Sincere apologies to all the bloggers who participated for taking an extra day to compile the round-up. A weekend full of Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, craft beer and travel made any sort of Internet work almost impossible.

Alas, let us move on.

For two years now, beer bloggers have been partaking in a community exercise called “The Session”. On the first Friday of each month, a different beer blogger brainstorms an original theme or topic and then anyone interested in participating is instructed to write a post on their own website and link it to the host website. The following week, the “host” blogger then conjures up a list and a brief synopsis of each post.

I had the honor and pleasure of hosting Session #44. In honor of my favorite holiday which falls at the end of this month, I chose the theme “Frankenstein Beers”. Although I gave a lose description of the topic, bloggers were free to interpret the theme as they wished. The results were extremely entertaining. So without further ado… allow me to present the Session #44 Blogger Roundup:

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BROOKSTON BULLETIN — Session #44: Frankenstein’s Beers

Novato, CA: Jay Brooks gives us a more in-depth background behind the story of “Frankenstein” and creates a unique parallel between Dr. Frankenstein and modern day craft brewers. “The American craft beer scene, and more recently the world beer scene, has become a landscape filled with Frankenstein-like beers, unique and unusual and beloved.”

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APPELLATION BEER — The Session #44: Frankenstein and lust

Stan Hieronymus shares a brief glimpse into the background of “extreme” beers using citations from famous beer connoisseurs such as Randy Mosher and Ron Pattinson, who are both in agreement that Danziger Joppenbier is one of the weirdest and most freakish beers to have ever been created. “Does a beer brewed with wheat malt, oat malt and beans sound like a Frankenstein beer? How about if once fermentation begins the brewers add the inner rind of a fir tree; fir and birch tree tips; Cnicus benedictus, a bitter herb used to stimulate appetite; flowers of Rosa Solis, an insect-eating bogplant, said to stir up lust; elder flowers; betony; wild thyme; cardamom; and pennyroyal (which turns out to be dangerously poisonous).”

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THE BEER NUT — “Mont Blanc, in awful majesty”

Dublin, Ireland: The Beer Nut brings us a story of a beer brewed with “La Verte” from Brouwerie Mont Blanc — the very same substance that the greenfairy uses to make absinthe. The beer itself is a shocking color of bright green. “Were Victor Frankenstein a brewer, this is definitely what he’d be turning out.”

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SEACOAST BEVERAGE LAB — “Session #44 — Frankenstein Beers”

Portsmouth, NH: Brian addressed the question: What if there were a beer that could change men/women into beasts? His answer? Kate The Great, a Russian Imperial Stout with an intense cult following. “I risk my life whispering this name in public, let alone type it. I’m talking about Kate the Great from the Portsmouth Brewery.”

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LUG WRENCH BREWING COMPANY — The Session #44: Frankenstein Beer Costumes

New England & Virginia: Tom and Jeff Wallace took a unique approach to the theme by researching beer-themed Halloween costumes on the web and posting pictures with funny captions on his blog. The Wench’s favorite had to have been the Flying Dog Six-Pack. “It is truly creative to go out as a variety six-pack of your favorite craft beer with your closest friends.  I would imagine the six-pack holder for these people was an exercise in invasion of personal space.”

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FROM MY MELLIN — Session 44 – the Frankenstein Beers

New York, NY: Seth Mellin discusses how much the craft beer industry has evolved in just the past few years and sites examples of crazy experimental beers that prove brewing really has no limits or bounds. “This to me is just a sign that brewers today are very much like Dr. Frankenstein pushing the envelope of brewing to new boundaries and new heights.”

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THE BEER BABE — The Session #44 “Undead” t’Smisje Catherine the Great

Portland, ME: Carla Companion brings us a chilling tale of a run-in with an aged bottle of Catherine The Great. “Why is that weird? Because it was once a strong stout, but has been aging so long (since 2004… when I graduated from college) that the malts have been devoured, leaving a funky, hollow and soul-less (yet delicious) monster behind.”

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THE BREW SITE — The Session #44: Frankenstein Beers (Unusual Beer Week)

Bend, OR: Although he qualifies most beers that fall outside of style guidelines as “Frankenstein” beers, Jon defines the original Frankenstein style as being the sour wild ale. “These are the true “monstrous” beers—brews that are purposefully infected, inoculated with wild, unpredictable yeasts and bacteria, left to sour and bubble away for years at a stretch, often quite ugly along the way.”

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A GOOD BEER BLOG — Session 44: Frankenstein Beers? What Isn’t?

Ontario, Canada: Alan McLeod tells us about his encounters with Frankenstein beers and his predictions for the future of the industry. “Most freakish beer I have ever had? Without a doubt Bruocsella 1900 Grand Cru by Cantillon. I was so offended by this beer that some cheese eating schoolboy lost it. That was funny.”

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BEER 47 — The Session #44: Frankenstein Beers

San Francisco, CA: David Jensen discusses different variations on “Frankenstein beers” — experimental and extreme beers, blended beers, colored beers, wild yeast beers etc… “I’m enjoying all of this wonderful experimentation and creativity in the craft beer world to create these so called Frankenstein beers.”

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BURGERS AND BREWS — The Session #44: Frankenstein Beers

Mike Lynch develops an interesting analogy between Frankenstein and hybrid-beers. “Like Frankenstein, a lot of brewers have begun meddling with “hybrid” beer styles, combining (sometimes radically) different types into one. Like the two notions of Frankenstein, the evil monster and the misunderstood creation, two of these hybrid beers stick out for me. One is the Belgian IPA, and the other is the Black IPA.”

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LOV BEER — The Session #44: Frankenstein Beers

Seattle, WA: Mike Steinburg addresses the pros and cons of extreme beers and makes a strong argument in favor of supporting non-Frankenstein beers. “Some may actually argue that to brew a great Pilsner is harder than brewing some of the Frankenstein beers. I may have to agree with that because it’s always harder to make something stand out that is made simply.”

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RAMBLINGS OF A BEER RUNNER — The Session #44: The Drive of a Scientist Brewer at Mayfield

Belmont, CA: For this post, Derrick Peterman highlighted a hometown brewery called Mayfield Brewing. They are known for their Iconoclast series of win barrel-aged beers. “I have to say, Alderete seems much more turned on by the challenge of creating a beer of unusual flavor combinations for people to slowly discover for themselves, than putting out something easily and instantly appealing to everyone that’s easy to sell.”

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THE DENVER BEER REVIEW — The Session #44: Frankenstein Beers

Denver, CO: David D. describes his experience tasting a “Frankenstein” collaboration between Left Hand Brewing and Terrapin Beer called Teutonic India Pale Lager. “Whether it’s the Teutonic India Pale Lager, a black IPA from Stone or Deschutes, or a wheat wine from Portsmouth Brewing, the craft brewing scene is full of Dr. Frankensteins, all seeking to create something unique and innovative for their fans.”

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THE BEER SEARCH PARTY — Session # 44

The World: Sean Inman paints us a picture of the myth and the legend of modern day Frankenstein beers. “These fright inducing, sometimes cringe worthy ingredients are tossed into the kettle for many reasons. There are breweries raising nearly extinct beer styles from the dead. There are breweries pushing the ABV boundry. There are breweries that use brettamyoces just to add another note to an already great beer.”

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A FLAGON OF ALE — The Session #44

The Twin Cities, MN: An interesting argument that, at some point or another, all beer styles were Frankenstein beers. “Every new idea and beer style was frankenbier at some point. So while I might not enjoy novelty brews just for the sake of novelty, all the beer we drink was a Frankenstein beer at some point, even ones which are steeped in tradition.”

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BEER IN BALTIMORE — The Session #44: Biologically Engineered Beer?

Baltimore, MD: Alexander brings us a “geekified” report about the protein content in beer and its impact on flavor. “The most interesting part of this for the layman or ordinary beer drinker?  There were twice as many proteins from yeast as there were from barley malt, far more than previous experiments had discerned.” But the real question is, will the mega corporations use this knowledge to genetically-engineer beer from lower quality ingredients to taste like beers with higher quality ingredients?

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A BEER IN HAND IS WORTH TWO IN THE FRIDGE — The Session- Frankenstein Beers

Baltimore, MD: Jay Zeis expresses that while he has no qualms with crazy beers, sometimes a well-crafted traditional beer is “For every Frankenstein beer that comes out, every crazy new fad (goze, sours, RIS, hop-bombs)- there will always be solid basic beers that will win people to craft beer, and keep beer geeks/snobs happy. My favorite beer is the one in my hand, and I would be happy to share it with you.”

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THE BEER WENCH — Session 44: The Frankestein Beers of BrewDog

San Francisco, CA: I chose to highlight BrewDog and its crazy brewers for my particular theme of The Session. “Over the past year or so, the Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde brewing duo from BrewDog, James Watt and Martin Dickie, have unleashed mad chaos and massive confusion on the craft beer industry with some of the most extreme beers known to man — if we can even call them beers. Brewdog’s monstrous, freak-of-nature beers beg the question… Is this science or is this witchcraft?”

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I really hope that I did not miss anyone’s posts on the roudup. If I did, please please please forgive me because it was not intentional. Just leave me a comment or shoot me an email and all will be corrected ASAP!

Thanks to all who participated! See you next month for another episode of THE SESSION!

CHEERS!

The Session is the brain child of beer blogging veterans Stan Hieronymus of Appellation Beer and Jay Brooks of Brookston Bulletin. On the first Friday of each month, all participating bloggers write about a predetermined topic. Each month a different blogger is selected to host The Session. The blogger gets to choose the topic (provided it has not already been covered). The day after The Session is over, the blogger is then “required” (I say this loosely) to post a roundup of all the responses received. For more info on The Session, check out the archive page.

Yours truly has been assigned the honor of conceptualizing Session #44 — the first Friday in October of 2010.

October is one of my favorite months for several reasons — college football season, fall foliage, apple picking, and … Halloween.

Halloween has always been my favorite holiday, if not my favorite day of the year. All-Hallows-Eve is the only night of the year when hosting a séance and playing with tarot cards, voodoo dolls and Ouija boards are socially acceptable. It is the only day that people can parade around in costumes, without being carted off to the insane asylum.

For me, Halloween is a magical and mystical day where I can transcend the boundary between reality and fantasy. It is a day where I can be anyone and anything I want.

In honor of Halloween, I have decided to give Session #44 the theme of “Frankenstein Beers.” For those of you not familiar with the story, Frankenstein was actually the name of the scientist, not the monster.

Frankenstein was obsessed with natural philosophy and chemistry. He set on a mission to defy the laws of nature. His scientific creation was unlike anything the world had ever seen before. It was not a man, but a monster, constructed of human parts and various other inanimate objects.

“Life and death appeared to me ideal bounds, which I should first break through, and pour a torrent of light into our dark world.” — Frankenstein.

Many craft brewers are like Frankenstein. They have become mad scientists obsessed with defying the laws of brewing and creating beers that transcend style guidelines. These “Frankenstein Beers” challenge the way people perceive beer. They are freaks of nature — big, bold and intense. The ingredients resemble those of a beer and the brewing process might appear to be normal, but some aspects of the entire experience are experimental, unorthodox and insane.

An altercation with these beers produces confusion in the eye of the taster … is it a beer, or a monster?

“I do know that for the sympathy of one living being, I would make peace with all. I have love in me the likes of which you can scarcely imagine and rage the likes of which you would not believe. If I cannot satisfy the one, I will indulge the other.” -The Monster.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to write a blog post on “Frankenstein Beers.” There are no rules about how to write about this topic — feel free to highlight a Frankenstien brewer, brewery, beer tasting notes … or just your opinions on the concept.

In order to partake in “The Session”, either link back to this blog post in your article, or post a link to it on my blog. The following Monday, I will collect and present a summary of all the Session #44 blogs! I look forward to reading everyone’s blog!

Cheers!

I’m embarrassed to admit that, although I have been aware of it for some time, I have not yet participated in “The Session” — a.k.a. Beer Blogging Friday. It is the brainchild of beer blogging gurus Jay Brooks of Brookston Beer Bulletin and Stan Hieronymus of Appellation Beer. For over three years now, the dynamic duo has been inspiring beers bloggers from all over the world to join together and write about a single topic.

Since The Wench is scheduled to host the next Session (stay tuned for the announcement), I thought it was high time I participated in the cult phenomenon. No time like the present, right? And as it just so happens, my good friend and fellow lady of craft beer, Carla Companion aka The Beer Babe, is hosting today’s Session.

SESSION #43: September 3, 2010
Carla Companion at The Beer Babe
Welcoming the New Kids

“My challenge to you is to seek out a new brewery and think about ways in which they could be welcomed into the existing beer community. How does their beer compare to the craft beer scene in your area? Are they doing anything in a new/exciting way? What advice, as a beer consumer, would you give to these new breweries?”

Today, I have decided to dedicate my “Welcoming the New Kids” Session post to KERN RIVER BREWING COMPANY in Kernville, CA — an old wild-west town that serves as the southern gateway to the Sequoia National Forest.

The KRBC brings people back to the magnificent simplicities that life has to offer.

Technically, these kids are not “brand new” to the craft beer industry. This past June, they celebrated their 4th Anniversary — which still makes them extremely young. And, I guarantee that most of the country, outside of California, don’t know much about this amazing little brewery. BUT, this will change, and I will make sure of it.

As of now, Kern River Brewing beer does not yet reach a wide radius. This is guaranteed to change. And I will tell you why…

In my opinion, there are two main key components to being a successful and amazing craft brewery — passion and talent, neither of which can faked. Kern River Brewing not only possess these two traits, they exemplify them.

My KRBC story, as with all Wench stories, is less than conventional. And who would want it any other way?

The first time I visited San Diego, CA was during San Diego Beer Week 2009. It was, by far, one of the most influential and inspirational craft beer experiences that I have to date — which was mostly due in part to my amazing friend, fellow lady of craft beer, and hostess Taylor Shaw, better known to the beer community as “The Art of Beer.” I think I had a half a minute to breathe after my flight landed, before Tay shuttled me up to the ten year vertical tasting of Double Bastard Ale at Stone World Bistro & Gardens in Escondido.

That day, I met a lot of extraordinary people who have since become really great friends and mentors. One such figure, who fits into both pockets, was the renowned Dr. Bill Sysak. And most would assume that, upon meeting such an esteemed professional in the craft beer industry, I would behave appropriately. But, we all know that The Wench is the “Being of Pure ID” (as deemed by WineBizRadio), and my hedonistic side almost always prevails.

Now, to my defense, when one is feeding me delicious samples of a high-ABV barrel-aged barleywine — can one REALLY be expected to follow normal social standards? Yeah, me thinks not.

On this fateful day, Tay and I just happened to sit down next to Rebecca and Eric Giddens — the super human founders of Kern River Brewing Company (and super human is an understatement — if you “Google” Rebecca, you will find a long list of kayaking achievements:  2004 Olympic Silver Medallist, 2002 World Champion, many time National Champion and U.S. Team Member!). I had already been following the brewery on Twitter (because we know I am addicted to Social Media), but had never had the opportunity to try their beers. This unfortunate fact was quickly remedied when a few of us lucky (and rather rebellious) folk were invited to sample some of it in the Stone parking lot (Greg — plug your ears).

Sure, the beer was not at an ideal temp (pretty damn “warm”) and it was not served in the optimal glass, but HOT DAMN it was freaking tasty — regardless of the circumstances. This is when I knew that this brewery had something going on.

Naturally, as with almost everything I do, we were not as discrete as we thought we were. As evidenced by Dr. Bill’s wagging of the finger. Luckily, craft beer is all about the love, and we were quickly forgiven and fed more of the poison that got us in trouble in the first place.

Since then, I have had the opportunity to taste Kern River Brewing Company’s beers a few more times (mostly at Stone) as well as had the honor of meeting their brewmaster (and Twitter-master), Kyle Smith (yep, love at first sight … or something like that) at the 2010 Craft Brewers Conference in Chicago. Kyle is also the “man” behind much of Kern River Brewing’s social media presence.

It is safe to say that I am rather entranced with Kern River Brewing and its beers. So much so, in fact, that when my friends from New Brew Thursday offered to host me for an episode, I chose to feature “Just Outstanding IPA” — because I truly believe that beer is out of this world.

If you have a free minute, make sure to check out the video: June 17 : Just Outstanding IPA : Kern River Brewing with Special Guest The Beer Wench from New Brew Thursday on Vimeo.

The Kern River Brewing Team definitely exemplifies the two qualities that it takes to become “successful” in the industry — pure passion and a killer product. Kyle is also pretty damn good at the whole social media thing, which we all know is “pretty” important to me. I have said this before, I will say it now, and I will continue to say it from here on out — put Kern River Brewing Company on your radars. I guarantee they will make waves in the craft beer industry.

DRINK WITH THE WENCH PRESENTS:

The Beer Blogger Interview Series

Curious what goes on in the minds of your favorite beer bloggers? Well, The Beer Wench is and she has embarked upon a mission to interview as many beer bloggers that she can — from all over the world. Are you a beer blogger? Do you want to share your story? Send me an email!

Beer Blogger Interview

Full name: Stan Hieronymus

Twitter handle: @StanHieronymus

Name of blog: I think Appellation Beer is the one you want to talk about. I also blog at Realbeer.com, use a blogging format to support my most recent books (BrewLikeaMonk.com and BrewingwithWheat.com) and set up TheSlowTravelers.com to chronicle our family adventure (our daughter quickly became the star there).

Current location: Corrales, New Mexico.

Background “Snapshot”

1. Where did you grow up?

Champaign, Illinois, basically on the University of Illinois campus.

2. What sports if any did you play growing up, through college and beyond?

Cow tipping.

3. How old were you when you had your first beer?

I honestly can’t point to a single beer. The first time I became aware of the smell of beer I was seven years old. Once a year my father and friends returning for the University of Illinois homecoming football game would play poker in our basement – which smelled of stale beer and cigars for many days after.

4. If you can recall, what is the story of your first beer? Where did you have it? What style and brand was it?

See above. The only style or brand we concerned ourselves with in college was “quarter pitchers.”

5. Where, if applicable, did you go to college? What did you study? What additional activities, organizations, sports did you partake in during college?

University of Illinois. I majored in political science and economics. I starting working part-time at a local newspaper when I was in high school and became hooked on journalism the summer after my freshman year in college, working full-time (mostly in sports) from my junior year on. Collecting stories and repeating them is such a hoot . . . if people are reading them. People like to read about sports and beer; sewer boards not so much.

Craft Beer Epiphany

Every craft beer enthusiast has at least one pinnacle craft beer experience that completely changes ones perspective on beer. I refer to this mind-blowing moment as a “craft beer epiphany.”

1. What was your first craft beer epiphany? Recall as many details about it as you can:

Sorry, I don’t have a single one. Perhaps I’m a little slow on the uptake or the ’60s had blown my mind before I got around to beer. For instance, I never realized Pabst was “hip.” It was the “green beer” fresh from vats in Peoria Heights brewery (long closed) around the corner from the bar we frequented after our newspaper shift ended at 1 or 2 a.m. German beers, which we could get relatively fresh in central Illinois, and then cask-conditioned ales in England eventually informed me I didn’t necessarily have to be a wine drinker the rest of my life.

2. Have you have additional craft beer epiphanies since the first? Detail as many of them as you wish:

My wife, Daria Labinsky, was the first beer writer in our family, pitching a story on Florida’s brewpubs (all six of them) to “American Brewer” after we quit our “real” newspaper jobs in 1992 to travel and write about whatever paid the bills. When we returned to Illinois after a month in Florida that included volunteering at a golf tournament – getting up close and personal with the likes of Jack Nicklaus, Fred Couples, John Daly and others – even my most golf-crazy friends didn’t want to hear about that. They just wanted to know about the beer story Daria was working on. So I guess the epiphany was about people and beer rather than about beer itself.

Don’t get me wrong. I love drinking beer, talking about beer with friends, discovering new beers. I couldn’t count the number of “wow” beers I’ve had. I can remember just where I was when I tasted particular beers. But in total has come the realization eventual realization (so not really an epiphany) that the beers we end up with are an expression of a brewerís intent, not necessarily an extension of his or her will but one where he or she had a clear idea of how it was going to turn out. It needn’t always be a “wow” beer. You might taste a hefeweiss in the south of Germany and marvel at the extra rich mouthfeel, then listen to the brewer explain something he does different – I’ll stop short of the technical details – in bottle conditioning.

Beer Blog Background

1. How long have you been writing your beer blog?

Since November of 2005.

2. What inspired you to start writing your blog?

To start a discussion about why the beer from here tastes different than the beer from there. And perhaps why it tastes different now than it did then. Quite honestly, probably less than half the posts have stuck to the mission. If I were one for resolutions a good one would be to consult the mission statement before writing. But I’m not one for resolutions.

3. Why did you choose the name of your blog?

To make it clear that wines and cheeses arenít the only products that can claim terroir.

4. What are you personal goals for your blog? What do you hope to achieve with it?

To find a cure for cancer.

5. What is one of the coolest things that happened to you as a result of being a beer blogger?

Having Jonathan Surratt write and ask if I understood how “trackback” worked. This was before he called WordPress his bitch.

More seriously, blogging is just another form of media for a beer writer. I’m not a beer blogger one day and a beer writer on another because something appears in print. Every once in a while somebody who writes about beer in a publication that is printed on paper types a screed berating beer bloggers. That’s plain stupid. Certainly blogs have shortcomings. Most are one-person operations, and I don’t think there is a non-fiction writer alive who doesn’t benefit from interaction with an editor, then the help of a copy editor. But some of the most thoughtful writing about beer appears in blogs. And to bring this back to your question (sort of), if we relied only on print that thoughtful writing would be stuck away in a diary somewhere.

6. What are you top 3 favorite beer blogs/beer websites?

I subscribe to more than 60 beer rss feeds and check the beerinator listings often, but nothing excites (or scares) me as much as when I see Martyn Cornell has a new post. I’m always thrilled when I see he’s not commenting on something stupid I’ve written. (I’m saving the other two choices for favorite brewery.)

Beer Talk

1. What are your top 3 favorite beer styles?

Saison, American IPA, Reinheitsgebot.

2. What are your top 3 favorite breweries?

An impossible question. At this moment, in alphabetical order: Lost Abbey, Marble Brewery, New Glarus Brewing, Private Landbrauerei Schˆnram, Russian River Brewing.

3. If you could work with or for any one brewery, which one would it be and why?

I wouldn’t wish me on any brewery.

4. Are you a homebrewer? If yes, what is the most unique and interesting beer recipes you’ve brewed as a homebrewer?

Yes. A gruit flavored with stuff from our yard.

5. Do you have any beer certifications (BJCP, Cicerone, Siebel, American Brewers Guild)?? If so, what are they?

BJCP (National).

6. What is your favorite beer and food pairing?

We are big on cheese night in our family. Beer follows pretty naturally.

The Personal Side

1. What is your current day job?

I don’t understand the question.

2. If you could change your career at this very moment, without any restrictions on what you could do, what would you want to do and why?

If it turns out there’s something I’d rather be doing I may just go do it.

3. Are you married? Children?

Happily. Two children, Ryan (older, out on his own) and the world famous Sierra.

4. Outside of beer and writing, what are some of your other hobbies?

I’m what librarians refer to as a lifelong learner. Last year it was RV maintenance.

Off The Beaten Path

1. If you were a style of beer, what style would be and why?

Lambic – Often described as sour, and an acquired taste.

2. You were caught smuggling beer illegally, which has now been made punishable by death. Right before you are sent to the executioner, you are offered one last beer. What beer would you chose and why?

Miller Genuine Draft. “Please, shoot me.”

3. If I contracted you to brew a beer (or design a beer recipe) called “The Beer Wench” — what style would you chose and what, if any, extra ingredients would you add?

American Wild.

4. If you could be a superhero, what would you want your superpowers to be?

Make everybody in the world a better speller.

5. What is one of the craziest things you have ever done and lived to tell the story?

Spending 14 months living in a 140-square-foot box with an 11-going-on-16-year-old. (See www.TheSlowTravelers.com.)

6. What are your thoughts on bacon?

It would make a lousy day job.