In 2009, Drink a Beer with Your Lunch.

In a half-awake, half-slumbering state on New Year's morning, I was thinking about the "aughts." Since Aught-One I have been saying "aught." It's much quicker than saying, "in the year of our Lord two-thousand-and-one," for example. My time is valuable. So is yours.

All the aughts since then have sort of flown by, from Aught-Deuce to Aught-Ocho. Many good times therein. So yesterday morning, still sort of dreaming, I realized that we had reached the last of the aughts. That saddened me. This one deserved a really good name. I declared to the Woman that Aught-Nacho had arrived. I still don't know if it's a good name, but it's too late to take it back. It is written.

Now, what will Aught-Nacho have in store for us?

There is some chatter going on here and here and probably elsewhere about drinkers, anti-drinkers, moderation and the lack thereof. To unfairly abbreviate it, this eventually leads somewhat logically into calls, again, for lighter-alcohol beers. A few right-minded people would love to see 'o9 be the year of the session beer. Works for me.

It would be a mistake to think more session beers would lead to more moderation – could be quite the opposite. In fact most of the strong-beer drinkers I know also tend to be best at self-moderating – for whatever reason. Maybe because they are drinking for taste and not just to drink. Meanwhile most of the drunkenness I see at home and abroad is the sort where someone is drinking a long series of 4 to 5 percent beers. Usually lager.

Still, the year of the session beer? I'll support it. If nothing else comes of it, maybe more of my fellow Americans would get the stones to have a single beer with lunch. In my opinion that's one of the simplest ways to improve productivity and quality of life. Possibly even health.

Pictured above is a glass of Dupont Biolégère, known as Avril when exported. Note my careful and possibly pretentious use of accents. It's easy once you learn how to type them. This was enjoyed at a rustic lunch place here called Fous du Terroir. The Biolégère is a true session beer at 3.5 percent strength, a more faithful descendant of the old saisons given to farm workers.