A message to you, Rudy? At first, I thought that that was what Ska Brewing was sending with their Rudie Session IPA. Rudy? The Sessions? Session IPA? You get the picture. Upon closer inspection of the label, though, you can see a porkpie bedecked dancer inside a checkered banner that is the hallmark of the ska band Bad Manners, and one of their songs, Lip Up Fatty, is referenced on the label too.
So, I don’t know exactly what Ska is up to here, as there are too many innuendos going on to keep track of. With that said, I’ll just enjoy the beer and listen to both songs, just to be safe.
From the brewery website:
A brew you can drink for breakfast.
A beer to reward yourself with after a hard day’s work.
or if your hard day’s work is mowing the lawn, consider drinking on the job.
SOUL MATES
Pairs great with breakfast, summer, sunny days, rainy days, winter, on the river, on the trail. Drink it any day, any time.
Rudie begins with a big fruity hop aroma of pears and watermelon candy, but is relatively low in actual bitterness.
Well, lots of stuff going on there, too. Ska Rudie Session IPA has an alcohol content of 4.5% by volume with 45 IBUs. At 4.5% it is not a session beer in the classic sense, nor can it be an IPA. But there you go. Ska beers are not sold in Georgia; I got a can from legendary beer man Dale Roberts.
Ska Rudie Session IPA pours to a light yellow golden color with a light creamy head and a pronounced citrus and resin nose. Taking a sip the beer has light caramel up front tough maybe more than usual for the style followed by big piney resin notes and bitter grapefruit peel and orange. The finish is sharply bitter without a lot of malt to balance it, but again, that’s the style talking.
Actually, I think I like this one better than most in the style. Perhaps it’s just that little extra bit of malt here, and while it’s still slightly thin, it’s very drinkable indeed. Interestingly, this was the first of two back to back Galaxy-hopped beers, Clown Shoes Galactica IPA being the second.
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
(D)=Draft