Session #23 roundup and #24 announcement

The SessionBeerme (Mike) at Beer and Firkins has posted the roundup for The Session #23, a round of looking back and forward.

And February host David Turley has picked what some of us would consider a romantic theme for #24: “A Tripel for Two.”

If you have a beer or beer-related blog, it’s easy to participate in The Session. Pick a Belgian-style Tripel to review. Tell us why it’s your pick to share with that special someone. Be sure to include a review of the beer so that others might be inspired to choose that beer for a special moment. Bonus points if the person with whom you are sharing the beer includes their review as well.

The date is Feb. 6.

Now the shameless plug. If you want to learn more about tripels you’ve got time to order and read “Brew Like a Monk.” My wife, daughter and 16 customers think it is pretty good.

 

#22 – Where in the beer world?

Where in the beer world?

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

Leave your answer as a comment. And, as always, you are free to comment on the photo even if you don’t have an answer.

Sorry, no clue this week. Every clue I tried and then plugged into Google yielded the location way to easily.

 

Session #23: Beery things I’ll miss in 2009

The SessionThis is my contribution to The Session #23. Visit Beer and Firkins for the roundup of what dozens of bloggers had to write.

The question: What will you miss about 2008 and what do you expect will excite you most in 2009?

Let’s start with the second part of the assignment. a) I don’t have a clue what beers will leave me babbling or where they will come from. b) I’d like to see 2009 be “The Year of The Session” but is that something you’re supposed to get excited about? c) I am looking forward to tasting what’s new in New Mexico when we get home.

Now back to 2008. Should we talk about moments or particular beers? You only get one “first time” with Isabelle Proximus. And when will we next hike to an overview of Alaska’s Mendenhall Glacier, then refresh ourselves with Alaskan Stout?

With that in mind I made a quick list of five things that we did or drank in 2008 and surely won’t in 2009, or perhaps ever again. Not meant to be inclusive and certainly not ordered.

Thomas Hardy's ale– Opened a 1968 bottle of Thomas Hardy’s Ale. That’s the cork on the left, leaving the impression the beer was in a hurry to come out and meet us.

– Slept in the Bell’s Brewery parking lot. We were sober, sleeping in our beds away from home (the RV), and John Mallett offered us the place to park. Impossible to resist.

– Drank Zoigl beers on Reunification Day in Germany, the only day each year all the Neuhaus house breweries serve their beer.

– Discovered the keller beer Back Street Brewing in San Diego served during the Craft Brewers Conference in April.

– Opened the bottle of Cantillon’s Rosé de Gambrinus we hauled through 13 countries. When we bought the beer at the brewery in September they suggested we let it condition as long as possible, until the last night of our trip, making it the last beer we had in Europe. It got warm in the car and it got cold. No other bottle will taste exactly the same.

 

Monday musing: When the other shoe drops

In fact it is Sunday as I post this, but by the time you read this Monday we should have the RV pointed south. Might not see you until the New Year. If that’s the case celebrate carefully . . .

– Will the economic slowdown dampen sales of small-batch beers? Common sense says yes.

So I read Jeff Alworth’s “When Restaurants Die” with particular interest. The story is about the restaurants of Portland, Oregon. But it’s Oregon, and it’s Jeff’s blog, so of course there is a beer ingredient.

I worry that if the best restaurants begin to die off in Portland (we’ve lost 20 this year, including renowned Genoa), the creative minds who founded them will leave. The erosion of talent in the restaurant scene is just generally bad. I don’t know that it will have immediate or long-lasting influence on breweries.

Portland has been the poster city for craft beer success. If there’s a problem there then bigger problems seem likely everywhere else.

– I did not write this. It comes from Pete Brown. I’m going to say that twice because while blogs are a wonderful for pointing to well written words sometimes people end up giving the second blog (in this case mine) credit. I wish I’d written this, but I didn’t.

It comes from Pete’s year-end roundup, interesting, though more so if you live in the UK.

Any writer writes because they have a need to be listened to, and whatever that says about our psyches and frail egos, I’m gratified that people read this blog and link to it and recommend it. I apologise to anyone I’ve offended on here – I try not to. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading most of what I’ve written, and wish you a happy and prosperous 2009.

Something of an answer to the question Andy Crouch raises about why we blog. Repeat, I wish I’d written the paragraph. I did not.

– Thanks again, to Alan and Jeff for the Yuletide 2008 Photo Contest. Winning a hat was cool, but looking at all those photos was the real fun.

– Don’t forget The Session #23 hosted by Beer and Firkins on Friday. Include a drinking note if you can, because we’re back on the road and I’m looking for interesting local beers to try between now and August.

 

#21 – Where in the beer world?

Where in the beer world?

Do you think you know where in the beer world this photo was taken? Then leave a comment.

Other comments are welcome as well.

I don’t expect you to know where this table was, but there’s a good reason you should be able to name the country.

Or at least I thought so until I saw an interesting photo on another blog (to be revealed with the answer). That probably doesn’t qualify as a hint, so . . . a lucky search of the New York Times archives will get you on track.