What’s that, you say? The Session IPA craze isn’t enough for you, now you want fruit in your session IPA? Boy, you’re really asking for it aren’t you? See, it’s bad enough that we have beers called “session IPAs” in the first place, since the vast majority of them are neither session beers nor IPAs. They’re really American Pale Ales (astonishingly, I’ve had beer geeks tell me they don’t have the gravity or alcohol content for that style, though how one can say that and then call them an IPA is quite beyond my capacity).

Be that as it may, just when I finally (and begrudgingly) stated removing these beers from the American Pale Ale page here on bruguru.com and created a unique listing for Session IPAs, you brewers start throwing fruit in them. Take Ballast Point Mango Even Keel for example. It’s a lot like their Even Keel Session IPA, except with mango in it. So what does that make it then, a Session IPA, or a fruit beer? It’s clobberin’ time, I tell ya.

Here’s what Ballast Point says about the beer:

Our Mango Even Keel is the ideal beer for easy drinking. This hoppy, session ale gets a flavor boost from mango, which perfectly plays off the citrusy hop bouquet. With fruit, hops, and a low ABV, this beer truly is on another level.

Ballast Point Mango Even Keel has an alcohol content of 3.8% by volume (hooray!) with 40 IBUs. Why did I hooray the ABV? Because being under 4%, this does indeed qualify as a session beer in the classic definition. It sells for $9.99 a six-pack at Total Wine and is available year-round.

Ballast Point Mango Even Keel pours to a light amber color with a full head of fizzy foam and a decided tropical fruity mango nose. Taking a sip, the beer is thin malty up front (as expected) but quite fruity with citrusy grapefruit hop notes blending nicely with vibrant mango fruit. The beer finishes grassy bitter with some grapefruit peel to boot, balancing it off and making it very refreshing.

An excellent 90-degree weather beer for sure, but now back to that pesky question, is it a Session IPA or a fruit beer? Generally, I go by the predominate character, regardless of how the brewery styles the beer. What do these breweries know, anyway? They only make the stuff. I’m the one drinking it, and probably back when some of these folks were in diapers! So there.

In all seriousness, there’s a lot of hop character here, and the mango fruit was chosen because the tropical fruity hops used throw off similar flavors. So we’ll go with Session IPA and make Ballast Point happy. Now excuse me, I think I’ll pop another can. That, my friends, will make me happy.

And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.

*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.

(B)=Bottled or Canned

(D)=Draft

 

 

 

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