THE BEER BEAT: I've decided to skip this year's Session Beer Day observance. See you in 2018.

As Allen Saunders said, and John Lennon later reiterated, life is what happens to us while we're busy making other plans.

Six weeks ago, I started thinking about ways of celebrating one of my favorite annual holidays by taking it to the soon-to-be-two-way-streets in my own city.

THE BEER BEAT: Why not a Session Beer Day pub crawl in downtown New Albany?

In 2017, Session Beer Day will be celebrated on Friday, April 7.

Shortly thereafter, my mother's health took a turn for the worse. There was much to give me pause, and I did the sensible thing ... and paused.

In 2001, when my father died, I was operating at career peak alcohol consumption. The results weren't always pretty, although it was another life and a different set of circumstances. I was functional at this rate of intake, but this fact shouldn't be taken to imply optimal.

Because of all this, I decided that drinking to any substantive degree during what looked to be my mother's final weeks was something I simply had no interest in doing, so I didn't, confining myself to four scattered beers and a double Scotch since just after the Super Bowl.

As most readers know by now, she died two weeks ago, and I'm happy to have kept my vow of sobriety (if not outright abstinence). We're never to old to learn, or to feel.

Session Beer Day was to be the resumption of normality, and yet to be honest, I'm not feeling it. I can see myself having a couple of beers somewhere, just not in the previously suggested format.

I'm going to take a break from Session Beer Day advocacy in 2017, and see where the fickle finger of fate is pointing next year, in April of 2018.

If you'd been planning on joining me for the walk, please accept my apologies.

THE BEER BEAT: Why not a Session Beer Day pub crawl in downtown New Albany?

In 2017, Session Beer Day will be celebrated on Friday, April 7. A scheme to mark the occasion is evolving, and I'll tell you more about it, but first some background information is merited.

Since at least 2012, and possibly before, your humble correspondent has been celebrating this little known beer drinker's holiday.

First, I began organizing tap takeovers for beers that fit the session parameters (below), and then we began brewing more of them at the New Albanian Brewing Company (remember Session Head, anyone?)

In 2016, permanently estranged from NABC (but not yet remunerated, I happily reformatted and made my own James Joyce-inspired Session Beer Day walk through downtown Louisville, stopping at six breweries (Falls City, Gordon Biersch, BBC 3rd Street, Against the Grain, Godwood and Akasha) and having a session-strength point at each one, as well as one or two more at Akasha, my final stop.

The estimable Lew Bryson is the impetus for session beer consciousness.

The Session Beer Project is a non-profit, unorganized, unofficial effort to popularize and support the brewing and enjoyment of session beers. You can read more about it here and here.

For our purposes, 'session beer' is defined as a beer that is:

► 4.5% alcohol by volume or less
► flavorful enough to be interesting
► balanced enough for multiple pints
► conducive to conversation
► reasonably priced

If that seems vague...it is. Here's another definition: low-alcohol, but not low-taste. It's subjective. Live with it, and enjoy it. We're here to help make your night out more fun, more tasty, and more safe. Cheers!

In all honesty, I've come to live by the session beer credo. It doesn't mean there aren't occasions for stronger beers. Rather, my default inquiry when entering a brewpub or "good beer" place is to see what's on tap at 4.5% ABV or less. Often I'm disappointed, but the revelations make up for the absences -- the more varied, the better.

We forget that in most of the world's traditional brewing cultures, ascending levels of taxation based on fermentables or alcohol content generally meant that beers of moderate strength were the choice for drinking, day in and day out. The style panoply includes numerous examples, although predictably, we tend to see over-hopped "Session IPA" most often. In January of 2016, Lew issued a challenge to brewers.

SESSION BEER DAY IS ON!

... If you're a brewer interested in participating, it's simple. The "session IPA" has taken over the American session beer category, when it was supposed to be a meta-category, a category that would include many different types of beer at 4.5% and less. Session beer awareness is supposed to be about increasing choices for the beer drinker...and we largely got one extra choice out of it.

Snap out of it! Take this opportunity to show off your skills and make a session-strength beer, 4.5% or less (you can do it; you can go lower!), that doesn't rely on shouting hops for all its character. We get it, brewers know how to make a light, wildly hoppy beer: EVERY brewer's doing it.

Be different! On April 7th, show us some real innovation, or some real skills to make a beautiful example of a classic session-strength beer that stands apart from the herd of 'monkey-see, monkey-do' dialed-down IPAs.

I cannot "like" this sentiment often enough.

With Session Beer Day 2017 less than two months away, it's time for me to decide how I'll be honoring the occasion this year, and here's what I've come up with.

This year, I'd like to make my Session Beer Day stroll in downtown New Albany. You're welcome to join me.

Off the top of my head ... from Brownie's "The Shed" on the west side to Gospel Bird on the east, and from from the Ohio River north to Dragon King's Daughter, there'll be at least 11 establishments that sell good beers on draft. I'm open to considering sites further afield, but these comprise a solid walkable core.

Two of these businesses are breweries (NABC and Floyd County Brewing), and they're a given. If five or six others could be sure to have a session-strength tap flowing on April 7, then it's in the can. As such, Donum Dei and the Louisville breweries might still be represented; obviously, the more local my choices, the better.

As always, I'll publicize the walk, and to repeat, you're welcome to join me. Take a long weekend, won't you? We'll start when the first bar opens, circa 11:00 a.m., and there'll be merriment.

Who's in? Bar managers, I'd be happy to advise in a selection -- and be aware that it would be a good marketing and educational opportunity, as well.

THE BEER BEAT: The beer and whiskey that Lew Bryson wants to drink in 2017.

One beery ideal, near Cork, Ireland (1987)

Many of you know that Lew is a friend of mine, and so my touts aren't entirely unbiased. I'm not a whiskey drinker, and so cannot take a substantive position on Lew's distilled thoughts. However, his beer observations are spot on, mirroring my own.

I've included just one as a teaser, primarily because I find it sensuous ... or maybe sensual.

No matter.

Session Beer Day 2017 isn't that far away: April 7, a Friday. Last year I celebrated it with a brewery crawl in Louisville. This year, I'm hoping a few downtown establishments (both breweries and bars) will have a sub-5% beer on tap, enough to keep the crawl local -- and maybe a few of you can join me.

More on that as we get closer.

The Whiskey & Beer I Want to Drink in 2017, by Lew Bryson (The Daily Beast)

What one drinks expert would like to see more of and less of in 2017.

Lagers. No, I’m not jumping on the bandwagon. I’ve been pushing the damned category for almost 20 years! But the problem with most of the cool new lagers is that they are whopper-hopped and cold-matured for IPA freaks who want to take over this style of beer. Brewers: Don’t monoculture another entire classification of beer. Give us Dortmunders, helles, long-cellared bocks and soft, beautiful, Czech-type pilsners.