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.

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.

Zwickelmania weekend was awesome! Unfortunately, there wasn’t enough time to visit every spot that we wanted to. Still, we did hit up some favorites. Here’s what went down:

Heater-Allen at Bailey’s Taproom

It’s been a great summer. The hops grew tall and plump and at last, the summer has wound down. As sad as it might seem, we’ve still got some sunshine and great harvest season events to look forward to. Over the weekend, we homebrewed a hoppy treat from our fresh off the bine nuggets. We pedaled over to BiKETOBEERFEST at Hopworks before enjoying the Beer & Art event at the Portland Art Museum.

Once again it is September and this means the curtain is drawing closed on summer and the hops are ripe for the pickin’. At the Lucky Labrador, the annual Mutt Hops Pickin’ event was underway with a greater turn out than ever before. People from the community and friends of the Lucky Lab hauled in their homegrown bines to share not only in the labor and its fruits, but in an atmosphere of community and friendship at the heart of craft beer.

Folks like Daniel Klug make the event what it is today by showing up and selflessly contributing to an environment that has maintained Lucky Lab as a true public house where house made beer flows to dedicated patrons. Klug, an ornamental iron worker and traditional blacksmith began helping with the picking ceremony eight years ago when his business White Hart Forge was a stone’s throw away from the Hawthorne pub. Today, he works eight miles south of the pub but remains loyal to the semblance of local color that continues to define the event. “It’s as much about the people and the friendships as it is about the beer and the hops” says Klug. Like Klug, Lucky Lab brewer Ben Flerchinger carries much of the same sentiment. “I love it.” he says. “(The picking event) is awesome. It’s a very community-oriented event. People know each other and those who don’t make new friends. It brings the community together.”

Do you like fun? Enjoy enjoyment? Well, we were very pleased to make our way down to this year’s Cheers to Belgian Beers at the Lucky Lab on NW Quimby in Portland. The third annual installment of the festival was a real hoot with the star of the show being the Ingelmuster (aka Dutch Castle) yeast strain at center stage. All of the beers eligible for people’s choice were producing using this astringent and sweet microbrewer, and there were even some other random Belgians on hand for grins and gags.

Port Barrel-aged Lucky Lab Pavlov Imp Stout

Lucky Lab brewer and big dog Ben Flerchinger just got us drooling again.  This time, over the latest bottling, the Lab’s Port barrel-aged Imperial Stout known as “Pavlov.” The brew also features Northern Brewer, Fuggles and Goldings hops to round out a big, bad-ass robust malt underpinning. Flerchinger gave us this description of the brew:

Huge flavor from the roasted barley balanced with hints of vanilla from the barrel gives way to notes of raspberries and black currants from the Port. This is all followed by underpinnings of chocolate, caramel and licorice. With a head of dark coffee color, it’s all wrapped up with a finish of esters and warming alcohol.

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!

Brewer Ben Flerchinger gets hoppy at the Lucky Lab Mutt Hop picking.

The Lucky Labrador is the kind of place where beer lovers and friends alike congregate in a true public house atmosphere.  Boldly hoppy beers adorn the vast selection.  With three locations each with unique wide-open gathering halls, the Lab is perhaps the of friendliest down home pubs in Portland.  On September 17, 2008, a group of Lab Lovers along with staff joined in an annual ritual of picking hops for the autumn Mutt Hop Brew.  I showed up at the Hawthorne location about 1:45PM to find brewer Ben Flerchinger and about ten others picking away.  They had been picking several varietals of vine ripened hops since noon in the back beer garden.  With warm and muggy air, the crop was at its peek.   Hops growing out back of the Lab and from the NW Quimby location were being harvested right before my eyes.  The smell was wonderful, and the mood was that of community and friendship.  Not only were the hops from the Lucky Lab being used, but Lab Lovers were bringing in their own supplies in attempts to make 2008’s harvest the biggest yet. According to Flerchinger, 2007’s Mutt Hop event yielded 73 pounds of sticky lupulin-laden fruit.