Three years ago this month The Session celebrated its inaugural Friday with the topic of Stouts. This month, The Session’s third birthday, we have an entirely apropos topic: When to drink the good stuff, hosted by The Ferm.

Finding a drinking occasion that lives up to the reputation of the bottle and the story of its acquisition is not a dreadful struggle to have, but it is a struggle nonetheless. When my good friends are over and we have had a few other beverages, will we still be able to enjoy my cave aged Hennepin that I bought after my tour of the brewery and have cellared for ten years? Will I miss it like I miss that four year old Golden Monkey?

In March, The Ferm has the honor of hosting The Session, a monthly assemblage of beer bloggers to opine on a shared topic. The March 2010 topic is “The Display Shelf: When to Drink the Good Stuff.” The topic is open ended and the rules of The Session are close to nil. You can use your post to be persuasive or therapeutic. You may choose to tell a story of a great bottle you once opened or boast of your own beer collection.

As I write this post up, I’m enjoying a 2007 vintage bottle of The Abyss—partly in appreciation of this month’s topic, partly to celebrate The Session’s anniversary (enjoying an Imperial Stout in a nice symmetry with that first month of stouts), partly “just because.”

All of which leads into the best answer I can give of “when to drink the good stuff”: I don’t know—it’s entirely up to you.

What? Too anticlimactic? Well, there’s no way around it—beer can be such a subjective topic and everyone has their own tastes and preferences. The only one who can tell you when to drink that prized beer is you.

But if you can hold on to that beer for ten or more years? My hat’s off to you.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I believe I’m going to enjoy the last of this ’07 Abyss…