Brewing a session beer

For my next batch of homebrew that I'm brewing today, I've decided to brew a "session beer". A session beer is simply a well balanced, easy-drinking beer with a clean finish that you can easily drink several of during one drinking "session" without falling off your bar stool. Session beers are typically less then 5% ABV, but are still full flavoured without overwhelming your senses with a particular characteristic. British Milds and Bitters are typically referred to as session beers. Unfortunately, over the past few years, many craft breweries have been coming out with more extreme beers that have stronger flavours and high alcohol content. Although delicious, its difficult to enjoy more then one or two of these beers in a single drinking session without getting intoxicated and overloading your taste buds. Be wary of those who claim they can "session" a Double IPA or Russian Imperial Stout. Just because you drink several of these beers in a row, a session beer this does not make. A drinking session with these people rarely turns out well.

One of my favourite session beers is Pride & Joy from Three Floyds Brewing. They describe it as an American Mild. So, it is on this beer that I've decided to base my next batch of homebrew. Unfortunately, I was unable to find any "official" clone recipe, but I think I managed to come up with something that should do pretty good. A special thanks to Paul at brewnation.org who had also recently been working on a Pride & Joy recipe and I drew heavily on his for mine. Should it turn out well, Paul, I'll mail you a couple.



A collage of the specialty grains and hops used as well as the wort at a rolling boil on the stove.