Easily acquired vote: Lagunitas Daytime, Victory Headwaters. Local vote: NEBCO Galaxy Pale Ale. 4.4% and just a mindblowing amount of Galaxy hops.
Surprised no one has mentioned some of Toppling Goliath's APA's - Millennium Falcon, PseudoSue, and ZeeLander are all fantastic. +1 to NEBCO Galaxy, HF Edward, and Lagunitas Daytime
21st Ammendment's Bitter American is 4.2% ABV and as as much hop flavor as most american pale ales, and even many IPAs. It regularly frequents my fridge.
NEBCO Galaxy is my #1 - also, Founders Harvest (if I could ever get enough of it in Mass to session it...), DayTime, HF Edward. I also do like the hoppy pils for this - Prima Pils, Noble Pils (best beer BBC makes).
Herbaceous from Smuttynose. From their short batch series. 4.35% Superhop forward & crisp. Could drink it all day!
this thread itself has actually been relatively devoid of debate over the term(s). the OP made a smart choice and used session-able. "drink one less" is not always preferable. you also have to compensate for the diuretic effect of alcohol, especially at higher gravities. the lower ABV the beer, the less water you have to drink. below 4% ABV, beer starts to become hydrating, thus making it a far more socially quaffable beverage - you don't always have to double fist with a glass of water.
I like the Jabby Brau recommendation. Thanks, BlackBelt. Row 2, Hill 56 was damn tasty when we were in Santa Rosa for PtY. Lawson's Paradise Pale Ale is another option. It's under 5%.
To add to this, if we eliminate the terms "session" or more appropriate for US-based websites "sessionable" and simply ask for beers people think are "low abv" or "easy to drink" you'll get a WIDE variety of answers. Heady Topper may be incredibly easy for me to drink, but at 8% that's going to catch up to me. And Flower Power at 7.5% may be "low abv" to me if I regularly drink Russian Imperial stouts at 10%. Using the term "sessionable" at least narrows the range of beers people suggest.
Carton Brewing's Boat Beer is probably my favorite hoppy session beer. Won't find it in Vegas though.
If you're in MN, it would be Brau Hopsession or Surly Bitter Brewer. Both are 4%. Hopsession has amazing flavor and aroma for the ABV. I know there is plenty of debate about the price, but unless lower ABV=lower price, I'm not buying it.
Gumballhead is not quite an IPA either, but at 4.5% it is one of the better balances between taste and being able to have more than 2.
I recently had Coronado's Wet Willie (~4.5% "XPA") and it was amazing...by far the best Coronado beer I've had.
