Two breweries from the far reaches of Eastern Oregon to showcase some of the state’s best beer for the BrewPubliCrawl.

Oregon’s easternmost brewery and purveyor of monstrously hoppy brews, Beer Valley Brewing will be on hand for Brewpublic’s March 20th BrewPubliCrawl. Not only will founder-brewer Pete Ricks be on hand for the event at The BeerMongers, he will also be pouring two brand new Beer Valley exclusives: the Rosebud IPA and a special one-of-a-kind never seen before blend. The Rosebud is Ricks’ first anointed India Pale Ale despite his beers’ affinity for muscular hop bittering and titanic malt character (see: Black Flag Imperial Stout, Leafer Madness Imperial Pale Ale, Highway to Ale Barleywine). For a hint as to what the special blend might be we looked to Beer Valley’s website. However, nothing is confirmed except this new blend will be there and will be electric. These beers will be making their way from Ontario, Oregon, nearly 400 miles, and six hours drive to Portland.

In case you missed it (and your liver might thank you if you had), Lucky Lab’s Barleywine and Big Beer Fest this year was a huge success. Everything you’d expect from a beer festival, the selection was exceptional, the atmosphere was welcoming, and the crowds were not overwhelming.

The event kicked off for the 13th annual installment on Friday March 5 at noon and lasted until 11PM before recommencing again the next day, again at noon. We did not attend the first day of the festival in fear of us not being able to return for our volunteer shift Saturday. Saturday the weather was spectacular, and a bicycle ride across town to the fest was invigorating. The warm sun shined through the partially opened garage door of the spacious brewpub on NW Quimby Street; a hearty and well needed beer fest was underway. A few people made their way to the tables as the event kicked off. These folks were the beer geeks who live for this kind of thing, some of whom were still recovering from the previous day’s samplings.

Today, Monday March 8, 2010 you can taste Ninkasi’s Spring Reign seasonal release and and their year-round line-up of Total Domination, Believer Imperial Red, and Tricerahops Imperial IPA. Spring Reign and a very rare small keg of Critical Hit Barleywine will also be featured on draft. If you didn’t try the The Critical Hit at Lucky Lab’s Barleywine fest this weekend this is your last chance. We tried it there and highly recommend it to any fan of big, hopped-the-hell-out brews!

Get your stunt liver primed for this coming Friday and Saturday, March 5 and 6. You’re gonna need it. Lucky Lab is hosting the thirteenth annual Barleywine and Big Beer Festival at their NW Quimby brewpub. The spacious setting is the perfect venue for such an event. In the leading city for craft beer, this brewpub isone of Portland, Oregon’s finest.

A recent tour of the cooler thanks to brewer Ben Flerchinger revealed nearly 60 beers waiting to be tapped. More are still on there way. According to the Lab technician, the average alcohol by volume of all these brews is 9.89%. Hot damn!

Check out the New School blog’s preview and picks for this year’s festival. There’s a list of the beers there, too.

The Barleywine and Big Beer Fest will occur at 1945 NW Quimby in Portland, Oregon.

“This is the hour of the Shire-folk, when they arise from their quiet fields, to shake the towers and counsels of the Great.” -Elrond, from Lord of the Rings.

This past weekend Brewpublic made the journey south to Oregon’s second largest city, Eugene. In this “Emerald City” which is home to Oregon’s largest University and the birthplace of Nike, a thriving craft beer community is home to well known hot spots like Ninkasi Brewing, Rogue Track Town Brewery, McMenamin’s High Street Brewpub, and  Oakshire Brewing.

For those who have not yet heard,Hansen Energy Drink and Rock Art have reached a trade agreement after the maker of Monster Energy initially ordering a cease and desist on the small Vermont microbrewery for naming a seasonal barleywine ale Vermonster.

Hansen Beverage Company and Rock Art Brewery today issued the following statement in connection with a recent trademark issue:

Hansen Beverage Company and Rock Art Brewery have reached an amicable agreement under which both companies’ respective products will be protected – Hansen’s Monster Energy® line of energy drinks and Rock Art’s Vermonster beer products.

Billion dollar Energy Drink company uses deep pockets to go after Vermont microbrewery.

A buzz around the American craft beer community has revealed an ugly truth stemming from the pits of corporate America. We heard about it on the social networking site Facebook where several friends and brewers have reacted.  Morrisville, Vermont’s Rock Art Brewery has been issued a cease and desist order from Monster Energy Drink. Monster, who would appear is living up to its name, is marketed and distributed by Hansen Natural Corporation, a NASDAQ listed company of Corona, California. Hansen Natural Corporation recently announced a distribution agreement with Anheuser-Busch in the United States. The letter from the corporate team at Monster claims there is confusion generated by the Rock Art’s seasonal barley wine named “Vermonster” created a couple years back to celebrate their tenth anniversary.

Rock Art began as a two person operation twelve years ago by husband and wife team Matt and Renee Nadeau. Today, the business remains a modest microbrewery operation that employs seven people and distributes to five states outside of Vermont. On the other hand, Hansen Natural who owns the Monster energy drink is a publicly traded company with a reported gross sales for the second quarter of 2009 of $345.8 million, up 6.7% from $324.1 million in the same period last year. According to reports, Monster sold a cool $1 billion worth of the energy drink last year.

Portland International Beerfest’s 2009 guide booklet reads “Tapped Out” boldly across the front top. After spending two of the three days at this well organized and executed beer geek event, I feel just that. On the opening night, Friday July 17, I decided to forgo the event due to hot weather that nearly hit 100 degrees. But by Saturday, I was amped to go. Equipped with my new Beer Rock Socks, a plump stack of drink tickets and the event’s classy glass sampler, I was of the determined mindset that neither crowds nor heat would stop me.

Le Mondial de la bière: is the major beer event in the Québec province. This event allows you to taste the best beers brewed all around our great province. A huge place is also dedicated to beers of the world. This 16th edition was held from June 3rd to 7th in Montréal downtown. There are no sessions for this festival. Admission is totally free. You just purchase beer tickets and exchange them for a two ounce tasting. Prices vary from 1 to 5 CDN$, which is usually quite affordable.

Lucky Lab’s Ben Flerchinger gave us the most recent update on the beers that will pour at the Barleywine and Big Beer Festival.BF says “This I think is the final tally for the 2009 Barleywine Big Beer Tasting. I might have forgotten a few and added some that don’t exist, but I think we’re pretty damn spot on.”

As previously mentioned, this event is taking place on March 6 and 7, 2009 at Lucky Lab’s NW Quimby location (1945 NW Quimby St. in Portland, OR). Gates open at noon both days close at ten o’clock. The tickets are $1.75 for a four ounce taste, no charge for admission.
The organizer asks that you please take Tri-Met, a taxi, or find a designated driver. You may want to consider bringing a designated liver as well.  These beers are no joke!