The Session is a monthly beer blogging topic. This month's topic comes from Kendall Jones at Washington Beer Blog.

The first time I homebrewed the friend who walked me through the process told me he would pick up a couple growlers beforehand. WTF s a growler, I asked. He replied simply, it's just a glass jug for beer. Oh. Well that's simple enough. And, if homebrew isn't available, there's nothing quite like a fresh beer from a local brewery to ...

My wife comes from Manhattan. No, not the cool one, the one in Kansas. Yep, the Little Apple. And yes, this home to Kansas State University, does refer to itself as the Little Apple. In fact her childhood home is just south of Houston Street, so you could technically say she’s from SoHo, Manhattan. We end up visiting the Little Apple a few times a year and with any place I visit I consider it a kind of duty to locate the local breweries ...

These bottom filling tap machines have been around for a little while now, but last night was the first time I've seen one in action. If you've been to any arena and watched in horror as the concession staff struggle to fill a 20 oz. cup, this bottom filling tap will cure your beer pouring woes. I mean look how awesome that thing is and how little work it takes to operate! A perfect pour in under 15 seconds. I didn't actually ...

There are a bunch of breweries in the Denver area that are relatively new, and one that I’ve finally taken the time to visit is Copper Kettle Brewing Company. Why didn’t I check this place out sooner? What a cozy place this is. Good beer, relaxed atmosphere and friendly service ensure my return. You can watch a football game without feeling overwhelmed with screaming fans and flashing lights. Easy going is kind of a theme to this establishment. And that suits me well ...

Even though Boulder is a short half-hour drive from my home it’s rare that I take the time. And there’s several great breweries there that have been beckoning me to make that short trip. Recently a group of us made the journey and checked out three of Boulder’s great tap rooms: Boulder Beer Company, Avery, and Twisted Pine. As you can see from the map above, all of these fine breweries are rather closely congregated which gave us the option of walking ...

This year’s Great American Beer Festival was my seventh, which means I’ve been going long enough to start feeling nostalgic. And this year, more than before, made me feel particularly nostalgic; Perhaps it was the 1982 GABF Pavilion, or watching as some breweries grow while other seemingly  diminish, or was it the massive popularity of the whole thing? Either way, GABF seems bigger, bigger, and… wait there’s more than 450 breweries at this thing now? Damn that’s a lot of beer ...

A new trend is cropping up in our fair city of Denver and it is exclusive taps for our favorite craft beers. There is a growing number of restaurants that cater to the ?beer connoisseur and the adventurous.  I thought it'd be nice to help our faithful followers get a head start on where they should start to head for some great beers (the pun is there to show off how smart and clever I am). This isn't a list of brewpubs, but ...

Ah, New York City with beer. Good times. There are many great places to get a pint in New York and it can be a bit overwhelming to figure out where to start and where to go to next. Here’s my experience on a recent visit and a few tips on places that are well worth a visit. As I start to write this post I realize that a longer title might be necessary: Drinking Craft Beer in New York City while on a ...

Cradled in the rolling Catskill Mountains is the little farmhouse brewery known as Ommegang. It's out of the way, it's quiet, and it's one of the most beautiful looking American breweries I have seen. This is a perfect location to recreate the beers of Belgium. When you arrive at the brewery you drive through an arch in the middle of the old farmhouse and find a growing, changing and very modern brewery is on the other side. What first catches my eye ...

He takes a drink and the pressure is on.  It's not your typical drink experience...he isn't doing this to chug something down or to prove anything.  Well, actually he is.  He's doing it to make sense of his family and hell if he's only ten years old.

It is that first taste you remember.  Bitter, nothing like anything you have ever ingested.  They aren't laughing at you, they aren't busting your balls.  What this is really about is ...

I’ve finally had my chance to drink a glass of Pliny the Younger. We came early (an hour before the tap began to pour) to ensure our chance of sipping this one-of-a-kind triple IPA. Really? You came an hour early to get in line for a beer? Asks any reasonable person.  You see, Pliny the Younger is a bit of a pain in the ass to get your hands on and the Falling Rock Tap House in Denver is one of the few places ...