The first Friday of each month brings together beer bloggers around a common topic under the banner of The Session. I think I missed this month, which is the first in over a year. Whoops. January, though, January I won’t miss. Why?

I’m hosting it.

The topic I want you all to write about: “Are breweries your friends?”

To be in business nowadays you pretty much have to have a social media presence. This is especially true in the beer world, where some breweries have basically built themselves on their personality. And yet, at the end of the day, we’re also selling you something.

I believe this is the first Session to be hosted by a brewery rather than beer blogger. How do you feel about that? Do you want your feeds clear of businesses, or do you like when a brewery engages with people? Can you think of anyone who does it particularly well, or poorly? As the person who does our social media, which I think is very good (although not quite good enough), I struggle with this problem. I’m on both sides, and rather than come to any sort of conclusion of my own I thought I would make all of you write about it.

Buffalo beer people — your Beer Leagues, your Ditches Of Unusual Size — you’re on notice. I expect our city to blow up this Session.

And, of course, a reminder: to participate, post your response by the first Friday of January, which in this case is January 1. Post a comment here or tag us at @communitybeer on Twitter and I’ll include it in the roundup, which I’ll post on Tuesday, January 5. Then we all read and comment and have a grand old time.

You in? Good.