Session IPA (4.2%) - Fourpure Brewing Co, London, England

One of the best things about being known within your circle of friends and family as a beer obsessive is that people know exactly what to get you for your birthday. Being presented with a large crate of previously unencountered small-batch craft beers does have its problems, though, such as demanding masses of self-restraint. Still, a year older and wiser, I should be able to pace myself sensibly. We'll see how that goes.

London within England

This entry marks the first time I've sampled a small-batch beer out of a can. There's a certain buzz around cans at the moment, widely being trumpeted as having benefits of keeping the beer fresh, fully protecting it against air and light and locking in the flavours of all the lovingly added hops. I've always had more of an appreciation for the bottle-conditioned stuff myself, but I'm up for trying new things and what better brewery to lose my craft beer cannie virginity to than the UK's first brewery to can all their beers from the start?

The can itself has a faint backdrop of the New York skyline, where this particular brew was inspired from. The sides of the can are lined with a malted barley pattern, like some kind of grainy skyscraper.

Session IPA pours a murky golden-amber colour, giving it the appearance of a soup you just want to slurp up. It has a small, bubbling head that leaves a clean glass (a tulip glass, as suggested by them) on its way down.

The aroma is of a wonderful smooth, floral nature with notes of lychee, becoming more pronounced as the beer warms up, which it's well worth giving it the chance to do.

More of those lychee flavours come through in the flavour with a zesty tangerine citrus note to add some bitterness. The big hop flavours complement each other nicely, creating a complex but harmonious character.

With a relatively smooth mouthfeel as you enjoy the fruity lychee qualities, this medium-bodied beer in contrast has a very dry finish which is well suited to it as an IPA, making it crisp and refreshing over all. Extremely quaffable and at 4.2% ABV, Session IPA does a fine job of fulfilling its purpose as an easy-drinking sessionable IPA (and craft-beer-in-a-can virginity taker).


Appearance 3.5/5
Aroma 3.5/5
Flavour 4.5/5
Mouthfeel 4/5
Overall rating 8/10