Session Ale

Session Ale Manayunk Brewing Company

This ale is by Manayunk Brewing Company and it is Session Ale. Session is a Belgian Style  Blonde Ale and is a type of beer most breweries are trying and putting out in the market. Manayunk is a local brewery in Philadelphia. They are right on the outskirts of the city and are right next to the Schuylkill River. I try to have a local brewed beer every once in a while to see what is happening at the local breweries. I have had a few of Manayunk Brewing Company's beer before and my favorite by them is the Yunkin' Punkin, which is a pumpkin beer by them. This is my first time trying one of their other brews. Session Ale's are very popular right now in the brewing world, in my opinion. Breweries are try to compete against each other, what a shocker, but they are trying to create beers that people can drink all day like Bud Light and Miller Light. They are trying to steal the market from the macro-breweries like Miller and Budweiser. The only question is how well are they succeeding at taking the market away from the macro-breweries. 

Session Ale Cloudy Golden Complexion 

Session Ale as a reminder is Belgian Style Blonde Ale. The alcohol by volume or ABV is 4.5%, and the bitterness or IBU of this ale is 21. The question that I have is with Session Ale's usually they are hoppy, and not my style so I am curious to see what I think of this beer. The part that I find intriguing is that this is ale is a session ale, but is a Belgian Style Blonde Ale. Blonde Ale's were created to compete with gold lagers that became popular. Blonde Ale's have a high carbonation which usually creates a thick head at the top of the beer. In addition to the high carbonation Blonde Ale's tend to have a sweet honey malt taste to them to balance the hop taste. Now time to focus on this Session Ale, when I take a sniff to smell the aroma I picked up a lemon zest smell and that is very intriguing because that reminds me of  Samuel Adams Summer Ale. I also smell a hint of hops in the aroma, which could steer me away from this ale, but I am committed to trying this local brew. Color and complexion I see when looking at this Session Ale is a golden cloudy complexion, which comes from the Belgian Style brew. 

Manayunk Belgian Style Session Ale 4.5% ABV

The last step to this beer review is the tasting aspect, which so far I am interested in trying this ale because of the aroma and the cloudy golden color to the beer. This ale looks like my style of beer that I like and usually enjoy. There are two ways you should think about how you have a beer. They are through smell and taste, that usually tells me if I am going to like a beer. Smooth tasting beer and is surprisingly very drinkable. You do get a hint of hops when drinking this ale,but at first you taste a sweet biscuit taste to this ale. One more thing that I noticed when enjoying this beer is you feel the carbonation while drinking this Session Ale. If I had to classify this beer I think it belongs more with Blonde Ale than a Session Ale. This ale has more qualities and taste more like a Blonde than a Session style beer. Now I am not trying to confuse you this is a beer that can be enjoyed all day like a Session Ale is suppose to be enjoyed.  To me Session Ale's are pale ale's that are trying to get away from the high alcohol by volume and focuses on limiting it but leaving the hop taste. This Session is definitely more Blonde than Session. I think that if you are trying to find a good Session Style Ale you could use this as that type of beer, but if you like light smooth tasting beer that can drink all day this is one to enjoy.