Session beer, aka drinking by the poolside

I did a search for “session” and it pulled up a number of hits but I wanted to be more specific, what do you recommend as a 5% or less ABV that would be good for sitting by the pool, after yard work, after a run/ride type of beer?

Lately we have been drinking Founders All Day IPA and Intuition Easy on the Eyes. The issue with Intuition is that we cannot buy it in SC so I have to wait until I make a trip to FL or a buddy from there comes to visit. Currently we are out.

So what easy drinking beer do you enjoy?

Nuff said.
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OscarBlues Pinner “throwback IPA” 4.9% is my summer
session beer

Lawson’s Super Session #8

In the words of Bob Wood, “You have the palate of a yak.”

In the words of Thumper the rabbit “if you can’t say something nice, don’t say nothing at all.”

Either Founders All Day IPA or Pinner, both mentioned above.

Depending on distro, Victory Prima Pils is 5.3 and is what I think of as a lawnmower beer. Have you tried Westbrook Gose? Both are canned, so good by a pool or beach.

I am not sure if Full Sail is available here, but I will look for it.

I have not had an Oscar Blues Pinner in a long time, I will try it again. I might even head to the brewery in Brevard this weekend and drink one there.

Based on Lawson’s website, they do not distribute this far south.

Rick, you should send me some Heater Allen to work on marketing on the right coast, it looks like you have a number of beers in the ABV I am looking for.

We can get Victory here and we enjoy the Golden monkey, I will check out the Prima Pils. I like the Westbrook IPA but do not care for the Gose. I do not really care for Gose in general though.

Thanks everyone, this should give me somewhere to start.

  • 1 Yak

Founders All Day IPA is way too green for me. How about nice Pilsner?

Pilsners are good too, not trying to limit it to IPAs.

Following Greg’s lead, most Gose/Berliner Weissen will fit the bill quite nicely (plus they have extra sodium to replenish you after all that sweating you’ll be doing by the pool. Along thise lines, Belgian Wits & German?american Weissen/Wheats will all do very well and clock in under 5.5%.

I would think Westbrook would have something in the Session/low abv category available, just that it isn’t trade bait across the country so others haven’t heard of it. Ask your local beer monger.

When I was in Myrtle Beach last year (not entirely my choice, so don’t judge) I saw a decent amount of Evil Twin and Stillwater, probably because of Westbrook doing contract beers for both. ETs Citra Sunshine Slacker is one of the few Session IPAs I find really exciting, minimally filtered and great Citra character. Stillwater has lots of nice Saisons in cans now like their flagship Stateside, as well as other variations on the theme. Their Yacht lager has a strong hoppy character, definitely worth a look.

Can’t recall if Allagash had a strong presence there, but their basic Saison in 4pack is very good, but if the abv is above what you’re looking for they stared doing their Hoppy Table Beer in 4pack not too long ago. A bit brettier, very quenching.

Depending on distribution,
Firestone Walker Pivo Pils and Southern Tier Live.
Also, Bells Pooltime Ale just came out in MI, should be hitting other states.

Well, if you can make it to Nashville, our beer will be on tap at Smith and Lentz for a Pils party. Not sure if it was yesterday or today… That’s probably about as close as we’re getting to South Carolina in the near future.

I know. Sorry about that! I don’t really care for the beer, but at least they now have the alcohol down into the sessionable range (now 5.1% ABV, used to 6% ABV, IIRC).

FWIW, I know that Lawson’s has a very limited distribution (it’s getting bigger). But if you happen to be in their distribution area, it’s well worth it as I find it to be my favorite session beer by far. I also like Carton Brewing “Boat Beer”…but that’s also probably limited in its distribution.

As an aside, as much as I like the Vermont (New England) IPA’s and DIPA’s, I like the hoppy pale ales even more as the alcohol is lower.

I love Evil Twin and Stillwater but have never seen anything with low ABV, I will have to look closer. I have never been a big Allagash fan.

Firestone Walker is not available here, I think Southern Tier is so I will check it out.

Bell’s is my favorite brewery but I have never had the Pooltime, I usually just drink Oberon and deal with the higher ABV. I will try it though.

Evil Twin’s Bikini Beer clocks in at 3.1%

Bells Oarsman Ale is a great and thirst-quenching sour ale at around 4%



So Stillwater’s Yacht is an inside joke as the beer was created in response to Carton’s Boat beer. If you want to take it further, Carton’s Sit Down Son is their response to Yacht.

These are the beers I drink that fit that bill. I think most are widely available.

  • 21st Amendment El Sully Mexican Styled Lager (I just love this. Yak palate and all that)

  • Ex Novo Most Intersting Lager in the World (new find for me)

  • Full Sail Cascade Pilsner (Rick recommended this and I love it)

  • Fort Point KSA Kolsch

  • Saint Archer Blonde

Enjoy

Scott