Sessionable Pale Ales Deliver The Hops
My bottleshop job and my own curiosity have me trying lots of beers, but it’s no secret that I’m an IPA guy. The problem is that a lot of my favorites–Firestone Walker Union Jack, Bear Republic Racer 5, Russian River Pliny the Elder and Russian River Blind Pig–are over 6% ABV. As delicious as they may be, you can’t have more than a pint or two without putting a serious dent in your sobriety (Blind Pig being the possible exception at 6%). So I’m always on the lookout for something that I can drink all night and not pay the price later. And luckily, I’ve discovered some sessionable American pale ales that deliver enough hops to satisfy the IPA freak:
Firestone Walker Pale 31 – Firestone took a British-style Pale Ale made with Maris Otter malt and Fuggles hops and put a West Coast spin on it by using late kettle and dry-hopped additions of Cascade, Centennial and Chinook hops. At 4.6%, it’s light and easy-drinking, but the hops are noticeable enough to satisfy.
Elysian Fields Pale Ale – It’s crisp and hoppy and, at 4.8%, is one of the few worthy session beers made here in Seattle. When it’s fresh on tap, I actually prefer it to the Elysian Immortal IPA. Maybe that’s because of the Simcoe hops, which aren’t in the Immortal.
HUB Crosstown Pale Ale – When I spent time in Portland recently, I tried this beer on tap at Hopworks and was blown away by its hoppiness. If I’d tasted it blind, I would’ve thought IPA for sure. It’s now available in bottles (though its not quite as hopped up as the draft version I’d had and it’s not available in Seattle yet). Crosstown is a little higher on the alcohol at 5.3%, but still well below the 6-7% of most IPAs.
June 25, 2009 at 8:09 pm
I had a 3.8% golden ale in Wales called Aur Cymru (Welsh Gold) that was hopped with cascades. Really nice beer.
I think every American brewer should offer a beer under 4%.
June 26, 2009 at 5:49 am
I had two Stone Pale Ales last week, on two different occasions, and was reminded what an excellent beer it is. It has plenty of hops and 5.4% abv. Also, I spend a lot of weekends north of Los Angeles in a town that is a beer desert, and Deschutes’ Mirror Pond Pale Ale is one of the few decent beers available. It is really good and I like it more than the Firestone Walker Pale 31 (which is my other option), but it’s excellent, too. I’d like to try that Elysian Fields Pale Ale with the Simcoe hops.
July 1, 2009 at 5:47 am
I am a big fan of the true pale ale and the world of wonderful malts, and I too like a beer big on taste and a bit lighter on the alkymahol. But I don’t care if my pale ale is well hopped or not, so the Stone Levitation is just fine by me. That beer has more taste than beers with two percent more ABV. It’s just a very good beer, that’s all. And I totally agree with Chris in that every decent craft beer maker should have something under 5% that isn’t a pilsner. Viva la France!
July 26, 2009 at 5:19 pm
Excellent information. I’ve not tried any of the Firestone beers, but will now and agree that abv is a useful label feature…pity not everyone is up to sharing that detail yet! I’m gonna add you to my blog list – you’ve got a great site and at least one of your two jobs (Bottleworks) is very interesting!