Stone Sandiego County Session Ale

I manage to travel around South East PA and its neighboring states quite a bit, and I always try to keep my eyes open for interesting beers. Because of this I get to try beers from a fair number of different small breweries, especially one-off batches and specialty beers. One thing I have been encouraged to see over the past year or so is a resurgence in session beers. Session beers as a whole are low alcohol beers, meant to be quaffed in large quantities over the course of an evening spent in a pub with friends; I know a couple of English expatriates who fondly recall drinking half a dozen pints a night on a regular basis, with no ill effects. The most well-known session styles are English Bitters and Milds, both of which have more of a malt focus than most American beers.

However, the basis of the microbrew revolution has, in my opinion, been the concept of “more” in your beer. More alcohol, more bitterness, more taste. While I fully support styles like the Russian Imperial Stout and Double India Pale Ale, I feel that they are a backlash against the tasteless stuff that the mega-breweries push on consumers. The problem with this is that many low alcohol styles have not gained much attention in the US even though many of them are actually very flavorful.

One of these new session beers that I’ve managed to find is the San Diego County Session Ale. This particular beer is a collaboration brew from Stone Brewing Company, Ballast Point Brewing Company and Kelsey McNair. Kelsey is the winner of the competition portion of the 2010 March Madness American Homebrewer Association (AHA) Rally and Homebrew Competition, which he won with his West Coast Bitter. Stone Brewing Company had offered up the brewing and distribution of the wining beer as the prize, and was represented by Mitch Steele on brew day. The third brewer, Colby Chandler of Ballast Point, was chosen by Kelsey because of his prior experience crafting other hoppy session beers in the San Diego area. The beer was brewed on July 14^th, 2010 and released on August 23^rd, 2010.

The beer poured a clear amber color, but I accidentally let some sediment into the glass, too. About a finger of white head formed but settled out quickly, leaving a little bit of lacing behind. The aroma was citrus with a decidedly grapefruit edge, and some earthy hop notes in the background. The body was moderate with a thin mouthfeel, but with a creamy texture to it that I found to be quite enjoyable; from the feel of it, I think this beer may have been bottled using Nitrogen, or some Beergas mix instead of straight Carbon Dioxide. The taste was quite bitter, but also had a significant sweetness that made it drinkable. Surprisingly, this beer reminded me of a sweeter, less bitter Hop Rod Rye with more of a focus on aroma hopping; overall, it was far a more balanced and pleasant drinking experience.

Unfortunately, this beer will probably be a little past its prime if you still find it on the shelf, as its now over 6 months old. I hope they re-brew it this year as it was quite drinkable; I would love to see something like this on tap in most local bars. If you do see a bottle of this on the shelf, however, it may be worth your time to try as it may age better than I expect.

Price: $3.99

Size: 12 oz

ABV: 4.2%

Appearance: 4 /5

Aroma: 3.5/5

Flavor: 3.5/5

Mouthfeel: 3/5

Martson's Pedigree

I, like most Americans, am convinced that bigger is better, and this continues on into my beer tastes. I cut my teeth on Double IPAs, Russian Imperial Stouts and Belgian Triples, and consequently consider anything under, say, 8% ABV to be fairly weak. Now this, like everything else, has benefits and detriments; the best benefit is that I can’t stand American light lagers (something about no taste and not much alcohol isn’t appealing), and the worst detriment is that I missed the whole session beer scene.

Session beers are a British tradition that has evolved due to pressure from several directions. First, beer in England is taxed by alcohol content, which means that a pint of low alcohol beer will be significantly cheaper than a pint of high gravity ale. A second reason is British culture in general, and the drinking culture in particular. In England, it is (or at least was) common to have a beer with lunch, and to spend the evening in the pub consuming six or more pints of beer. This doesn’t end quite as well with Barleywines, as the flavor will blow your palette and the alcohol will knock you back in the seat, so pubs typically keep bitters (pale ales) and milds (draft brown ale) on tap. These beers typically range from 2 to 5% ABV, and brewers would frequently produce multiple bitters of different alcohol contents. Bitters are, contrary to their name, not especially bitter. Bitters are actually pale ales, and while they definitely have bitter elements, they are not in the same realm as an IPA; many American Pale Ales are far more bitter, closer to a classic English IPA.

The beer that I picked out for this week is Marston’s Pedigree, a bitter. Marston’s Brewery opened in 1834 in Burton upon Trent, a town particularly famous for its beers due to the excellent local water. The company has since merged with others, eventually forming Marston’s plc which now operates five breweries. The company produces a large number of beers under at least six different trade names, but Pedigree is their flagship bitter, and is their only beer still brewed on the Burton Union system. The Union system utilizes an array of interconnected oak kegs as primary fermenters, allowing excess yeast foam to be separated out and beer to circulate between the casks. This produces a remarkably consistent product, although with modern breweries and sanitation the Union system has largely fallen by the wayside.

The beer poured a light, clear copper color with nice golden highlights. Barely any head formed, but the pure white lacing from it was quite persistent; this is an interesting counterpoint to American pale ales, which typically form a fair bit of head which dissipates quickly. The most noticeable aroma was a lemon citrus nose, although there was also some sweet and tart contrasting scents which likely stem from the Goldings hops and the fermentation respectively.

The body was initially moderately heavy, but this quickly thinned out as the beer warmed. The carbonation was quite low, which contributed to the low head formation. Both of these are characteristic of the style, as is the thinner body at warmer temperatures; this style is typically served at cellar temperatures instead of the more frigid temperature of my room this time of year, which is probably why I initially noticed a thicker body. The dominant taste was a moderate bitterness, although I didn’t notice any actual hop flavor, which was layered onto of a solid malt backbone with both some sweetness and faint caramel notes. Overall, this beer was quite restrained and balanced, although the bitterness tended to edge out the malt flavors in the aftertaste.

This was an excellent session beer, and while I noted the bitterness it was nowhere near the level of an IPA. To me this was a good thing, as I could easily kick back and drink a couple of pints of this beer over the course of the evening. I recommend giving this beer a try if you want to taste something with a historic flavor, yet a restrained alcohol content.

Size: 500 mL

Price: $5.95

ABV: 5%

Look: 4/5

Smell: 4/5

Taste: 4/5

Mouthfeel: 4/5