Beer of the Week: Getaway Day

A session beer is defined as one coming in under 5% alcohol-by-volume (ABV). That category encompasses a wide variety of styles, including the vast majority of lagers; the types of beer drinkers are used to consuming multiple servings of over prolonged events like, say, a Fourth of July cookout. But what about the hopheads? This question was top of mind in the early twenty-teens, when craft brewing companies began rolling out session IPAs in force. Lowering an IPA’s ABV from around 7% to sub-5% while keeping all the hoppiness fans of the style enjoy sounds easy enough, but that seemingly simple process has proven a complex riddle for many a brewer. Developing a lower-alcohol beer with enough body to carry the weight of all those hops is incredibly tough, like making Beef Wellington with tofu in place of a tenderloin. Early on in the age of session IPAs, I’d say only about 10% were any good, making it all the more impressive when I came across a “SIPA” of quality. Over a decade has passed and brewers have evolved their techniques with this style over that span, but SIPAs are still rather hit-or-miss and it’s a feat worthy of mention (and applause) when one comes together. Until last week, the lowest-ABV IPA I’d ever consumed came in at 4%…and it wasn’t very good. How could it be, I thought? It had barely anything to back it up – a crystal-clear, straw-hued canvas lacking any form of backbone. Trying to go that low with a SIPA was foolishness bordering on pointlessness…or so I thought. Enter this week’s featured beer, Getaway Day, a (get this italicized stat) three percent ABV “Anytime IPA”! Built by Point Loma-based Bay City Brewing to be consumed whenever and in whatever quantity one wants without hindering their ability to accomplish what they otherwise could stone-sober, or make decisions like “do I really need that fourth hot dog?”, it’s a beer one would logically expect to be wispy, watery and outmatched; a noble experiment best left on the drawing board or the waste basket right next to it. But here’s the thing…Getaway Day is a damn good SIPA. A pop of the top releases aromas of tangerine en route to flavors of grapefruit, orange candy and spruce, with resin bitterness in the finish. The body is thinner than a 6% or 7% IPA, but that’s to be expected. And it’s not nearly as noticeable as one would expect, thanks in large part to a malt bill that’s more in line with West Coast IPAs of yesteryear versus our (admittedly incredible) extra-dry San Diego-style IPAs. Had the Bay City crew gone that route, this beer likely would have been yet another subpar SIPA. Instead, it’s a great beer for the holiday weekend or, as they so aptly put it…anytime.

The idea of Getaway Day has been percolating within the brew team at Bay City for a long time…could we really brew a full-flavored IPA at 3%? It seemed like a fun challenge, so why not give it a try? We didn’t want a watered-down version of the IPAs we already loved; we wanted to build a whole new concept from the ground up. So, after an incredible amount of test-batching and tinkering, we finally landed on something that delivers an authentic IPA experience while keeping the specs modest. The hop combo of Citra, Cascade, Idaho 7 and Elani gives Getaway Day a nice punchy bitterness along with complex aromas of citrus, stone fruit and resin. We called it an ‘Anytime IPA’ because it turned into the perfect companion for every adventure we could throw at it. But really it’s just a great, flavorful beer that we brewed so we can have something to drink all day without worrying about tomorrow’s 6 a.m. clock-in.”

Austin Pinder, Head Brewer, Bay City Brewing

Bay City Brewing’s venues are located at 3760 Hancock Street in Point Loma, and 627 8th Avenue in downtown San Diego’s East Village neighborhood