ABV monster – it’s just more subtle and nuanced.
My go-to beers are almost always bright, clean, cold pilsners and hoppy pale beers – and when they’re going down quickly it’s ever-so important that they fall in that 4-5% ABV range for proper hydration and continued social agility.”
“A well-made session beer has all of the flavor of a full strength beer but without the high alcohol. You can have a few beers while working on the house, on the lawn mower or even while reading a good book ! What isn’t to love, great taste and lots of it. Session beers are great because you can sit down drink several and still have a coherent conversation.”
“When you live in the State of Craft Beer and have more than 300 breweries all driving your industry to produce the very best product possible, it’s great to be able to sample many of them at one festival (or one backyard gathering). Through session beers we can try out many of our peers’ latest efforts to create the best meld of flavors possible. Craft beers with a lower ABV allow us to enjoy several beers, likely with wildly different flavor profiles, at one sitting. What’s not to love about that?”
Carol Cochran, Co-Founder of Horse and Dragon | Photo Courtesy of The Rocky Mountain Collegian
“Session beers are perfect for this time of year, they showcase a wide variety of beer styles and their easy drinking nature makes them great for a long summer’s day. I really enjoy the complexity and character that session beers can have while still staying light and refreshing. People love to be outside on a beautiful summer day to drink, laugh and hang out with great company. The Session style allows for more of that good-time feeling without overdoing it.”
“A big part of our love for creating sessionable beers is the challenge associated with them. Done wrong they can be watery and relatively flavorless, but done right they can be some of the most rewarding beers you’ll ever brew. These are the beers that I’m most likely to take home from the brewery to share with friends.”
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