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It's popular for some reason for IPAs to have high alcohol (like 7% or higher), but there's been a recent trend in IPAs (and other styles) for "session" beers that have more normal ~5% levels. I know it's just a few percent, but I find two or three pints of a lower alcohol beer leave me feeling much better than the higher ones.

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The higher abv is because it allows the beer to obtain more hop flavor (not just bitterness) along with malt flavor. A classic American session IPA[1] will always (of course with few exceptions) be more bitter than a standard IPA and a double will be less bitter than a standard. However as you go up in abv you are able to get a lot more hop flavor in to bitterness. Only so much hop oil can isomerize without enough abv backbone.

[1] not hazys, bruts, east coast, cold or and other sub style. Just talking classic American IPA as made popular in the early 2000'

This is where I'm at. Pale Ales or Session IPA's both have lower calorie and lower ABV. Toppling Goliath's Psuedo Sue is fantastic. It's not cheap though.

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