Session Beer Day, April 7!

I don't often double-post from one of my other blogs, but this is one of those times; since the Session Beer Project actually started here, it seems proper. 


I suggested to the members of the small (but rapidly growing) Session Beer Project page on Facebook that we should make April 5th (4.5) or April 7th (Little Repeal Day, when 4.0% ABV beer became legal before repeal of the 18th Amendment) our day, Session Beer Day. We could ask for session beers at our favorite bars, and brewpubs, and suchlike, invite people to try them, gin up plenty of social media whoopee, and all dat.

We decided on April 7: there are a lot of photographs of a LOT of Americans happily drinking 4.0% beer we can use, it's a day the beer industry is already aware of, and...it's a Saturday this year (the day before Easter, which is actually kind of weird for me; I have a tradition of drinking big beers that afternoon), which doesn't hurt when you're planning a beer event!

What to do? If you work at a bar (or manage one, or own one), please consider throwing some under-4.5% beers on for April 7th, and making a special price or promotion for them. Tell folks it's Session Beer Day, and encourage them to see how good lower alcohol beers can be. (Good day to get a "We Support" window sticker, too!) If you're a brewer or wholesaler, encourage your accounts to pick up your under-4.5% beers for that day; it's a great chance to promote those beers! If you're a beer blogger/tweeter/writer, please consider spreading the word about Session Beer Day: use the hashtag #sessionday . And if you're a session beer drinker...get out there and ask for it!

We've got some interest...but this is totally grassroots. This isn't a sponsored event, it's not organized (if you know me, you know that), and it's simply about going out and drinking session beer -- 4.5% or lower, good-tasting, great beer -- and enjoying it. 

Session Beer Project posts this week

I know there's some reader overlap here with my other blog, The Session Beer Project, but in case you don't usually keep an eye on it, I've got two new posts up there that might interest you.

First, there's one about how brewers are jumping on the "session beer train" by using the word sessionable. Well, as of yesterday, I'm not using that word anymore, and I give my reasons why.

Second, and maybe more relevant here, I did an interview with Notch Brewing Company founder/brewer/everything Chris Lohring on the occasion of this all-session beer contract brewer's second anniversary. It's a good thoughtful interview, and I think you'll find it revealing about just how viable sub-4.5% craft beer is.

Session Beer Project revived

I'm not just blogging more here, I've revived The Session Beer Project blog as well. There are two new posts up over there, one on 21st Amendment's Bitter American going year-round (at 4.4%!) and Victory's new 3.9% take on their Dark Lager. Have a look!

Session Beer Project Logo Contest

Since I've declared this to be The Year of The Session, and we're getting some traction, we need to start pushing the idea. Every good blog campaign has a graphic, a logo: Jeff Alworth's Honest Pint Project, our own beer blogfest The Session (guess I can't use that), Rick Lyke's outstandingly appropriate Pints for Prostates... I'm behind the curve here!

So I'm asking for a logo, for the Project and the new SBP blog. I'm good with words, but I suck at creating graphics. I'd like something fairly simple, but not cheesy. The log should include at least one glass of beer -- more or the suggestion of more would be good -- and I'd prefer a photo of a beer rather than a graphic. It should include the words "Session Beer Project", and room for the winner of the tagline poll I'm running on the Session Beer Project page (leave space for about five words, dummy in some lorem ipsum in the chosen font, and we'll fill in the tagline later), and a small "sessionbeerproject.blogspot.com" along one of the margins. I would prefer to avoid light green and orange...just don't like 'em.

I can't afford much, but I will pay $50 for all rights to the winning logo. I don't like to work for free either, but I do work for cheap sometimes. If this doesn't produce one I think is just right, I'll hold off and try again later. My judgment is final, of course: this isn't a contest, it's a project.

If you've got that creative flair, let it fly! Show me what you think crystalizes the idea of the Session Beer Project. You'll get the pleasure of having helped with the Session Beer Project, you'll get that fifty bucks, and you'll get a design credit. Wow, living the dream...have another session beer, bucko.