Under 6% Tasting

This tasting came about because I really started to get into Session IPAs and it was right before the start of summer which is the best time for Session-like beers. They were starting to pop up all over and I figured hey lets do a night where we try them all. Well after purchasing all the sessions I could get my hands on, I realized there wouldn't be enough beer for the tasting crowd.  Therefore I made a decision..hey lets throw in a bunch of other low percent beers and I made 6% the cut off point. We ended up with 48 beers ranging from Session IPAs, to Wheats, to Pale Ales, to Pilsners and a couple single randoms like an Amber, Pale Lager and Wit. All of them are pictured below:

I would like to discuss each category as I review the results.  To begin, the Session IPAs. There were some great ones here. Fat Heads Sunshine Daydream, Pizza Port S.I.P.A., Firestone Easy Jack, Stone Go To, Carton Brewing Boat Session were the top 5 for Sessions in no particular order. The other 7, Drakes Alpha, Southern Tier Farmers Tan, Troegs Scratch #143, Great Divide Lasso, Flying Dog Easy IPA, Founders All Day, and Goose Island Endless IPA were all very drinkable but we agreed just didn't match up when it came to hoppiness and full body flavor you want from a Session IPA.
As for the Pale Ales only a few here stood out.  Local growler of Community Beerworks The Frank was real nice, Maine Mo was great, Half Acre Daisy Cutter and Southern Tier Live were the best of the crop.  The others were ranging from pretty good to just not very good at all.
The Wheats had a hands down winner and that was Three Floyds Gumballhead. Half Acre Akari Shogun and Bells Oberon were a close second.  The rest were all just typical wheats that didn't blow anyone away.
The Pilsners were a small crop and sadly none stood out to us but I would say the best out of the small crop was Firestone Pivo Pils.
As for the complete other random ones, Otter Creek Citra Mantra which is consider a Pale Lager was real good. The rest didn't impress me at all.
It was hard doing this tasting after the extremely successful IPA tasting, but it was still a blast with lots of good people and a lot of people left seeking out more of the Session-like beers to drink during the summer.

Half Acre Beer Company - Chicago, IL

After a few beer store stops it was time to hit up Chicago's breweries. First stop was Half Acre.  Located north of Chicago, it's in a busier part of town but we were lucky to find once we got there that it wasn't TOO packed....probably because it was a Tuesday at 3pm.  They have a giant merchandise store next door to the tap room.  TONS of merchandise for sale.

-As for the beer samples we had...Space IPA was realy nice, Navaja Imperial IPA was really nice, Daisy Cutter Pale Ale was really good and hoppy for a pale, Pony Pils was pretty good.

-Not much else to say because this stop was simple, very nice people working at the bar and gift shop, tasty beer, MUCH recommended when you're in the Chicago area...check out their current taps halfacrebeer.com/