MY PORTLAND TIS OF THEE, SWEET LAND OF BEER FOR FREE

where else but our neck of cascadia are you going to be invited to a late summer hop picking barbeque? brewers ben flerchinger and casey lyons were on hand at the se lucky labrador for their annual fresh hop party, where the beer (triple threat and got hops ipas) flowed freely for anyone willing to pick. portland had a relatively wet summer, so the pub crops weren't what they usually are; but guests brought crops from their own gardens and labored happily over fresh draft pints and bites from the grill. all the hops picked during the barbeque are gathered together for one batch of fresh hop beer which, not caring what varietals their friends might bring to the party, the brewers rightly call the mutt. lucky lab beer already packs the punch of your grandma's hooch, and i can only wonder at how hopped up the people who'd had the oils of the plants all over their hands from three o'clock got by nine. no matter, really, so long as they tipped the girl at the kegs. smile for the camera, portland. this one's for you.