More Established Brewers Join the Session Wave: Odell Brewing creates Loose Leaf American Session Ale

That's right: Sam Adams, Bells, Deschutes, Stone, Goose Island, Boulevard, Victory...they've all got session beers. And now Odell has joined the movement with their new Loose Leaf American Session Ale.

"Loose Leaf was developed on the brewery’s five barrel pilot system. The Odell brewers wanted to create a beer that was lighter in color, lower in alcohol content, but also flavorful and distinct. The final recipe is crisp and balanced with lower IBU's and a bright hop aroma. At 4.5% ABV, it’s delicate and refreshingly drinkable with a clean finish."

It's available in bottles as part of their Montage 12-pack, and on draft in Old Chicago restaurants in Colorado. Go get some! 

(So...Sierra Nevada...feeling the urge yet? New Belgium? (sorry, Shift doesn't count at 5.0%) Redhook? Widmer?)

Wasatch Evolution Amber Ale

Stephen Beaumont and I do beer reviews for All About Beer, and it engenders frequent emails. Like this one, that he sent a couple months ago:

BTW, Lew, if you haven’t, you need to get a hold of some Squatters beer from Salt Lake City. They sent me a bunch for the World Atlas and I am very impressed with their 4% brews, especially the Provo Girl Pilsner.

I rarely ignore advice from Doctor Beaumont, so I fired off a request for samples to the good people at the Utah Brewers Cooperative, and they very nicely responded...and then I got busy as hell. The beers went into the fridge and stayed dark and cold till today, when I grabbed an Evolution Amber. 

You may chuckle at the idea of 4% beers from Utah. I don't. I remember a year when Utah brewers swept the schwarzbier category at GABF with low-alcohol lagers that were just awesome. See, when you have tough rules, you get really good at working within them. Kind of like the 4.5% ABV guideline I've proposed for session beer...

I was ready for something good, and I got it. This is a nice malty amber, and the nose proclaims that: bread, cookie, and a pleasing fresh grassiness. It follows through just fine with a light-but-not-lite body, good malt flavor, and just enough sweet to get the juices flowing, and just enough hop to clean it up. Very nice post-ride beer, and one you could easily session. More of these to come...

More new session beers...

Not only are The Notch Session Pils and Session Ale now out in bottles, I just got news from Ale Industries (in Concord, California) that they're celebrating their second anniversary -- congrats! -- with the release of two new beers, one of them a session beer! Check it out:

The first is simply named “2012 Table Beer, the Beer of the Future”. This beer is what we call a Light Belgian Dark Ale, and has a very sessionable 3.0% abv. The beer was brewed with a blend of yeasts which were borrowed from the newly formed Oakland Brewing Company. Go co-operation! 2012 Table beer, the Beer of the Future was brewed in the same vein as many Ale Industries beers, to achieve layers of depth in the simple but under-rated form of session beer.

Gotta love the name, gotta love the love.