Beer Tastings at Beer Bloggers & Writers Conference Milwaukee 2017: New Meaning to "Session" Beers

When most people think of a "Session" beer, the one that probably comes to mind first is the "Session IPA," that lower-ABV cousin of the "standard" IPA, designed to give hopheads their dose of hops without the higher alcohol content. Historically, the term "session" is used to describe beers that are lighter in terms of flavor and ABV: designed to drink a number of them in a "session" while still allowing the patron to function afterwards (OK, that's debatable depending on how many you ingest). The 2015 BJCP Guidelines indicate three "strength classifications" of IPA, one of which is the "Session" strength at 3-5% ABV. Randy Mosher, author of Tasting Beer, refers to several lighter ales and hybrids as "session" beers: "meant to be drunk in reasonably large quantities in the company of other beer lovers."

Of Bus Rides 'n Beer: From Bold City to Cigar City, Beer Bloggers Conference 2016 Covered It

Around this time last year, I was following the tweets from Asheville, NC as those attending the 2015 Beer Bloggers Conference energetically took to social media to report their real-time accounts of the activities. I noticed a blend of snippets about beer education and beer drinking -- not too surprising, I concluded. I thought that maybe I should attend one of these conferences in the future, and awaited the announcement of the 2016 Conference location. And, with a rising level of fanfare, there it was: TAMPA! WooHoo! That's only a 3.5 hour drive from my home base in North Florida, so I was immediately psyched. 

Let's Have a Beer .... in Jacksonville, Fla! (Tour 1)

[NOTE: I thought it was time to write about the Jacksonville breweries, and, really, it's been long overdue. I am thrilled to have written this story especially for the Beer Bloggers Conference (BBC) 2016, and it was posted recently on the Beer Bloggers Conference website as a lead story. The Conference is held in a different beer-centric city each year. This time around, it heads to Tampa July 8-10, along with a featured pre-con visit to Jacksonville. I'm excited to be a part of the BBC this year and want to say "Thanks" to the BBC for this opportunity. This is the first in a series of the Jax area breweries, so stay tuned.  And, by the way, a special "thank you" goes out to the Jax area breweries!] ....