Name: San Diego County Session Ale
From: Stone Brewing (with Ballast Point and Kelsey McNair)
Type: American Pale Ale
I have several sub-goals aside from my main objective of trying 365 beers this year. Try at least 25 styles. Try beers from at least 20 countries. Don't go broke. Don't become a raging alcoholic.
On days I'm not really feeling it, I try to make sure I have something around that's low in alcohol. My girlfriend's sister left a Labatt's Blue here yesterday which I'll hang on to for a day I really don't want a beer. Today though, I was excited to try this Stone Session Ale. They collaborated with two other So. Cal. breweries to make this one, which is marketed as a highly-hopped, but low alcohol. I like the idea! IPAs are great, but it you're drinking those while your buddies are drinking Bud Light, you'll be hammered long before anyone else.
Pouring this into a glass, I was stoked. It looked great and smelled amazing. A big blast of citrus and pine hops made this one very similar to other west coast IPAs.
The taste couldn't live up to the smell, it was a pretty one-dimensional beer. The malt profile couldn't hang with the hop overload, so it was really unbalanced. What I mean specifically by that is some of the negative aspects of the hops (the oniony, catty flavor of one of the varieties....is that Simcoe?) really came through with nothing to smooth it out. Not bad, but maybe a little disappointing based on my expectations and the wonderful aroma. Don't avoid it, but don't seek it out either.
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