Welcome to Beer Tastings, a weekly series in which Utah Beer News highlights a particularly tasty local brew. This week we pull up a stool at Uinta Brewhouse Pub to taste Trader Session IPA. What are you drinking? Let us know!
Beer Tastings: Trader Session IPA
A couple months ago, we featured in this space one of our go-to IPAs, Hop Nosh. Today, we’re returning to Uinta Brewery to taste another quality IPA. This time, we dial down the ABV to 4% and enjoy a Trader Session IPA.
This particular beer is readily available. In fact, it’s what I order 75% of the time when I’m out at a bar with a limited craft beer selection. It’s usually on tap (at least at bars I frequent).
It’s always nice to get it at the source, however. And that’s what I did on a recent Friday afternoon.
Trader Session IPA, called simply “IPA” when it debuted in 1996, pours a golden orange with a thin layer of white foam. The aromas are subtle pine and a nice dose of citrus (lime for me).
The flavors skew toward apricot, though some of the citrus comes through as well. It’s a crisp, medium-bodied IPA with a nice floral bitterness at the end.
The description on RateBeer.com mentions that it’s dry hopped with Centennial.
- Brewery: Uinta Brewing Co.
- ABV: 4%
- Serving Style: Draft
- Date Tasted: October 12, 2018
- Purchase Location: Uinta Brewhouse Pub
Uinta Brewing: IPAs
It’s likely not a coincidence that two IPAs featured thus far in our Tastings columns are brewed by Uinta. The Utah-based brewery, which celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2018, consistently brews quality beers. And it seems to do particularly well with hop-forward creations.
In reading up on Trader Session IPA, I came across a passage in Jennifer Talley’s book, Session Beers: Brewing for Flavor and Balance. The mid-1990s welcomed a rush of “hop-forward, lower-alcohol pale ales.”
“Uinta Brewing Company started producing and selling a 4% ABV version of IPA, simply called ‘IPA.’ Since the recent popularity of the word session, this beer has now been rebranded as Trader Session IPA.”
Twenty-two years on and still going strong.
Trader Session IPA — Uinta Brewing
Product Name: Trader Session IPA
Product Description: From Uinta Brewing: The original session IPA that set the course for all to follow. Trader navigates intrepid hop flavors of apricot, red apple, and lime.
- Aroma
- Appearance
- Flavor
- Mouthfeel
Overall Impression
Perhaps my go-to IPA when I’m at a bar with a limited craft beer selection. That’s not to say this one is a “consolation prize.” Not by any stretch. Trader Session IPA is a solid beer, with a nice balance between floral hop bitterness and light malt sweetness.
- Aroma: Subtle pine and citrus (lime)
- Appearance: Golden-orange with a thin layer of white foam
- Flavor: Skews toward apricot, though a nice dose of citrus is there as well; floral bitterness
- Mouthfeel: Crisp, medium-bodied
But you don’t have to take my word for it.
Notes: The tasting notes format is adapted from a Homebrew Academy Beer Tasting Mastery course I took in 2017. Utah Beer News is not compensated in any way for beers mentioned in the Tastings series.
