BEER REVIEW: 336

BREWER: Gloucester Brewery, Gloucestershire, England

STYLE: Session IPA

ABV: 4.5%

VESSEL: 500ml tin

DATE OF POST: 18th March 2024

 

JYMI SAY’S…

The term Session IPA has evolved from an oxymoron to an actual beer style over the last however long. Though it still irritates me just a little it’s here to stay. And look, it’s an IPA that’s designed to be more drinkable should you be out, or up, for a few… and that can’t be a bad thing now can it.

It think why I still get a touch irked is that a lot of Session IPAs do not taste anything like an IPA and are not even close. It’s almost like, ‘lets brew a beer that’s 4.3% and call it a Session IPA’.

However, Gloucester Brewery have managed to capture the soul of an IPA in their Session IPA and for that I thank and applaud them.

There is good flavour and good body here for sure. It’s the body of a S’IPA that can let a brew down sometimes but this is definitely not the case here. It’s fruity upfront with notes of orange and mango and then moves to a medium bitterness to finish. It’s a classic balancing manoeuvre but not everyone is able to pull it off let me tell you.

Half way through the glass the mango flavour really starts to take centre stage which keeps this beer interesting as you move your way through the brew.

It’s a winner of a beer this. Add a catchy name and better packaging and this could really do something.

Jymi’s Rating: 73%

 

SAMMY SAY’S…

We all know that a session IPA is a well-trodden path for the craft beer brewer. It’s been done countless times by numerous breweries. And this often leads to one IPA running into another with them being hardly indistinguishable from one another. 

I’m not going to say that Session IPA by Gloucester Brewery is going to set the world on fire because it’s unlikely to do so. It’s also not groundbreaking because the path that it’s forging has been trodden many a time before. 

However, what the team at Gloucester Brewery have done well is make a solid session IPA that stands up well in a crowded market. Is it likely to be the best session you ever try? Very unlikely. But I’m willing to bet it’s one that you’d go back to after having had it before. This is something that can’t be said for many IPAs that all too often blur into insignificance. 

A solid offering even if it won’t set the world alight. 

Sammy’s Rating: 73%

 

MUSE ON BOOZE RATING: 73%

MOB review next weekend: THE POLLINATOR by HIVE MIND

Sammy & Jymi – Musing on Booze weekly since 2017

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M O B 2024