Hats off to
Drake's Brewing, Magnolia Pub, Mavericks, and the California Brewers Guild -- and Jay Brooks -- for ramming through
Session Beer Month:
this month, in California. It's loose, it's not overly organized, and it's mostly just brewers and drinkers saying that it is, without a big organized push behind it...perfect for session beer.
They've even come up with an interesting
compromise on the ABV limit: 4.5% please...but up to 5% is being tagged as "extreme/imperial session beer." Well, look...that's okay, but I reserve the right to
make fun of any brewer who
isn't good enough to make a great-tasting beer that's 4.5% and under.
Try harder next year!
I'm happy to repost the
Manifesto for The Month, as writ by Kelsey Williams at Drake's (you know me, I'm manifesto-mad):
A Manifesto:
Beer lovers, we are in the midst of a revolution. We have thrown off
the fetters of the fizzy yellows and clamored for change. To supplant
the sameness, we sought and found the EXTREME. We now have Triple IPAs
and World Wide Stouts, Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperials, Belgian Quads, and
all manner of High Gravity beers stuffed with fruits, spices, malts,
hops. We’ve reached for the outermost precipices of beer, and succeeded.
Yet, in our noble quest for more innovation and more experimentation
we have flown past many classic, well-loved, craft beer styles that may
have seemed, due to their modest alcohol contents, a little too close to
the weak, yellow, fizz water we’d escaped.
We have left behind these beers of import, beers perfectly suited to a
long conversation at the pub, a picnic at the park, a post-hike
refreshment, or a mid-summer beach trip, and beers that one can happily
imbibe over the course of a few hours and leave satisfied and still
standing.
We call to you beer lovers. Do not disregard a well-made, flavorful
Bitter, Mild, Scottish Ale, Dry Stout, or any other Session beer because
you perceive a lower alcohol content as a sign of the weak and bland.
Allow us to prove that these beers are worthy of consideration. They,
just like the extreme beers, have their place in our fridges and on our
local taps.
We declare the month of May for Session beers. Beers that need not be
analyzed, dissected, sipped, or sniffed in abundance. Delicious beers
that not only enhance a good conversation but can extend it through
multiple rounds.
Raise a Pint. Raise a Few. Spread the word in May; Less is most certainly more.
Yes indeed. There's a
Facebook page, and Kelsey is Tweeting at @SessionBeerMay (and you can always use the #sessionbeer hashtag).
Now get out there and have some fun!
