This month’s host is Kendall Jones of the Washington Beer Blog, and the topic he has selected is “Growlers Galore“:

These days people take growlers for granted. In my neck of the woods, growlers are a relatively new phenomenon. I don’t recall exactly when they appeared on the local beer scene but it could not have been more than eight or ten years ago. Maybe they existed in obscurity before. My memory fails me. Today growlers are everywhere. I think. Growlers are very common around the Pacific Northwest, anyway. I cannot speak to their popularity elsewhere. I’d love to know.

Tell us about your growler collection. Tell us why you love growlers or why you hate them. What is the most ridiculous growler you’ve ever seen? Tell us about your local growler filling station. Ever suffer a messy growler mishap? Anything related to growlers is acceptable.

I haven’t taken to collecting growlers in the same way that I would collect bottles, partially because I don’t have the room—indeed I did a major purge of my bottle “collection” about a year ago and I still really don’t have room for more—and partially because the growlers I have are a reusable commodity: I keep getting them refilled!

I only have a small number of growlers though: two from 10 Barrel Brewing, one a Rogue Dead Guy growler, one from Hopworks Urban Brewery, and one from Steelhead Brewing in Eugene. Those are my clean and reusable set, and all are the standard brown glass, half-gallon “jug” style without much fanfare; I have another fancier one from Southern Oregon Brewing with a ceramic flip top and metal handle that my brother gave me, but it’s not in good enough condition to fill unfortunately.

But for me these are “working” growlers: I’ve taken to always carrying one or two in the car with me on the off-chance that I’ll be near a brewery, and for the most part I’m unconcerned about the decor on the bottle. And fortunately that decor doesn’t matter as I live in a state (Oregon) that has lenient enough beer laws to allow breweries to fill any growler that comes in the door, even ones from other breweries (indeed, some breweries will fill just about any lidded container you bring in), unlike, say California or South Dakota that will only let you fill a growler if said growler is from that same brewery.

So I love having a growler on hand, but not for a collectible purpose, for me it’s almost entirely functional. Don’t get me wrong—having a Hopworks growler is cool but what’s even cooler is being able to fill it with fresh beer from Deschutes, or Brewers Union, or Barley Brown’s, or any number of other Oregon breweries anytime I’m in their neighborhood. It’s hard to beat that.

These days people take growlers for granted. In my neck of the woods, growlers are a relatively new phenomenon. I don’t recall exactly when they appeared on the local beer scene but it could not have been more than eight or ten years ago. Maybe they existed in obscurity before. My memory fails me. Today growlers are everywhere. I think. Growlers are very common around the Pacific Northwest, anyway. I cannot speak to their popularity elsewhere. I’d love to know.

Tell us about your growler collection. Tell us why you love growlers or why you hate them. What is the most ridiculous growler you’ve ever seen? Tell us about your local growler filling station. Ever suffer a messy growler mishap? Anything related to growlers is acceptable.

I’ll be honest, this isn’t a topic I would have thought up. But I’m digging it.

The Session takes place on Friday, February 3rd; leave a comment at the Washington Beer Blog to participate.

This month our host is Mario Rubio of Brewed for Thought, and he’s chosen a theme that is less beer related than you might think: I almost always drink beer, but when I don’t…

So as we are all incredibly interesting people, and almost always drink beer, let’s talk about what we drink when not drinking beer. Maybe your passion for coffee rivals that of craft beer, or it could be another alcoholic beverage such as scotch. My daughter being a root beer fan would appreciate her dad reviewing a few fizzy sodas. Maybe you have a drink that takes the edge off the beer, be it hair of the dog or a palate cleanser during the evening.

Beer cocktails, wines, ciders, meads, you name it as long as it’s not beer. Try to tie it in with craft beer in some way for extra credit. Be creative and I’ll see you guys in the new year.

“When not drinking beer…” As hard as it might be to believe to someone who visits this blog regularly, I do not drink beer all the time. There are a number of alcoholic drinks I enjoy as occasional alternatives—spicy complex red wines, rustic dry whites, spicy rum, silky tequila—but the one type of drink I immediately thought of (as did many beer drinkers, I imagine) that I tend to gravitate towards is a natural for beer enthusiasts: whiskey.

It’s obvious, really, since whiskeys are for all intents and purposes distilled from beer. There are of course subsets of whiskey (which is primarily made from barley and aged in charred wood): Scotch (multiple distillations and aged at least 3 years in oak), bourbon (at least 51% corn), rye whiskey (at least 51% rye), and so on. In many ways I’m still very much a novice when it comes to whiskeys, so I’m always interested in trying new ones.

When it comes to a regular whiskey—or, as it happens in my case, a bourbon—my “go to” is usually Evan Williams. Part of the reason, I admit, is that it’s inexpensive, especially when compared to Jack Daniels (for instance); but I found, once I started drinking it, that I quite enjoyed it and I feel in many ways it’s as good as (if not better) than some of the more expensive bourbons that I’ve tried. Their green label—a traditional 80-proof spirit—tends to be a staple in my cabinet, though I also have an excellent bottle of Single Barrel Vintage (seen in the picture) that my brother gave me for Christmas a year ago. I’ve been savoring that one, drawing it out, very much enjoying the vanilla and oaky character it possesses.

The other whiskey bourbon you’ll notice in my picture there is local: Oregon Spirit Distillers, based here in Bend, has been in operation for only a few years and while vodka is their primary product (2011 also saw a rum, an absinthe, and two cordials produced), they released their first bourbon late this past year. Being the budding liquor geek that I am (of course we already know that I’m a beer geek!) naturally I picked up a bottle; and while even I recognize that it’s a “hot” and young bourbon, I can tell there’s a lot of potential in there, and it’s vastly interesting to hold onto a bottle and taste it periodically as it matures.

Of course this is all just the tip of the iceberg; like beer, whiskey is a deep subject that can take years to explore—for instance, Michael Jackson, the Beer Hunter, also wrote a number of authoritative books on whiskey over the years. While I won’t forgo beer for the harder spirits, I still continue to explore and enjoy this other world and anytime you don’t see a beer in my hand there’s a reasonable chance there’s a bottle of whiskey nearby…

I almost always drink beer, but when I don’t…

So as we are all incredibly interesting people, and almost always drink beer, let’s talk about what we drink when not drinking beer. Maybe your passion for coffee rivals that of craft beer, or it could be another alcoholic beverage such as scotch. My daughter being a root beer fan would appreciate her dad reviewing a few fizzy sodas. Maybe you have a drink that takes the edge off the beer, be it hair of the dog or a palate cleanser during the evening.

Beer cocktails, wines, ciders, meads, you name it as long as it’s not beer. Try to tie it in with craft beer in some way for extra credit. Be creative and I’ll see you guys in the new year.

Next month’s Session takes place on Friday, January 6.

The idea for me was based loosely around the visits of three ghosts to Ebenezer Scrooge, but relayed in a post about the beers of Christmas past, present and future.

What did you drink during Christmas holidays of old, have you plans for anything exciting this year and is there something you’d really like to do one day, perhaps when the kids have flown the nest?

Do you have your own interpretation, was Scrooge perhaps a beer geek?

Or maybe it’s all one day. What will you drink Christmas morning, Christmas afternoon and what will you top off the holiday with that evening?

Ghost of Christmas Past. I’ve always made it a point to try to have Deschutes Brewery’s Jubelale on hand since I discovered good beer and in the past I considered this a “staple” holiday beer (and still do). Christmas day in my family is spent at my parents house and while most of the time the beer they keep on hand is confined to canned macro brews (not that there’s anything wrong with that), for Christmas they would always splurge and buy a couple cases of Deschutes beers—Jubelale, Black Butte Porter, Mirror Pond Pale Ale—and often I would bring homebrew along as well as a treat. But I’ve also enjoyed many a Christmas Hamms or PBR or Miller High Life as well.

Ghost of Christmas Present. In recent years I have tended towards special beers that I can share and discover with family and friends; last year, for instance, I brewed a holiday beer I called “Christmas Cheer” (inspired by fruitcake and Old Ales), and opened a magnum of 2009 Anchor Christmas Ale. Of course it’s never confined just to beer: there’s been cider and mulled wine and shots of whiskey or tequila and eggnog (hard and regular) and coffee and so on. Here’s the thing: to invoke the late Don Younger, it’s not about the spirits, it’s about the spirit. As long as I’m spending Christmas with people I love it doesn’t matter what the drink is.

Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. This year I have a magnum bottle of 2010 Anchor Christmas Ale (generously given to me for my birthday last year, from my brother) and a growler-sized bottle of Altenmünster Winterbier, both of which I plan to share. And there will be other good beers on hand too, I’m quite sure. As there will be in Christmases to come. Do I have big “someday” plans for a future Christmas? Not in particular; to spend Christmas with family and friends, to drink and share good beer and good cheer, to be happy and satiated—that’s all the future I really need.

The idea for me was based loosely around the visits of three ghosts to Ebenezer Scrooge, but relayed in a post about the beers of Christmas past, present and future.

What did you drink during Christmas holidays of old, have you plans for anything exciting this year and is there something you’d really like to do one day, perhaps when the kids have flown the nest?

Do you have your own interpretation, was Scrooge perhaps a beer geek?

Or maybe it’s all one day. What will you drink Christmas morning, Christmas afternoon and what will you top off the holiday with that evening?

I already love this topic! The Session is on Friday, December 2nd.

One of the things I most enjoy about blogs and personal writing in general is the ability to have a window into another’s life, in a semi-voyeuristic way. So I’d like to know your beery guilty secrets. Did you have a particularly embarassing first beer (in the same way that some people purchase an atrocious song as their first record) or perhaps there’s still a beer you return to even though you know you shouldn’t? Or maybe you don’t subscribe to the baloney about feeling guilty about beers and drink anything anyway?

Maybe this is weird but… I’m really not sure I have any beery guilty secrets! I’ve pretty much laid out my entire beer history on this blog and looking back, I think the only thing I really haven’t talked about (nor does almost anybody else for that matter) are the effects and aftereffects of beer… in other words, getting drunk and/or being hungover. But there’s really nothing guilty there, I just think it’s a boring topic to write about—it would be about as exciting as writing about the symptoms of the flu.

What else is there to feel guilty about? I know there are certainly beer snobs who would only ever admit to drinking a can of industrial American lager with the sort of “guilty confession” indicating acute embarrassment, but seriously? When even Sam Calagione admits to drinking the stuff:

Do you still drink cheap beer?

I do. I play on an adult hockey league team. And every week it’s one of my teammate’s job to bring a 30 pack of cheap, cold cans of lager. And whatever one it is, whatever brand it is I look forward to having it. There’s nothing like that light lager for refreshing after a hockey game. There’s really not any other occasions in my week where I’m craving that kind of beer. But I’m a beer geek, not a beer snob. And all beer is good. And there’s a time and place for any kind of beer.

…then the whole notion of “guilty” because of “cheap beer” seems silly.

So I guess I fall into Steve’s latter camp of not subscribing to feeling guilty about beer. So I don’t! And neither should you. Drink what you want, and don’t worry about what other people think!

The Session this month was due to be hosted by Pete Brown, but due to some bastard stealing his laptop and thus losing a load of the work for his new book he’s had to postpone for now and I’ve volunteered to move forward my hosting for a month.

So I shall be hosting session #57. Those who are eagle eyed will have already espied that the topic is “Beery Confessions: Guilty Secrets/Guilty Pleasure Beer” and are perhaps intrigued to find out what it will entail, well wait no longer!

One of the things I most enjoy about blogs and personal writing in general is the ability to have a window into another’s life, in a semi-voyeuristic way. So I’d like to know your beery guilty secrets. Did you have a particularly embarassing first beer (in the same way that some people purchase an atrocious song as their first record) or perhaps there’s still a beer you return to even though you know you shouldn’t? Or maybe you don’t subscribe to the baloney about feeling guilty about beers and drink anything anyway?

Since it’s a late announcement Steve will be accepting submissions from this Friday (the 4th) through next (the 11th).

So what’s your guilty beer confession? Let us know this Friday!

Most of us that write about beer do so with the small independent brewery in mind. Often it is along the lines of Micro brew = Good and Macro brew, anything brewed by the large multinationals is evil and should be destroyed. Well I don’t agree with that, though there may be some that are a little evil….

Anyway I want people to pick a large brewery or corporation that owns a lot of breweries. There are many to chose from. Give thanks to them for something they have done. Maybe they produce a beer you do actually like. Maybe they do great things for the cause of beer in general even if their beer is bland and tasteless but enjoyed by millions every day.

I consider myself a beer geek, but not a beer snob, and unlike many beer geeks I know (who may not necessarily be snobs either), I’m not rabidly anti-macro—at least when it comes to the beer and the brewers. (The corporate entity is something else entirely, of course.) These brewers are tasked with an enormous, nigh-impossible job: ensuring that every single batch of their beer is flawless and consistent. Every batch, every time. To that end they are well-trained, well-educated, possess an enormity of brewing knowledge, and understand quality control to a level many of us don’t even consider.

I’m thankful to the macrobreweries for fostering this kind of obsessive, knowledgeable brewing environment and education—without which there surely wouldn’t be the thriving craft (or is that post-craft?) beer industry we have today. Or at the very least, it would still be decades behind where it is now.

If you have doubts, that’s okay. But consider this example: without Anheuser-Busch, Stone Brewing Brewmaster Mitch Steele most likely wouldn’t be Stone’s Brewmaster.

Most of us that write about beer do so with the small independent brewery in mind. Often it is along the lines of Micro brew = Good and Macro brew, anything brewed by the large multinationals is evil and should be destroyed. Well I don’t agree with that, though there may be some that are a little evil….

Anyway I want people to pick a large brewery or corporation that owns a lot of breweries. There are many to chose from. Give thanks to them for something they have done. Maybe they produce a beer you do actually like. Maybe they do great things for the cause of beer in general even if their beer is bland and tasteless but enjoyed by millions every day.

The Session is on Friday, October 7th, and it should be interesting to see how this topic plays out among the beer bloggers…