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#the-session
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Session #150 round-up: thoughts on stout and porter from around the world
We revived The Session for a one-off event to celebrate the work of the late Martyn Cornell, asking people to write something in response to his final book Porter & Stout. We were encouraged in this by Alan ‘A Good Beer Blog’ McLeod whose. We don’t ‘own’ The Session, and neither does he, but we […] Session #150 round-up: thoughts on stout and porter from around the world originally posted at Boak & Bailey's Beer Blog
by Boak & Bailey0 viewsthe-sessionmartyn-cornellporterstout - news
Session #150: Martyn Cornell – Porter And Stout
It is difficult to write about Martyn Cornell’s last book, Porter and Stout: A Complete History without being caught up by the sad fact of his passing a little over a year ago now. As many had written after the news of his passing circulated, he seemed always able to be available at the other end … Continue reading "Session #150: Martyn Cornell – Porter And Stout"
by Alan1 viewbooks-and-beerporterthe-session - news
Session number 150: When porter was… amber?
Porter is a dark beer, right? Pretty much black. Well, that was not always the case, as the late Martyn Cornell explains in his 2025 book Porter & Stout. He describes 18th century London porter as “mid-brown or deep chestnut in colour at most” and, on the same page, quotes a contemporary source which refers […] Session number 150: When porter was… amber? originally posted at Boak & Bailey's Beer Blog
by Boak & Bailey0 viewsbeer-historythe-sessionmartyn-cornellporter - news
Announcing Session number 150: Responding to Martyn Cornell’s epic book
On Sunday 28 June 2026 we’re going to post something inspired by the late Martyn Cornell’s final epic work of beer history Porter and Stout. We’d love you to join us. The first problem is that the book is quite expensive. The second is that it is large and intimidating. To make this easy for […] Announcing Session number 150: Responding to Martyn Cornell’s epic book originally posted at Boak & Bailey's Beer Blog
by Boak & Bailey0 viewsthe-sessionmartyn-cornellporterstout - news
A Vital Shot in the Arm — The Highland Laddie, Leeds
Set in the shadows of several blocks of student accommodation, The Highland Laddie is hidden from view as I approach from the adjacent Kirkstall Road. A twenty minute walk from Leeds station, it feels like I’ve left the creature comforts of the city centre well behind me, as painfully overused phrases like “tucked away” and “hidden gem” begin to fill my head. The thing is, this pub is distinctly lacking in obscurity. Everyone has been talking about The Highland Laddie. Even someone with even a semblance of interest in the goings-on within the Leeds hospitality scene has no doubt seen the flurry of activity the pub has generated on Instagram. Writing for the Observer , restaurant critic Jimi Famurewa described it as a place of “thrilling finesse” with food that is “spectacularly enjoyable.” And it’s only been open in its revamped form since April. In its previous incarnation, the pub—called The Highland, but known affectionately by regulars as “The Laddie”—was forced to close after four
by Matthew Curtis5 viewsbeerpubsthe-session - news
Session 147: A Break From The Real
" ... from time to time The Session has had me pausing for a moment while I try to work out exactly how I was going to contribute. No such difficulties were presented by Session 147 ... " The post Session 147: A Break From The Real appeared first on Ding's Beer Blog .
by Ding4 viewsthe-sessionthe-sessions - news
Session 146: (Round-up) Where do you find value?
" ... (Gary) hones in on a pet-peeve of mine, i.e., the beer matching the description/style. This has been something that has bothered me for decades and when they fail to match ... " The post Session 146: (Round-up) Where do you find value? appeared first on Ding's Beer Blog .
by Ding4 viewsbeer-philosophythe-sessionvalue - news
Session 146 - What Value in Beer?
Yikes, where did the last couple of months go? The cynic side of me says "right down the shitter" whereas the more considered side says "life's just busy". Anyway, it's time for the Session again, and this month is being hosted by Ding and he has asked us to consider the "value" of beer , in the sense of: "when I part with the cash, no matter how large or small the amount, does what I receive in return meet or exceed the value of said cash? Subjective? Sure, but we all have our own sense of value." Yeah, very subjective topic here, but one that I feel gets to the very heart of why we drink beer at all, or at least why we don't submit ourselves to the tyranny of the lowest common denominator brew that is ubiquitous with wherever we live. That's not to say that industrial brews like Budweiser, Carling Black Label, Stella Artois, or Gambrinus are inherently bad, just that they lack value for me. So, yes, let's think about value, at least the word itself. Value is by its very
by noreply@blogger.com (Alistair Reece)4 viewsbeer-businessthe-sessionwafflings - news
Session 146: (Post) Where do you find value?
" ... I fully appreciate the subjective nature of 'value', but at the same time I still feel there undeniably poor value beers and equally undeniably great value beers. We just might not agree ... " The post Session 146: (Post) Where do you find value? appeared first on Ding's Beer Blog .
by Ding4 viewsbeer-philosophythe-sessionvalue - news
Session 146: (Announcement) Where do you find value?
" ... I'm very in touch with the pub scene in the UK, and routinely I see posts about £7.50 ($9.75) pints of Peroni, and conversely £1.99 ($2.50) 20 oz pints of Cask Ale in Wetherspoon pubs ... " The post Session 146: (Announcement) Where do you find value? appeared first on Ding's Beer Blog .
by Ding4 viewsthe-session - news
Rounding Up Contributions To The Session #145 — Critique Not Criticism
A little later than planned (due to a malaise brought upon by a rather jovial stag weekend in Dublin celebrating the imminent nuptials of my pal Gareth) I’ve finally got around to collating entries to this month's session. Positing that there’s not enough proper critique in beer writing compared, say, to restaurant or wine writing, I asked writers to deliver a critique of their own, and received nine different responses. I also published my own critique, with interesting results, and I’ll share a bit more insight on that after the roundup. If you contributed to Session #145 and don’t see your post in this list please share the link with me and I’ll update this post accordingly. *** To start, over at A Good Beer Blog Alan McLeod —who has been liberally applying critique to beer writing for as long as I’ve been reading it— considers the act of critique within beer writing at large . He references the late Michael Jackson, who famously said if he didn’t like a beer he simply wouldn’t writ
by Matthew Curtis4 viewsthe-sessionthoughts - news
The Session 145: Critique not criticism in beer
" ... I'm absolutely staggered when countless numbers of people in those groups appear to have infinitely less knowledge and understanding than I do ... " The post The Session 145: Critique not criticism in beer appeared first on Ding's Beer Blog .
by Ding4 viewsthe-session - news
The Session #145 — Critique not Criticism
For the March 2025 edition of The Session I’m asking participants to produce a piece of critical writing about beer or pubs. This could be a review of a beer you’ve enjoyed, or perhaps one you haven’t. A pub you’re fond of, or maybe one that has room for improvement. You could write about a beer experience (or lack of) in a setting such as a restaurant, or even produce a critique that focuses on a particular aspect of beer or pub culture. The aim is not to be judgemental, subjective or to showcase any particular bias; this is not some finger-wagging exercise. Whereas criticism involves building an argument about why you think something is simply good or bad, critique involves taking a more holistic approach, using carefully researched and considered analysis to build a reasoned, objective, and possibly even entertaining take that benefits readers by giving them good quality information to consider. Last year I wrote about how there is a general lack of criticism in beer writing , and c
by Matthew Curtis4 viewsthe-session - news
The Session - Best at Home
This month's iteration of The Session is being hosted by Ray and Jess over at Boak and Bailey, and the theme they have presented us with is: "What's the best beer you can drink at home right now?" Until Mrs V and I decided to encumber the universe with children, the vast majority of our drinking was not done at home. We had several regular haunts to sit and have a pint or two; whether the original Three Notch'd Brewery tasting room, Beer Run, or even the bar at Whole Foods - seriously, at one point it was social central as we invariably ran into folks we knew and so another pint was had. We still do a fair amount of our drinking outside the home, often at Selvedge, Patch, or still Beer Run. Even though we used to drink mostly at taprooms or pubs, I always had a very well stocked cellar, often including lots of my own homebrew, but going out was the norm. Times however have been a'changing, and drinking at home has become almost the default for various reasons that I am not going to bot
by noreply@blogger.com (Alistair Reece)4 viewsbest-bitterhomebrewthe-sessionwafflings - news
Augustiner at Home
Living where I do in Stockport I’m very fortunate to have some really good locals like the Magnet, Heaton Hops and Runaway Brewery. In half an hour I can be in central Manchester and from there it’s a choose-your-own-adventure scenario depending on what I’m in the mood for. I’m in my forties, I don’t have kids, and I have enough disposable income to service a few pints every week. Because of this I rarely drink at home, which is also where I happen to work from. Heading out for a beer when I’m in the mood is a full stop on the day. It’s where my brain goes to reset. I also don’t find myself clamouring for the latest IPAs or anything like that these days. Draught beer is the best beer I can drink, especially cask, so that’s what I go and get. Sometimes though, I intentionally drink at home. Most of the beer I have most of the time is samples sent to me by breweries, so more often than not I don’t really want to drink them, even if they’re beers I really like. This is because those beers
by Matthew Curtis4 viewsbeerthe-session - news
I’m Glad Beer Is Boring Again
I used to be the worst kind of beer drinker. The one who thought he was right about everything but actually knew very little. I don’t feel regretful or embarrassed about this. Who wouldn’t have got caught up in the excitement propagated by the emergence of thousands of quirky, independent breweries across America? I needed something like that, honestly. Something that was my own and not that of my father. American beer culture rapidly proliferated within the United Kingdom in the early 2010s, manifesting itself in the form of hundreds of copycat breweries attempting to channel the creativity being demonstrated by their American peers (with varying results.) I let it wash over me like a tidal wave. As my own fandom reached fever pitch, I did the most obnoxious thing possible: I started a beer blog. One of the earliest mistakes I made as I began my endeavour to catalog British beer culture was to judge breweries by how visible they were, and how fast they were growing. If they were able
by Matthew Curtis4 viewsbeerthe-session