The Session, a.k.a. Beer Blogging Friday, was 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. It ran for 142 months between March 2007 and December 2018. (I took part on a few occasions, but only two posts have been preserved after I migrated to this blog.)
A little while ago Alistair Reece, of Fuggled, suggested it be revived, even if for a one-off.
I came across the announcement only recently. Having missed not only the May 1st deadline, but even the first Friday in June, I’ve just waited until the nearest Friday to write this.
In these unprecedented times, what has become your new drinking normal? Are you drinking more? Less? Have you raided the cellar regularly? Is there a particular brewery whose beer is keeping you company while you are confined to barracks? Has there been a beer revelation in these times? Basically, tell us where you are at.
So, how has my drinking been changed by the lockdown?
In the early days -late March, early April- I was drinking more cocktails: martinis, capitanes, margaritas. All at home, of course.
I ended up holding on to a a full corny keg of a golden ale that I had intended to pour at a beer festival that was cancelled. I tend to brew for events so I don’t always have my own beer on hand in such quantity, and so I found myself drinking my own homebrew more often than commercial beer.
Later, after the authorities allowed breweries to reopen for curbside sales, I started picking up packs of beer from my locals – Del Cielo Brewing and Five Suns Brewing– which has also changed my drinking habit. In normal times I rarely bought packs, instead picking singles or at most two of any one beer, so this has meant that I find myself drinking a smaller variety of beers than previously.
Am I drinking more or less than when I could go out? I dunno. It seems to me that it has been about even.
Now, that’s changing, however. I’m making use of the lockdown by taking a beer evaluation class toward hopefully becoming a BJCP judge. So, not only am I drinking during our semi-monthly classes, but there is all that “homework”!