Time for a beer blogging day
All the best ideas end up with beer.
Food bloggers have their own cooking day once a month. Wine bloggers have Wine Blogging Wednesday.
It seems that beer bloggers around the world should have something similar. So let’s start one, an event that will occur on the first Friday of every month. It doesn’t have to have a name (yet) or a logo (like wine), just participants who want to have a little fun and don’t mind learning a little along the way.
Appellation Beer will host the first tasting March 2 (giving us time to get out the word), and the theme will be “Not your father’s Irish stout.”
There aren’t many rules. Simply pour yourself a stout (or stouts) and post on the topic March 2, looking ahead to St. Patrick’s Day or not and writing about any stout that isn’t Guinness, Murphy’s or Beamish (the Irish old guard – good beers but we’re writing about others). Should you worry about style? About getting the opinion of friends, about writing an official tasting note, about food? About the history of the beer or how its made? All optional.
After we do this a couple of months different bloggers will likely find different approaches we are comfortable with.
If you think you might participate please leave a comment or drop me an e-mail. Then invite a friend to participate too. After you post on March 2 send me the URL and I’ll write a wrap up with links to all the posts.
Alan McLeod of A Good Beer Blog will host the April gathering, announcing the theme shortly after March 2. If you have an idea for a monthly tasting, and particularly if you want to volunteer to be a host, send me an e-mail.
Posted: January 31st, 2007 under Beer culture, Drinking notes, The Session.
January 31st, 2007 at 5:57 pm
Great idea, Stan. I’ll likely participate.
January 31st, 2007 at 6:16 pm
Cool idea, I’m in!
January 31st, 2007 at 6:53 pm
[...] Stan over at Appellation Beer is proposing Beer Blogging Day. It’s essentially a themed blogging day the first Friday of every month. If you are familiar [...]
January 31st, 2007 at 7:34 pm
Stan, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!
I have been hoping that something like this would start. I will definetely participate, and I wouldn’t mind hosting an event as well.
Thanks again.
Tedo
January 31st, 2007 at 7:35 pm
This is a great idea! Can’t wait to participate.
January 31st, 2007 at 11:12 pm
Yep, I’m there. I just blogged about it, too.
How about “Beer Blogging Friday”? (Yeah, I know, real original…)
February 1st, 2007 at 2:25 pm
Sounds good. I’m in. Now, which stout to taste…?
February 1st, 2007 at 2:40 pm
Count me in! Great idea.
February 1st, 2007 at 9:37 pm
Hey, now that I’ve got a blog…and you’re doing session beers…I’m in!
February 2nd, 2007 at 12:38 am
Great idea…I’m in.
February 2nd, 2007 at 3:54 am
I’ve got to drink some beers anyway for my New Year’s Resolution – so this sounds like a grand idea to me. I’m all ’bout it.
February 2nd, 2007 at 1:25 pm
Count me in.
February 2nd, 2007 at 3:30 pm
Great idea! However I’d take issue with the assertion that Guinness, Murphy’s and Beamish are good beers…
February 3rd, 2007 at 3:08 pm
Sounds like a great idea. You can count on Hop Talk to participate. We’ll even volunteer to host.
February 4th, 2007 at 5:14 pm
Great idea! i was looking for something like this for a while: i think that it also makes sense to announce this event on Is My Blog Burning – i bet many of food bloggers would be happy to participate.
February 9th, 2007 at 2:36 am
Stan:
Count me in. After all, I Lyke2Drink and this as the best excuse I’ve heard today!
Rick
February 9th, 2007 at 2:51 am
I’ll bet we can scare up a good stout or two ….Count us in!
February 9th, 2007 at 8:47 pm
My first blog will be! Bells Expedition Stout!
February 10th, 2007 at 9:52 pm
I am very much up for this one! I am so making stout ice cream to eat while blogging about the actual beer.
February 11th, 2007 at 8:33 pm
I don’t really have a beer blog. Just a blog where I write about beer a lot. But I’d still like to participate.
And FYI, in the blogging world, what you’re trying to do is often called a “carnival”.
February 11th, 2007 at 9:10 pm
Matt – We’ll be happy to have you.
February 11th, 2007 at 9:36 pm
I know I’ve sent you an e-mail off line, but I figured I add my participation here, too. I’m in.
February 11th, 2007 at 9:49 pm
For a name, what about:
1. Fermentation Friday
2. First Friday Fermentation
3. Firkin Friday
4. Frickin’ Firkin Friday
5. Frothy Friday
6. Monthly Malty Musings
7. Monthly Mash-In
February 13th, 2007 at 2:46 am
I am a newbie to beer blogging. My site has been up for about a month now. This sounds like a great idea. I am in.
February 14th, 2007 at 3:17 am
[...] going to drink an Stoudt’s outmeal stout, but I think I’m going to save that one for Beer Blogging Day in a couple of weeks. I think it’s going to be hard to resist drinking it between now and [...]
February 15th, 2007 at 3:24 pm
Sounds like a plan. I’d be glad to participate.
February 16th, 2007 at 2:18 pm
Oh, I am SO in. Just started a beer blog last month, but the few readers that we have will know of your glory. Blogged about the idea today as well. Yeah, pretty timely, I know.
February 16th, 2007 at 8:03 pm
I’m in. Cheers to “friday fermentations”!
February 20th, 2007 at 1:42 pm
Sounds like a plan…now to find a good one I haven’t already had!
February 21st, 2007 at 6:14 pm
I just started a blog for our beer tasting club. I’ll participate.
February 22nd, 2007 at 1:55 am
[...] out this beer blog. This guy is suggesting to start a monthly beer blog day. The first friday of the month. I think [...]
February 26th, 2007 at 6:20 pm
You might consider entering the pertinent details at http://blogcarnival.com/
Wine Blogging Wednesday is listed in the food category, for instance.
February 26th, 2007 at 9:19 pm
Thanks, Al. I plugged it in.
February 27th, 2007 at 8:55 pm
Sounds great!
March 2nd, 2007 at 4:35 am
[...] is part of “The Sessionâ€. The inaugural version, actually, of a monthly day set aside by beer bloggers to post about the [...]
March 2nd, 2007 at 4:48 am
[...] Blue Fin Stout has a taste that meets the style with a mouthfeel that doesn’t. The beer was very drinkable although probably not a great example of the style. [...]
March 2nd, 2007 at 6:46 am
Here’s my effort – a review of Shoreditch Stout from Pitfield – http://stonch.blogspot.com/2007/03/pitfield-shoreditch-stout.html
March 2nd, 2007 at 8:09 am
[...] This is the debut of the First Friday Beer Blogging Sessions. On the first Friday of each month, there will be an internet-wide beer tasting and beer blogging [...]
March 2nd, 2007 at 10:12 am
[...] of “beer blogger,” I’d best be participating in what’s now known as “The Session.” So, here we [...]
March 2nd, 2007 at 1:23 pm
Is the current thinking that this will always be a “tasting” type of event? Because I’ve an idea for an edition and it really has nothing to do with tasting.
March 2nd, 2007 at 1:39 pm
Al – I don’t think are are any rules.
Other than beer should be involved.
March 2nd, 2007 at 2:18 pm
I thought as much. I’ve just noticed that a lot of participating blogs today were defining “The Session” as a monthly beer tasting event.
March 2nd, 2007 at 7:41 pm
Here is mine – I reviewed Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout 2006-07.
http://bostonbeerman.blogspot.com/
Thanks for hosting the event Stan.
March 2nd, 2007 at 9:03 pm
[...] Stan Hieronymus, (that’s Mr. Hieronymus for you), has started off with the first Friday by labeling it as “The Session”. He didn’t feel that the name would stick. But I’m pretty sure that it will, since [...]
March 3rd, 2007 at 1:03 am
This minte, I’m taking part in a national stout tasting. Beer bloggers across the country are tasting a stout of their own choice today (March 2) and posting a link on Stan Hieronymus’s blog site. It’s been quite a day and the choice of stouts is amazing. Check it out here.
By my clock, it’s 11:47 p.m., so it’s still March 2 in the Pacific Time Zone, at least, if not in New Mexico where I’m posting this.
My stout for the tasting is Drake’s Imperial Stout, a dark, lucious, 8.75 percent alcohol by volumene beauty of a stout. It’s brewed in San Leandro, CA. at Drake’s Brewing Co. by head brewer Rodger Davis and his assistant, Melissa Myers.
They’re more famous for their uber-IPA beers like Denogganizer. But they also make a range of dark beers that are quite special.
Drake’s Imperial Stout, which comes in stubby, 17 oz. bottles with a swingtop like a Grolsch bottle, pours an opague brown with a moderate head of rocky tan foam. The aroma’s enticing, a bit like sherry, intense, a tang of alcohol and roast malt and a bit of fruit.
The taste is full and malty, but not overly sweet. It’s balanced by Chinook hops and the finish is drying with quite a bit of heat from the alcohol.
Really, a damn good stout. Eat your heart out Guinness. — William Brand.
March 6th, 2007 at 7:51 am
Stan,
We’ll do our part! Although we’re more a verbal blog, aka podcast, we are pretty consistent. This past show, number 67, was all about Stouts. We reviewed about six of them including a warmup from Dogfish Head and a homebrewed Kentucky Breakfast Stout.
We have promoted this idea of yours on a couple of shows so far, and will continue to promote you and the other bloggers who participate. There is not enough education about beer and beer styles – we all can learn more and share with others.
Thanks for getting this started and count us in.
Is there a schedule yet?
March 6th, 2007 at 9:07 am
Dick – The next one is April 6 and Alan will announce the theme any day.
Also, we’re happy to have podcasts, so please e-mail Alan with a link if you participate in April. I’ll get you added to the March roundup.
March 23rd, 2007 at 6:55 am
[...] on “The Session“: Mark your calendar for Friday, April 6 2007. Alan McLeod (editor and principal [...]
March 25th, 2007 at 2:42 pm
[...] so it is with The Session, a concept, floated at the end of January, by Stan over at Appellation Beer. It goes like [...]
March 29th, 2007 at 5:59 am
[...] on “The Session“: Mark your calendar for Friday, April 6, 2007. Alan McLeod (editor and principal [...]
April 5th, 2007 at 11:19 pm
I agree with tarelki. This event should be announced on IMBB or any of the other meme event sites. I almost completely missed this post and started my own event a month ago.
August 3rd, 2007 at 6:17 am
[...] The Session was created by the folks at Appellation Beer who thought it was high time for beer bloggers to write about the same topic on the same day. Determining the monthly topic is rotated among participating beer bloggers. [...]
August 27th, 2007 at 1:46 pm
[...] The Session was created by the folks at Appellation Beer who thought it was high time for beer bloggers to write about the same topic on the same day. Determining the monthly topic is rotated among participating beer bloggers. [...]
September 7th, 2007 at 5:30 am
[...] in fact—where beer bloggers all over the world write about beer on a chosen theme. You can read about how The Session started over at Appellation Beer. Although specifically for beer bloggers, anyone can contribute. All you [...]
September 7th, 2007 at 6:09 am
[...] The Session was created by the folks at Appellation Beer who thought it was high time for beer bloggers to write about the same topic on the same day. Determining the monthly topic is rotated among participating beer bloggers. [...]
October 15th, 2007 at 10:36 pm
I would love to be a part!
November 21st, 2007 at 12:07 pm
I would love to get in on this. Is there a schedule or something that I can find out about the next one?
January 28th, 2008 at 11:39 am
[...] beer should be in the store on Wednesday, Jan. 30 – just in time for Friday’s Beer Blogging Friday Session. It just so happens the topic for February is barleywines -Tim [...]
February 1st, 2008 at 5:56 am
[...] The Session was created by Stan Hieronymus at Appellation Beer who thought it was high time for beer bloggers to write about the same topic on the same day. Determining the monthly topic is rotated among participating beer bloggers. [...]
August 1st, 2008 at 7:05 pm
[...] of beer Look, you don’t have to remind me, okay. I know I’ve missed the last two Sessions, but I’m a busy man. Now you’re asking me to open a bottle of limited release beer from [...]
February 20th, 2010 at 2:08 pm
[...] new in recent days is Stan Hieronymus’s call for a Beer Blogging Day, the first of which has already been scheduled for March 2 and will feature a bunch of us blogging [...]
February 20th, 2010 at 2:10 pm
[...] folks, it’s Session time again, and if you don’t know what that means, follow this link and catch up. I’ll [...]
August 10th, 2010 at 5:33 pm
[...] 10, 2010 in beer culture When Stan Hieronymus over at Appellation Beer conjured up the idea for The Session, it was a compilation of writings on the same topic from a small band of dedicated beer bloggers. [...]