Session ales – defined quite neatly by beer writer Andy Crouch in his book Great American Craft Beer as: “[a] beer with a relatively low alcohol-level, usually 3 to 4 percent alcohol by volume, that allows the drinker to enjoy several pints in one sitting without becoming intoxicated” – is one of the great strengths of the UK & Irish brewing scene (Andy Crouch again: “Many English-style ales set the standard for such beers” and I’m not going to argue.)

I’ve said it before a few times, and I’ll say it again: over the past couple of years I’ve come to the definite conclusion that the very best way to enjoy a session on the session ales is in a pub, with a few good friends and plenty of good conversation (pork scratchings optional). Of course not all session ales are created equal and a lot of them seem to be just… average – which I realise probably has more to do with the keeping, conditioning and serving of the beer than the actual brewing – so if like me you enjoy sampling a few different brews over the course of an evening, it can be a bit of a lottery.

Then again, if you’re really lucky, you might discover a truly amazing session ale; one that manages to pull off the trick of marrying sublime flavours with a not-so-punishing ABV. The sort of beer you can happily roll around your palate all night long, as opposed to the thin, flat, slightly sour stuff that can put you right off – something Impy Malting has talked about recently as well. I can remember a few magical times when I’ve stumbled onto an amazingly good draught session ale: Wye Valley Butty Bach is the one that springs most readily to mind. Ahhhh, I love a good pub session, me.

Having said that, I also love a good bottled beer – supped at home in front of the telly with a bowl of salt & pepper cashews to-hand – almost as much (and I’ve talked about a fair few of those). It’s much, much trickier to find a truly excellent session beer in a bottle though. There’s generally a marked difference between draught and bottled versions of the same ale, with the draught version usually winning hands-down. But occasionally, if you’re lucky, you’ll hit on a bottled session beer that really does taste very good indeed; holding its own against its draught counterpart, or just in its own right.

So, in honour of those rare auld times, here are five of my favourite bottled session beers, plus a few honourable mentions. I’ve stretched the definition slightly to “beers that I’d be happy to drink a few of in a session” which means the upper-limit strength-wise is around about 4.5% ABV or so. And it is an entirely subjective selection, obviously… please feel free to suggest your own amendments or additions via the comments.

Hook Norton – Hooky Gold

I’ve been drinking quite a bit of this one recently; it was in a couple of rounds of Sainsbury’s rolling 2-for-£3 price-promo. A very fresh, zesty, hoppy golden ale with a very pleasant, balancing malt base.

Tasting Notes: Hook Norton Hooky Gold

Purity – Pure Ubu Amber Ale

As the name suggests, this one is a slightly darker ale with a ruddy hue and a maltier flavour-profile. An easy-drinking, palate-warming ale that seems to be generally available in Sainsbury’s.

Tasting Notes: Purity Pure Ubu Amber Ale

Black Sheep – Black Sheep Ale

One of those seemingly-ubiquitous beers that’s easy to overlook, but actually a very tasty drop indeed. A robust, chestnut-brown, malt-rich ale that can even be chilled down to go rather well with a curry.

Tasting Notes: Black Sheep Ale

Bath Ales – Barnstormer

Barnstormer is dark, malty, nutty and sweet (but not overly-sweet) ale that goes great with hearty winter food. It won the Sainsbury’s real ale competition back in 2008 and it’s still stocked by them on a regular basis.

Tasting Notes: Bath Ales Barnstormer (notes by Tim Lebbon)

Williams Bros – Fraoch Heather Ale

I love a drop of Fraoch – when I can get my hands on a bottle without Jo drinking it – and once again, this is a case of the bottled version being almost as good as the draught. Light and malty with a very mellow bitterness from the heather.

Tasting Notes: Williams Bros Fraoch Heather Ale (notes by Joe Gordon)

A few Honourable Mentions

I would happily drink a drop or two of the following on a regular basis, if only I could get hold of them:

• Hopdaemon Skrimshander – only available by mail order, never seen it for sale this far north :(
• Meantime London Pale Ale – used to be all over the place but Sainsbury’s seem to have stopped stocking it recently…
• Fyne Ales Avalanche – Incredibly refreshing and packed full of citrus hop flavours; really almost as good as its draught cousin. Just can’t seem to find the stuff in the supermarkets.

So, there you go. What are your bottled session ale recommendations?

I called in at the already-legendary Euston Tap for the first time yesterday evening, on the way back to my home-bound train. It’s a rather tiny place, with an excellent range of beers, much like The Rake in Borough Market. It wasn’t too busy when I arrived at around 17.45 (but got considerably busier shortly after 18.00) so I plonked myself and my luggage down at a bar-side seat and fired up my decision-making engine.

No easy task, that: I took a good couple of minutes to peruse the beer-blackboard which, with its choice of eight cask ales and a further nineteen draft beers, took some time to sort and digest (and that was without even glancing at the two large and exceedingly well-stocked beer fridges on the back wall). I spotted Brewdog Paradox right away, but decided that starting with that one might be… unwise. Instead, after a quick chat to Australian Barman about dark & malty options, I went for a half of Bristol Beer Factory Bristol Stout.

A classic black and white stout configuration, it’s a deceptive little beggar, this one. There really wasn’t much flavour up front, instead everything was saved for the follow-through; a dab of chocolate and a subtly pleasant milk-coffee dryness on the finish. Turns out (according to the BBF website) that this one’s an oat stout, which could explain the overall mildness of the flavours (I’ve noticed that oat stouts or oatmeal stouts tend to be quite mellow in comparison to drier, coffee stouts and not as sweet as chocolate or milk stouts). Anyhow, I enjoyed my half and have made a mental note to introduce Jo to this one if the opportunity ever arises, as I think it would be right up her street.

Next up, I asked Australian Barman for another two halves, please (and keep the change). The first of these was Bath Ales Barnstormer. I’m quite familiar with this one in bottled form – it’s a definite go-to beer when it turns up in the supermarket special offers – so I was interested in trying the draught version. It poured a rich chestnut-brown, with a thick, creamy head and was very, very smooth indeed. I have to admit I had trouble picking out any particularly unique flavours. It was pleasant malty and nutty but in a rather generic way; nothing that really threatened to grab hold of my taste-buds and gave them a good work-out. Nonetheless, a good, solid easy-drinker and one I could happily sup all evening if I was in the mood for sessioning rather than sampling.

The other half was of the aforementioned BrewDog Paradox. I’ve had a couple of bottles of this rather excellent imperial stout in my time – Smokehead and Longrow – and I’ve got various varieties (or do they call them ‘expressions’, whisky-style?) stashed away in the special cupboard. It’s one of my all-time favourite beers, so I couldn’t possibly pass up on an opportunity to try the draught version, even though there were plenty of other great options on offer (including Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA, which I was extremely tempted by).

What can I say? It was absolutely gorgeous. The same rich blend of dark chocolate, bitter coffee, heady port-wine sweetness and light, wood-smokiness as the bottled version, only more so. The difference was in the mouth-feel, which just took the velvety smoothness up that extra notch. By this point I was chatting away to a couple of gents in the immediate vicinity (one of whom is in charge of staffing at next year’s London Drinker Beer & Cider Festival, which looks well worth a visit) and I could feel myself settling down quite nicely. But I had one of those pesky trains to catch, so I had to bid them a good evening and head on over to the station, the taste of Paradox lingering long.

All in all: a great little pub, highly recommended, although I can imagine it could be a big of a nightmare at peak drinking times; if you can get there for lunchtime, or mid-afternoon, you might have a better chance of getting in the door. I’m in London fairly regularly and nearly always on a day-trip basis, so I can see myself becoming a lot more familiar with the Euston Tap in the months to come.

Edit 17.11.10: There are some photos of the interior – including those beer fridges – over at Alan P’s East London Drinker blog.

The Euston Tap:

Brewery: Bath Ales
Location: Warmley, Bristol
ABV: 4.5%
Version: Bottled
Source: Sainsbury’s

My burgeoning love affair with Bath Ales continues with this cracking dark ale.  I picked it up on a run through Sainsbury’s late one Saturday afternoon, along with a couple of bottles of Meantime (ready for an evening watching Vic Mackey kick butt on The Shield).  After enjoying their Dark Hare so much, I was really looking forward to this.

It poured with a smooth head, releasing a hint of chocolate scent. Interesting, I thought. Hope it’s not too cloying. I needn’t have worried. The chocolate is there, a soft background hint, but it’s also fruity and rich, not heavy but very complex: the chocolate remains, fading to a sweet fruity hint late on (though not too fruity). A lovely ale, whose tastes settled towards the end of the pint making it a pleasure to drink.

Vic Mackey did indeed kick butt, and so do Bath Ales. And they’re only an hour from home …