The Sessions

What is The Session?
The Session, a.k.a. Beer Blogging Friday, is an opportunity once a month for beer bloggers from around the world to get together and write from their own unique perspective on a single topic. Each month, a different beer blogger hosts the Session, chooses a topic and creates a round-up listing all of the participants, along with a short pithy critique of each entry. Over time, it is the hope — of me, at least — that a record will be created with much useful information about various topics on the subject of beer. The idea for the Sessions began with fellow beer writer Stan Hieronymus, who noticed similar group endeavors in other blogospheres and suggested those of us in the beer world create our own project. Here is Stan’s original thought process to start up the Session.
How to Participate in a Session
If you write a beer or beer-related blog, please consider joining us on the Session project. It couldn’t be easier. The topic for each month is announced shortly after the previous month’s Session, meaning you have about three weeks to consider what you want to write about within the topic. And as long as it has something to do with the theme, you can pretty much do whatever you feel is appropriate for you. Then on the first Friday of the month, write your post. Usually, you then just let the host know what the URL (the specific web address or permalink to your post, not your home page) is so he can include it in his or her roundup. Each host does it slightly differently, but usually it’s just by sending an e-mail or posting a comment.
I would encourage each participant to use the Session logo for your Session posts because it lends consistency to all of our efforts and makes it easy for readers to know and understand that your post is part of a larger project. But it’s by no means mandatory. I made a version both with and without the subtitle “Beer Blogging Friday.” They’re free to use, of course, but please don’t hotlink to them. Please download them and host them on your server or use a photo hosting website like Photobucket.
Past Sessions
Here is a list of all the announcements, roundups and my own contributions for all The Sessions to date:
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- Date: March 2007
- Host: Stan Hieronymous at Appellation Beer
- Topic: Not Your Father’s Stout
- Announcement | Roundup | Bulletin Post
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- Date: April 2007
- Host: Alan McLeod at A Good Beer Blog
- Topic: Dubbels
- Announcement | Roundup | Bulletin Post
-
- Date: May 2007
- Host: Jay Brooks at the Brookston Beer Bulletin
- Topic: Milds
- Announcement | More About Milds |Roundup | Bulletin Post
-
- Date: June 2007
- Host: Snekse at the Gastronomic Fight Club
- Topic: Local Brews
- Announcement | Roundup | Bulletin Post
-
- Date: July 2007
- Host: Al and Ron at Hop Talk
- Topic: Atmosphere
- Announcement | Roundup | Bulletin Post
-
- Date: August 2007
- Host: Greg Clow at Beer, Beats & Bites
- Topic: Fruit Beer
- Announcement | Roundup | Bulletin Post
-
- Date: September 2007
- Host: Rick Lyke at Lyke 2 Drink
- Topic: The Brew Zoo
- Announcement | Roundup, Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5 and Part 6 | Bulletin Post
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- Date: October 2007
- Host: Captain Hops at Beer Haiku Daily
- Topic: Beer and Food
- Announcement | Roundup | Bulletin Post
-
- Date: November 2007
- Host: Tomme Arthur at the Lost Abbey Blog
- Topic: Beer and Music
- Announcement | Roundup | Bulletin Post
-
- Date: December 2007
- Host: Ted Duchesne at Barley Vine
- Topic: Let It Snow: Winter Seasonal Beers
- Announcement | Roundup | Bulletin Post
-
- Date: January 2008
- Host: Wilson at Brewvana
- Topic: Dopplebock: The Illuminator
- Announcement | Roundup | Bulletin Post
-
- Date: February 2008
- Host: Jon Abernathy at The Brew Site
- Topic: Barleywine
- Announcement | Roundup | Bulletin Post
-
- Date: March 2008
- Host: Chris O’Brien at the Beer Activist
- Topic: Organic Beer
- Announcement | Roundup | Bulletin Post
-
- Date: April 2008
- Host: Stonch at Stonch’s Beer Blog
- Topic: Beer People
- Announcement | Roundup | Bulletin Post
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- Date: May 2008
- Host: Boak and Bailey at Boak and Bailey, A UK Beer Blog
- Topic: How Did It All Start For You?
- Announcement | Roundup | Bulletin Post
-
- Date: June 2008
- Host: Thomas Vincent at Geistbear Brewing Blog
- Topic: Beer Festivals
- Announcement | Roundup | Bulletin Post
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- Date: July 2008
- Host: Rob DeNunzio at Pfiff!
- Topic: Going Against the Grain Bill: Drinking Anti-Seasonally
- Announcement | Roundup | Bulletin Post
-
- Date: August 2008
- Host: Ray at The Barley Blog
- Topic: Happy Anniversary
- Announcement | Roundup | Bulletin Post
-
- Date: September 2008
- Host: Jim at Lootcorp
- Topic: German Bier
- Announcement | Roundup | Bulletin Post
-
- Date: October 2008
- Host: Ray Merkler at Bathtub Brewery
- Topic: Beer & Memories
- Announcement | Roundup | Bulletin Post
-
- Date: November 2008
- Host: Matt C. at A World of Brews
- Topic: Your Favorite Beer
- Announcement | Roundup | Bulletin Post
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- Date: December 2008
- Host: Nico Freccia and Shaun O’Sullivan at the 21st Amendment Brewery Blog
- Topic: The Repeal of Prohibition
- Announcement | Roundup | Bulletin Post
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- Date: January 2009
- Host: Brewmiker at Beer and Firkins
- Topic: The New Year
- Announcement | Roundup | Bulletin Post
-
- Date: February 2009
- Host: David Turley at Musings Over A Pint
- Topic: A Tripel For Two
- Announcement | Roundup | Bulletin Post
-
- Date: March 2009
- Host: John Duffy a.k.a. The Beer Nut
- Topic: Love Lager
- Announcement | Roundup | Bulletin Post
-
- Date: April 2009
- Host: Lew Bryson at Seen Through A Glass
- Topic: Smoke ‘Em If You Got ‘Em
- Announcement | Roundup | Bulletin Post
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- Date: May 2009
- Host: Joe Ruvel & Jasmine Smith at Beer at Joe’s
- Topic: Beer Cocktails: Beyond the Black & Tan
- Announcement | Roundup | Bulletin Post
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- Date: June 2009
- Host: Brian Yaeger at Red, White, and Brew
- Topic: Think/Drink Globally
- Announcement | Roundup | Bulletin Post
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- Date: July 2009
- Host: Gail Ann Williams & Steve Shapiro at Beer By Bart
- Topic: Will Travel For Beer
- Announcement | Roundup | Bulletin Post
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- Date: August 2009
- Host: David Jensen at Beer 47
- Topic: Beer Desserts
- Announcement | Roundup | Bulletin Post
-
- Date: September 2009
- Host: Peter Estaniel at his BetterBeerBlog
- Topic: Summer Beers
- Announcement | Roundup | Bulletin Post
-
- Date: October 2009
- Host: Girl Likes Beer at Girl Likes Beer
- Topic: Eastern Beers
- Announcement | Roundup | Bulletin Post
-
- Date: November 2009
- Host: Andrew Couch at I’ll Have a Beer
- Topic: Framing Beers
- Announcement | Roundup | Bulletin Post
-
- Date: December 2009
- Host: James Davoli at Two Parts Rye
- Topic: Stumbling Home
- Announcement | Roundup | Bulletin Post
-
- Date: January 2010
- Host: Christina Perozzi and Hallie Beaune at Beer For Chicks / The Beer Chicks (launching January 2010)
- Topic: New Beer’s Resolutions
- Announcement | Roundup | Bulletin Post
-
- Date: February 5, 2010
- Host: Thomas Cizauskas at Yours For Good Fermentables
- Topic: Cask-Conditioned Beer
- Announcement | Roundup | Bulletin Post
-
- Date: March 2010
- Host: Greg Norris, et al at The Ferm
- Topic: The Display Shelf: When To Drink the Good Stuff
- Announcement | Roundup | Bulletin Post
-
- NEXT SESSION
- Date: April 2, 2010
- Host: Sean Inman at Beer Search Party
- Topic: Cult Beers
- Announcement | Roundup | Bulletin Post
-
- FUTURE SESSION
- Date: May 7, 2010
- Host: Mario Rubio at Brewed For Thought
- Topic: Collaborations
- Announcement | Roundup | Bulletin Post
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- FUTURE SESSION
- Date: June 4, 2010
- Host: Erik Lars Myers at Top Fermented
- Topic: tbd
- Announcement | Roundup | Bulletin Post
-
- FUTURE SESSION
- Date: July 2, 2010
- Host: Jeff & Tom at Lug Wrench Brewing
- Topic: tbd
- Announcement | Roundup | Bulletin Post
-
- FUTURE SESSION
- Date: August 6, 2010
- Host: Derrick Peterman at Bay Area Beer Runner
- Topic: A Special Place, A Special Beer
- Announcement | Roundup | Bulletin Post
-
- FUTURE SESSION
- Date: September 3, 2010
- Host: OPEN at A Beer Blog
- Topic: tbd
- Announcement | Roundup | Bulletin Post
Volunteer to Host The Session
Do you own a beer related blog and want to host a Session? To host one of the monthly Sessions, you’ll need to do the following:
- Reserve the next free month or any specific month not yet taken. To do this, please contact me via Jay (.) Brooks (@) gmail (.) com or Stan Hieronymus of Appellation Beer. His e-mail is stan (@) appellationbeer (.) com.
- Choose your beer-related topic or theme. See the list above of past Sessions both for ideas and also to insure you pick something we haven’t already done.
- Announce your theme by posting about it. This should be done right after the roundup of the previous Session. Also, please send Stan and/or myself an e-mail to let us know it’s up so we can help spread the word.
- Do a reminder post about a week before the first Friday of your month.
- Post your own entry on your topic.
- Post a roundup. Some hosts run updates all day. Some hosts wait until the end before posting their roundup.
- Announce who the next host will be. Usually, you can do this in your roundup.








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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Hey Jay,
I love this list and refer to it routinely.
One suggestion though: You might consider flipping the past/future Sessions list so oldest ones are at the bottom. This would keep the most relevant items up top and the scrolling to a minimum.
Keep up the good work!
Thanks Brad, the only problem with doing it that way is keeping track of upcoming months and open ones, too. You’d have Sessions that haven’t been done yet, in some cases several months ahead on top along with open months. It’s for that reason that I work chronologically from earliest to latest.