Alan McLeod has stepped in at the last moment to host the 104th gathering of The Session. And he expects an answer to this question: If we just “take the philosophical approach, that the Session has run its course”* aren’t we really admitting that beer blogging is a massive failure?
* That’s me being quoted.
I think the answer is no. Obviously, or I wouldn’t compile a weekly list of links to good reading (not all are blogs, of course). Or otherwise post here.
When I suggested to a group of bloggers, including Alan, that The Session might be fun I wasn’t thinking a year down the road, let alone eight-plus. If it lives on (I voted yes in the poll Jay Brooks posted) I will continue to participate, and volunteered to play host again. But if it goes away beer blogging is no less successful than it was last month.
I don’t know how “success” should be defined in this matter. But for starters, the blogging platform has made a bunch of people more aware of the work of Ron Pattinson and Martyn Cornell. That in turn has raised the bar for writing accurately about beer history. However that’s blogging, not The Session.
If this is part of a wake, as was suggested somewhere (but I lost the link), then here’s a pleasant memory. It is the first entry from the roundup of the first Session.
Young’s Oatmeal Stout
a head tall and firm
like whole wheat pancake batter
atop darkest stout
Oak Aged Yeti Imperial Stout
the old Yeti howls
as he breaks from his oak cage
and threatens to bite
Beer Haiku Daily ceased publishing March 9, 2013, and ceased to be daily before that. It was not a failure.