Gail and Steve from Beer by BART have announced the theme for The Session #29: Will Travel for Beer. They present plenty of options about how to approach this topic.

We’ll be in Colorado then, I think, and will have in the past year visited 17 countries, 9 Canadian provinces and territories, and 46 states — so far, three to go after that and then heading home (without driving to Hawaii).

As I am fond of writing, this is not a beer trip — even though I know full well you can sleep in an RV park in Newport, Oregon, that has space almost adjacent to Rogue’s House of Spirits and within crawling distance of the Rogue Ales brewry — but I’m pretty sure I’ll be able to find something to write about.

People who are predisposed to spend $95 to attend a beer and food festival say “high quality” is their main priority when purchasing beer, as opposed to low price or brand recognition.

Is this news?

Here are excerpts from the Brewers Association press release:

On Saturday, May 30, over 1,900 attendees enjoyed craft beer and food pairings from 68 craft breweries at the sold-out SAVOR: An American Craft Beer & Food Experience at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C. A post-event survey conducted by the Brewers Association finds that demand for quality beer remains high despite the economy. An overwhelming 91.4 percent of surveyed attendees said the economy has not affected the quality of beer they purchase. In addition, 98.8 percent of respondents cite “high quality” as their main priority when purchasing beer, as opposed to “low price” or “brand recognition.”

When it comes to spending habits, over half (54.9 percent) of surveyed SAVOR attendees said they spend more than $50 per month on beer, while 36.6 percent spend between $25 and $50 and only 8.6 percent spend less than $25 per month. And contrary to popular belief, many beer lovers enjoy other fermented beverages as well. Nearly half of respondents (46.9 percent) claimed to look outside the beer glass and consider themselves to be cross drinkers (enjoying a combination of beer, wine and/or liquor), while 51.6 percent identify themselves as beer lovers exclusively.

Survey Methodology: The Brewers Association survey of SAVOR: An American Craft Beer & Food Experience attendees took place online from June 1-2, 2009, with data derived from 257 respondents.

I find the idea that this survey of people who paid $95 to attend SAVOR (ticket details) was conducted and that the results might have meaning so strange I can’t think of anything flip to write.

Brian Yaeger has posted the roundup for The Session #28. Since Brian asked for it he got a nice collection of beers from far away, far away being subjective, of course.

Several first time Session participant — go make them feel welcome by leaving a comment — while some “regulars” turned up missing. I think, and I’m not making this up, it may have been because they were traveling.

This is my contribution to The Session #28, hosted by Brian Yaeger. I’m posting early because we’ll be amongst tall trees on Friday, a canopy the Internet cannot penetrate. Visit Brian’s blog on Friday for links to more posts.

For The Session this month Brian asks us to write about the brewery whose beer we’ve enjoyed the longest distance from our home. I figured from the outset that hops would be involved, because I thought this would be an opportunity to tell another story about drinking hoppy pilsners in small towns in the Czech Republic or hoppy ales in Vienna (I would have written about the HopDevil Ale at the 1516 brewpub while consuming Victory’s HopDevil here.) But when I did the math using two different online mapping services, two because the results surprised me, I discovered the south of Italy is farther from our Corrales home.

Not that I had to quit thinking about hops.

Although we didn’t visit Birra del Borgo west of Rome, we had several of the brewery’s beers at Bir & Fud in Rome, the restaurant del Borgo founder/brewer Leonardo di Vincenzo co-owns. I interviewed him for a story in the current DRAFT magazine at Ma Che Siete Venuti A Fa’, a wonderful pub across the street that features Italian craft beers on tap along with rarities from Franconia and Belgium.

The options that evening included del Borgo’s Re Ale from a handpump, a rather easy choice for both Daria and I. It’s an American Pale Ale even if it is brewed in Italy, rich in Northwest American hop flavor and aroma. I took one deep whiff and told di Vincenzo, “Smells like home.”

By “home” I meant the United States in general, but sure as hell could have said “California,” where we’ve been for going on a month. Since we’re off to Oregon next there’s little doubt that when we return to New Mexico some of our clothes may still smell of grapefruit and pine.

Although B. United imports some of del Borgo’s beers Re Ale is not to be found anywhere we’ve been recently. So, back to Brian’s instructions and alternative #3: “find a local beer of the same style and do a little compare and contrast.”

That beer is North Coast Red Seal Ale. The bonus being I also had it from a handpump, in this case at North Coast’s pub across the street from the brewery in Fort Bragg. Sorry, no real compare and contrast here. I will simply suggest you too should find a place serving Red Seal cask-conditioned. The hops are delightfully floral and packed with grapefruity aromas, but softer on the palate than when you pour a glass from the bottle. The texture in the mouth is a pure delight, and the finish just as dry and bitter as from the bottle.

How was it like Re Ale, how was it different? I was too busy enjoying Red Seal to consider that, just like I ultimately enjoyed Re Ale last October more because of the flavor than because of any memories of home.

Is there a takeaway message? You decide.

Think you know where in the beer world this photo was taken?

Please leave your answer as a comment.

You don’t need a hint if you can read.

The May/June issue of DRAFT magazine has hit newsstands, though none I’ve seen. So now you can read the rest of the story from when I reported on beer in Italy back in October and December. Since I haven’t seen the print edition I don’t know what photos appeared with my words.

Perhaps the one at the top, taken at the bar at Birrificio Troll in Vernante.

You can read the story online, but DRAFT would rather you grab a copy from a newsstand or subscribe. Seems fair to me.

Today’s Wall Street Journal reports on a topic that’s been simmering in the wine blog and wine discussion board world for a while: the ethics of wine writing, centering on Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate.

Read it, and check out blog entries from Dr. Vino and Wine Enthusiast columnist Steve Heimoff.

Now to beer (and a couple more wine links). More than a year ago in looking for an excuse to use a lovely quote from Kenneth Tynan (”A critic’s job, nine-tenths of it, is to make way for the good by demolishing the bad”) I tossed up a post that generated a silly number of comments, leading to a discussion about the ethics of beer writing.

That probably doesn’t need to be revisited. But there is something else to think about. During the course of the Parker flap, the author at winesooth.com asked several prominent wine writers a variety of leading questions. Good reading. But if you check out just one response make it Jancis Robinson’s.

She answers questions not asked, including the issue of writing about people who turn into friends. She writes, “I cannot think of a single wine writer who has managed the sort of hermit-like existence that would be required of them if they were to ensure that they had no real human contact with anyone in the wine trade.”

The discussion about wine junkets and samples of ridiculously priced wines makes it pretty apparent how wine and beer continue to differ (thank goodness). But friendship, that’s universal. It’s one of the joys of writing about beer. Something for me to remember when I write and you to remember when you read.

By the way, if you read this far I applaud you. Despite the lengthy discussion’s at Parker’s website and all the words typed on wine blogs this is a subject I’m not sure how many wine or beer drinkers give a good burp about. Witness the rather meager 11 comments at winesooth.com.

Think you know where in the beer world this photo was taken?

Please leave you answer as a comment.

This is what happens when you have two guys with cameras in a place that serves beer. Yes, the photographer is using the glass as a tripod.

I figure there’s a good chance somebody can name the city; the spot may be a little tougher. The second photo, of my beer, provides a tiny hint.

Joe Stange at the Thirsty Pilgrim posts troubling news from Armand Debelder at Drie Fonteinen.

Because of a busted thermostat, excessive heat ruined about 100,000 bottles of lambic and gueuze in storage last weekend. He said that represented about a third of his annual revenue, so it is a serious blow to his business. It is not a fatal blow—he is determined to survive and keep going—but it is serious nonetheless. For example, there will be virtually no 37.5 cL bottles of gueuze on the market this summer.

Curioiusly, Debelder could end up distilling the ruined lambic into a liquor.

Go read the whole story.

One year to the day after we left home on this rather pleasant family journey I found myself wandering about Firestone Walker Brewing in Paso Robles, Calif. And checking out the brewery’s patented union system up close and personal.

That probably makes it hard for you to believe it when I keep saying “This really isn’t a beer trip.”