Category Archives: India Session Ale

Midway ISA – Goose Island Beer Company

by Mike

From Goose Island Beer Company out of Chicago Illinois comes their “Midway India Session Ale”.  The beer pours an orange colour with a white head.  The aroma consists of mild tropical fruit, melon and some sweetness.  The flavour is of mild tropical fruits, melon, herbal and low bitterness.  The alcohol content comes in at 4.6% with an IBU of 30.  Much like many ISA’s I wish this beer had some malt presence but it was pretty tasty.

Commercial Description:  Paying tribute to the city we call home, Midway IPA is sessionable and refreshing, or as we like to refer to it – easy drinking. With a lower ABV, balanced IBU’s, and a tropical fruit aroma, make Midway your new go-to, have more than one, easy drinking IPA.

Mixed Forecast mix pack – Moody Ales (West Coast Canning)

by Mike

From Moody Ales in Port Moody in collaboration with West Coast Canning a mobile canning operation locally comes their “Mixed Forecast mix pack” containing the Shorts Weather ISA and the Still Raining Dark Lager.  This pack is just like the weather in Metro Vancouver in the spring, dark and stormy or almost summer like sometimes in the same day.

Still Raining Dark Lager

Still Raining Dark Lager pours a black colour with a brown head.  The aroma consists of mild roasted malts, caramel malts some coffee and a sweet note.  The flavour is of roasted malts, burnt coffee, mild caramel, earth and some bitterness in the finish.  The alcohol content comes in at 5.5% with an IBU of 24.  Can’t beat a good dark lager on a cold day and I would say this is a good one to enjoy on those days.

Shorts Weather ISA

Shorts Weather India Session Ale pours a copper colour with an off white head.  The aroma consists of fruity and floral hops with maybe a hint of malt.  The flavour is of resin, mild bitterness, citrus, melon with the slightest hint of malts.  The alcohol content comes in at 4.8% with an IBU of 47.  If you are looking for an IPA to session all day then you would do well to drink this one for sure.  Low alcohol and full flavour will make for a good session.

Golden Enigma Smash ISA – Strange Fellows Brewing

by Mike

From Strange Fellows Brewing Company in East Vancouver comes their “Golden Enigma Smash ISA”.  This Single Malt Single Hop beer was made with Enigma hops and Golden Promise malts.  The beer pours a straw yellow colour with a white head.  The aroma consists of citrus, maybe a hint of tropical fruits and some floral hops.  The flavour is of citrus, mild tropical fruit, citrus rind, resin, biscuit and some low bitterness.  The alcohol content comes in at 5.5% with an IBU of 45.  Single malt single hop beers can sometimes fall into the bland territory but this one was a nice refreshing one and I will be having more in the future.

Commercial Description:  This Single Malt and Single Hop SMaSH Pale Ale was brewed with the big Aussi hop Enigma and the Scottish malt variety Golden Promise. Balanced between a sweet malt backbone and assertive resinous, fruity hop character this Session Pale Ale reveals in an uncomplicated way the nature of these unique ingredient varieties.

Food pairing as per brewery:  Fish and Chips, Strong Cheese, Burgers

Je Ne Sais Quoi – Little Kn?wn Brewing Co

by Mike

From Little Kn?wn Brewing Co a collaborative project between 49th Parellel Group a beer distributor in Western Canada and Flying Monkeys Craft Brewery out of Ontario comes their “Je Ne Sais Quoi” a Session IPA.  The beer pours a golden colour with an off white head.  The aroma consists of mild fruit aroma backed up with some floral hops and maybe some pine but not much else.  The flavour is of mild resin, pine, bitterness and some fruity citrus notes in the finish.  The alcohol content comes in at 4.2%.  As India Session Ale’s go this is a pretty good brew although one of the issues with the style is it has little to no body.

Tropical Milkshake ISA – The Parkside Brewery

by Mike

From Port Moody’s The Parkside Brewery comes their “Tropical Milkshake ISA” their Anniversary beer.  The beer pours a murky orange colour with a white head.  The aroma consists of tropical fruits, juicy hops, lactose and floral hops.  The flavour is of tropical fruits, juicy, lactose, resin, earth, dank hops and some bitterness.  The alcohol content comes in at 4.6% with an IBU of 40.  More dank and bitter than your average Milkshake IPA but I quite enjoyed it.