Burning Sky Plateau is a perfect example to me of the US SessionIPA /UK Golden/Blond Ale
I am not saying that US Session IPAs don’t exist
I am not saying that UK Golden/Blond Ales don’t exist
What I believe at the moment is that there is so much crossover between the styles that some thought should go into what we do about it.
Either split out low hopped North American golden ales or include Session IPA into UK Golden/Blond Ale would seem sensible.
I think I have said above that beers like Oakham JHB, Crouch Vale Brewers Gold and Dark Star Hophead which have all won multiple awards over multiple years would all happily fall into both the Session IPA and Golden/Blond Ale camps. For us in the UK, the concept of a Session IPA is not new. We just called it a Golden/Blond Ale. Sorry if that’s upset some people. But we need to resolve this.
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Originally posted by crossovert
Originally posted by harrisoni
Originally posted by crossovert
Originally posted by drowland
I legitimately want to know some of these UK beers and breweries so I can drink the fuck out of them when I visit in the next year or two.
Same here, but the fallacy responses I have been getting lead me to believe every single beer produced in England is a session IPA.
Having looked through your England ratings on RB you haven’t had any of the top 50 or so UK Golden/Blond/Session IPAs. Just as you challenge others to go to the USA to drink Session IPAs then I think it is fair enough for you to be challenged to come to the UK and drink Golden/Blond ales. Otherwise you may be seen as being a tad one eyed on this debate.
Which is I requested a list of these beers and I’m asking if there’s anyone who has actually had both side by side and I want to know vitals on these UK beers. And at the end of the day i don’t care what you call this style or who invented it, that is incidental to the fact that beers are marketed as such and this is a thread to celebrate them. And the current crop is one that in my eyes has shown a more significant shift towards something new than in the past. Whether the brewery was in the US, UK, Canada, or wherever pale ales have been being brewed in the past 15 years.
OK you asked for a list of beers, I have given you a list of beers. Not sure why you are still asking for one.
You want to know someone who’s had them side by side. Fair enough point.
If you want vitals on the UK beers, there is plenty of detail of the recipes on RB and the rest of the internet on Dark Star Hophead, Oakham JHB etc
I also don’t care what the style is called, I am merely trying to point out that there is a crossover between UK Golden/Blond beers and US Session IPAs. Sorry you seem to have a problem with that.
To say that Session IPA/Golden/Blond Ale is something new is not backed up by fact. Sorry. You are wrong. I’m not being dogmatic or adversarial here, just pointing out that Oakham JHB and Crouch Vale Brewers Gold both won the Camra Champion Beer of Britain 10 years ago.
Would be happy to show you around the great beers of the UK should you choose to visit us. |
I will never understand arguments over proper nomenclature. Is it good? If so, drink up!! |
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Originally posted by miketd
I will never understand arguments over proper nomenclature. Is it good? If so, drink up!!
For ratebeer best it matters. And people subconsciously skew their ratings when they know what style of beer an offering is supposed to represent. This beer was good, wait, it was supposed to be an imperial stout, oh then gross. |
Originally posted by miketd
I will never understand arguments over proper nomenclature. Is it good? If so, drink up!!
Hey Mike. Yes you are right as usual. What I find funny is that I am being told that a new beer style exists even though I have been drinking that style for the past 10 or so years. For me the real problem was how the split of beers was done. Here in the UK we had similar beers in different style categories. The problem was that this was imposed on us from above. It showed a lack of understanding of beer outside of the US by joet. Didn’t stop me enjoying the beer though. |
I’m in the middle of a trade for a bunch of UK Golden/Blonde ales, and after browsing the database, I’ve been amazed at how many there are that use the big potent citrusy/dank/fruity hop varieties that we in the US often associate with "West Coast" IPA’s….
To all the UK users: When you hear Golden/Blonde Ale, do you really think of a super aromatic, hop forward low ABV beer? Because we over here think of a boring, flavorless old school brewpub staple. I’m assuming that’s why we see the need to differentiate these new hoppy beers from that category.
Would it be a terrible thing to migrate all the hop forward Golden/Blondes to the Session IPA category? It’s not like Session IPA is an "American" term.. it can easily apply to any beer in the world. Maybe I’m wrong, but wouldn’t it be a good thing (even for UK raters) if there was more distinction between the extremely hoppy low ABV beers and the more mild, reserved ones?
I don’t pretend to know much about the UK scene, so maybe the Golden/Blonde ale category has been in place for these beers forever. Honestly, the idea of redefining that category is more exciting to me than creating a new one, but I think for newer users it would be good to have a separate category for super hoppy beers since few people really appreciate them.
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Originally posted by harrisoni
Originally posted by miketd
I will never understand arguments over proper nomenclature. Is it good? If so, drink up!!
Hey Mike. Yes you are right as usual. What I find funny is that I am being told that a new beer style exists even though I have been drinking that style for the past 10 or so years. For me the real problem was how the split of beers was done. Here in the UK we had similar beers in different style categories. The problem was that this was imposed on us from above. It showed a lack of understanding of beer outside of the US by joet. Didn’t stop me enjoying the beer though.
Cheers, Ian. I’m with ya, just not much of a rater... more of a drunk.  I just go with what tastes good! |
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Without reading the whole thread (sorry I’m late!), I just double checked my 5 "session IPA" ratings. Apparently, I think they’re decent. Upland’s Campside and Great Divide Lasso are the two I rated the highest (3.9), and Stone’s Go To and Founders All Day are close behind at 3.7. Boulevard Pop-Up at 3.2. I do appreciate what’s going on with this category to a point, but I still would rather have a regular IPA or a DIPA in most cases. And I also don’t understand the difference between "session IPA" and "regular old goddamn pale ale." I mean, I do (aroma, mostly), but still. I don’t think I will go for a "session IPA" just because a brewer calls it one, but I do see the mind-fuck is working. Stone’s Go To is selling way better than Levitation or their regular Pale Ale ever did, even though both those beers are quite hoppy and quite sessionable. Apparently, some people don’t want beer to get them smashed drunk. Weirdos... |
Originally posted by joeneugs
I’m in the middle of a trade for a bunch of UK Golden/Blonde ales, and after browsing the database, I’ve been amazed at how many there are that use the big potent citrusy/dank/fruity hop varieties that we in the US often associate with "West Coast" IPA’s….
To all the UK users: When you hear Golden/Blonde Ale, do you really think of a super aromatic, hop forward low ABV beer? Because we over here think of a boring, flavorless old school brewpub staple.
Yup. The levels of hoppiness vary, of course, but that’s very much part of the style.
I’m assuming that’s why we see the need to differentiate these new hoppy beers from that category.
Would it be a terrible thing to migrate all the hop forward Golden/Blondes to the Session IPA category? It’s not like Session IPA is an "American" term.. it can easily apply to any beer in the world. Maybe I’m wrong, but wouldn’t it be a good thing (even for UK raters) if there was more distinction between the extremely hoppy low ABV beers and the more mild, reserved ones?
I don’t pretend to know much about the UK scene, so maybe the Golden/Blonde ale category has been in place for these beers forever. Honestly, the idea of redefining that category is more exciting to me than creating a new one, but I think for newer users it would be good to have a separate category for super hoppy beers since few people really appreciate them.
For one thing, it’s giving the credit for inventing the style to the wrong people. Another is that ’Session IPA’ kind of is an American term, in the sense that Americans count things as session beers which no British person would (5% abv, for example, is miles too strong for a session beer over here). I just don’t think the term works at all in the UK.
I wouldn’t mind changing the category to Golden/Blonde/Session IPA, if that would make some people happy. |
Originally posted by harrisoni
I got a bit lost on this thread but I think someone was asking for examples of UK Session IPAs/Golden/Blond Ales that have been produced in the UK before Session IPA was created on RB as a style. Well here are a few that have won multiple awards over the past 15 years, yes that is 15 years, including a fair few Camra Champion Beers of Britain (the highest accolade for beers brewed in the UK in a lot of peoples eyes):-
Dark Star Hophead
Oakham JHB Champion Beer of Britain
Oakham Bishops Farewell
Crouch Vale Essex Blonde
Castle Rock Elsie Mo
Castle Rock Harvest Ale Champion Beer of Britain
Thornbridge Wild Swan
Oakham Inferno
Harviestoun Bitter & Twisted
Brewsters Hophead
Fyne Ales Avalanche
Fyne Ales Jarl
Wapping Summer Ale
Pictish (everything)
Marble Pint
Magic Rock Curious
Crouch Vale Brewers Gold Champion Beer of Britain
Other examples from Little Ale Cart, Roosters, Outlaw, Alehouse, Salopian, Phoenix, Hawkshead, Acorn and in particular Mallinsons
Oh and I am only down to number 80 of the 1400 golden/blond/session IPAs I have had before I got bored.
Session IPA and UK Golden/Blond Ale has a lot of overlap is all I am saying.
Awesome!
I think the only one I have had in the US is Harviestoun Bitter & Twisted, and if you guys think that is what the American Session IPAs are these days then you are delusional. |
