Beer Blogging Friday- The Session, My measly contribution

Curtis (artist, author, blogger, home brewer, new radio personality, and #1 son), from Hop Head Said, is hosting this week's Beer Blogging Friday Session. The subject is Label, Coaster, and Cap Art, and bloggers around the country (and maybe even around the world) are contributing insight, photos, and commentary on and about beer labels, coasters, and cap art (logical, no?). Check out some of the wonderful posts that are already linked at the site.

My contribution to the conversation is going to be a lot less informed, mostly because I don't have much to say about the subject, except, as with art, I know what I like when I see it. Unfortunately, I don't always take pictures.

... and I'm not a huge beer drinker (well, maybe I'm huge, but that's not what I mean). I enjoy a beer on occasion, especially if that occasion is a hot summer day at the beach (or an evening in SoCal, with a glass of Curt's home brew). Though my preferences tend toward the sweeter end of the spectrum (which contributes to that hugeness that I mentioned), it would be impossible to be Curt's mother and not learn a bit about beer, just by osmosis. So when I travel (and I travel a lot these days), I always ask for his opinion on the local beers, and then I try to sample some.

Okay, so there's nothing special about Sam Adams, and the label is pretty plain, but the glass is cool. It's a collector's item from the very first Sock Summit, which I attended in Portland, OR in 2009 (and for those stopping by from the Beer links, let me assure you that there are, indeed, enough enthusiastic sock knitters to form a convention of noisy, happy, beer-drinking, yarn-wielding, needle-waving broads).

Bill's Brew House in Cannon Beach, OR is one of our favorite stops in one of our favorite places. They don't bottle their microbrew, so there is no label art, but this summer I ordered what I always order there: Blackberry Beauty. It only got a B- in the ratings, but I thought it was wonderful.

Their coasters aren't particularly exciting, but that didn't stop me from bringing some home.

This is just a gratuitous shot of The Needles at Cannon Beach. I wish I was there right now

jumping for joy with the old broads (flanked by the younger broads). It took easily 14 tries (and a couple of beers apiece) for this many of us to be airborne when the shutter clicked, after which the photographer laughed, and gave up. And we wondered off, panting, in search of a drink.

On our recent trip to Michigan, Curt recommended trying Spotted Cow in LaCrosse, WI, where we stopped for the night. I did not get a pic of that one, nor did I get a photo of the many marquees around town that simply announced: Cheese. Or the motel marquee that said, and I quote: Welcome Irish Festers.

Once we were safely in Michigan, I did get a shot of another of Curt's recommendations: Bells's Pale Ale. I have to say that this one wasn't one of my favorites, owing to that aforementioned desire for sweetness. This beer, while admirable, was too hoppy for my taste. The label is pretty, though.

It may already be obvious that I'm a wimp when it comes to beer- I like the wheat beers, and the mild Shock Top Belgian White appeals to me (which has now branded me as a person with  no taste, I fear). I like their Raspberry Wheat even more. But even more than the beer, I like the glass, which features Curt's cover illustration for Sex and Salmonella (seems perfect for a beer glass, no?).

I like this glass design even more,

and these too.

In fact, if The Session ever does a Beer Blogging Friday on Beer Glass Art, I am more than ready!