The Session #40: Session Beers

As is quite appropriate, I chose to post my contribution to The Session for this month (topic: Session beers) at the blog for The Session Beer Project™. You'll find it here. It is by far the longest post I've ever put there.

SBP day

Two new posts up at the Session Beer Project blog today, a relatively busy day over there. One, from Jeffo's Beer Blog, is just for fun -- and green-eyed envy! -- the other is a link to Martyn Cornell's The Zythophile blog on "sessionability." Have a read.

Kennett Square BrewFest Conn-O-Session Report

Finally wrote up the after-action report on the all-session beer "Conn-O-Session" connoisseur tasting at the Kennett Square BrewFest over at the Session Beer Project blog. Have a look.

Brilliant idea from CAMRA (no, really!)

The Campaign for Real Ale has a fantastic idea: zero tax on beers that are 2.8% ABV or lower. I blogged about it over at The Session Beer Project; take a look.

All Session Beer at the Kennett Brewfest Connoisseur Session!

That's right, people: the Kennett Brewfest just announced that their acclaimed Connoisseur Session, the extra session before this great beer festival starts that is usually non-stop BIG beerBig BeerBIG BEER...is going to be a Conn-o-session. Get the whole story here (where it should be).

Iron Hill Triple Bock, and Two Years of STAG at a Post a Day

This post means that once again I've made my average of a post a day. This is 731 published posts (there are about seven more in there that are not seeing the light of day for various reasons; don't bother asking) since I started STAG on January 31 in 2007. That's one a day, including the extra day for leap year. Once again, I did way too much blogging in January. Hope you all appreciate it (more than my editors did, at least).

Still, it was a good year for my blogging. I started two new blogs -- Why the PLCB Should Be Abolished and the brand-new Session Beer Project -- even though I dropped the ball on the PLCB blog for three months. I have high hopes for the Session Beer Project blog; I think we've really got things rolling there, and this might be a little extra push. My whole theory on session vs. extreme beers is that the extreme beers get all the press, mostly from folks like me. The Session Beer Project is my way of trying to change that balance; on my side, and encouraging others to do the same. It's already working: there have been more articles on session beers in the past year than I ever remember seeing before. So we'll see where that goes.

Anyway... I made my average (or will, if I get this done by midnight!), so I'm celebrating with a bottle of Iron Hill Triple Bock, a small, strong, special bottle. It's very dark, it's very fruity, and rich. It's got a lot happening: overripe cherry, prune, some brighter notes of peach and nectarine, and chocolate and just the barest hint of anise. And of course, it's quite sweet, but they manage to keep it fairly clean at the end. Really, it's just a damned luscious dessert beer.

Here's to my third year.

New Home for the Session Beer Project

After two years of posting about the Session Beer Project here on STAG, I've decided it's time for it to move out. I've started a new blog that's just for the SBP, and wittily named it The Session Beer Project.

I think we're at a turning point on session beer in America. I know there's a lot more interest around Philadelphia, there's The Diamond in New York City, there's Grand River Brewing in Cambridge, Ontario, and more coming all the time. If you know more places doing session beers regularly, tell me about them; if you know good session beers with good distribution, send that, too.

But you'll see them pop up over at the new blog. I'm not really sure what we're going to do with it. The main aim is simply to raise awareness, and let people know that there are choices...even in an industry that's all about choice.

I'll see you there.