Session Beer: Bitter American

The 2nd installment in my ongoing session beer series concerns Bitter American.  Like my previous entry this beer also comes in a can.  Bitter American is made by 21st Amendment Brewery out of San Francisco. In fact, all of 21st Amendment Brewery's beers come in a can.  The brewery affirms that cans keep beer fresher and are better for the environment. With spring right around the corner, I'll also attest that can beers are better for taking to festivals.  Why sacrifice flavor when there are now so many craft beers that come in a can?

Bitter American is a true rarity: an IPA session beer.  IPAs are all the rage among beer snobs yet they are usually too high in alcohol content to be considered a session beer.  Not so with the Bitter American:  at 4.4% alcohol content you can have one or three and still have all your faculties intact. 

I'm not always keen on aromatic hoppy beers, but I found Bitter American to have a nice balance of hop (42 IBUs) and malt taste.  Light amber color, citrus hop aroma, moderately bitter.  It's a refreshingly lower-alcohol American session ale that won't fill you up.  Look for it in cans at you local beer specialty store!  For some reason it's considered a late winter seasonal brew and is currently only available January through March.  There's still time to find it this year although it might be worth petitioning 21st Amendment to make Bitter American year round.

Be a Fan