Another of my goto styles of beer is hoppy Session Ale. Some commercial examples that come to mind: Good Nature Farm Brewer Blight Buster & Non-stop Hop Onslaught, Founder’s All Day IPA, and Tired Hands Hop Hands. I’m fortunate that Sapwood Cellars has opened up near me and they specialize in this style. Their .38 Special and Rings Of Light are delicious.
What is a “session” beer you ask? Generally it’s a beer between 3-5% ABV. A beer where by design you can have a few and maintain your falculties. It’s not a new term. Old school English Milds and Porters also fall into the “session” category.
So today i’m brewing a beer that’s loosely inspired by a YouTube channel I like to watch (Harrison’s Brewery in the UK). Harry makes a beer called Vacant Gesture which is only 3.8% ABV. My brew won’t be an attempt at a clone. I’m targeting a 4% hoppy ale featuring Cascade hops and Kveik Yeast:
| 7 lb | Thomas Fawcett Golden Promise Malt |
| 14 oz | Briess Carapils |
| 4 oz | Avangard Wheat Malt |
| 1 oz | Cascade T-60 |
| 1 oz | Cascade Whirlpool 30 min |
| 1 oz | Cascade Dry Hop 5 Days after primary fermentation |
| 1 oz | Cascade Dry Hop 3 Days, in 2 days into first dry hop |
| Yeast | Omega Hornindal Kveik yeast slurry from previous batch |
This brew is currently in the hop-stand/whirlpool. When it’s keg conditioned I’ll post an update.
9/13/19 Update: Well I didn’t stick to the dry hop schedule above. After the first dry hop charge of Cascade I just wasn’t impressed… So for the 3 day charge I used 1oz of Azacca and 1oz of Cryo Amarillo. I suspect the Cascade hops were rather old.
I’ve decided to name this ‘Gesture DDH’ since it was inspired by Harrison’s Brewery’s Vacant Gesture. I’m happy to say I hit my target ABV of 3.8% exactly (well, as exact as you can be with homebrew).
Here’s what it looks like:
3.8% Gesture DDH
Update: 01-17-2020 Just wanted to let folks know that this beer was decent when it was young, but it fell off the cliff quickly. I didn’t drink the last gallon or so of this brew. I think I used it to marinate some BBQ.