10 Great California Session Beers

Top 10 California

Food GPS beer editor Sean Inman chooses 10 great California beers by style.

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ThirstyBear Kozlov Stout5.0% ABV

Right at the borderline but this is a super rich and tasty stout.  Coffee and chocolate abound in this San Francisco beer.

Claremont Craft Ales Study Session IPA4.5% ABV

Pours a light orange. A delicate hop aroma on this one. Good wheat and malt taste here initially, then a tiny burst of hops shines through. Nicely balanced and true to this type of beer.

Drake’s Brewing Alpha Session Ale3.8% ABV

For the amount of alcohol, this beer is really flavorful. I get some citrus notes. Good amount of sticky bitterness. Pours a nice orange color. Good citrus aroma. Awesome session beer.

Hangar 24 Craft Brewing Small Stout4.8% ABV

Nice medium stout. I was expecting something weaker but this was solid. Strong malty flavors. A little bit of chocolate on there as well.

Eagle Rock Brewery Solidarity British Mild3.96% ABV

Excellent session beer. Dark brown in color. Thin head. Chocolate aroma. Nice amount of carbonation. Really easy to drink. Nice amount of bitterness at the end.

Speaking of Eagle Rock. The family-run brewery will be conducting their 4th annual Session Fest on May 10 in Glassell Park. This year, for the first time, they will have guest taps from local breweries as well. $15 will get you the glass and three tastes and you can buy additional tastes for $3. The Grill Em All truck will also be parked out front.

Find more of Sean Inman’s writing on his blog, Beer Search Party.

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Sean Inman

Find more of Sean Inman's writing on his blog, Beer Search Party.

Blog Comments

I didn’t see Ballast’s Even Keel on the list, which is like Sculpin’s underage brother at 3.8%.

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