Tonight: Lucky Lab Hop Harvest

Lucky Lab Hop Harvest
Tonight, August 27, 4pm onward
 915 SE Hawthorne (on the back patio)

There are a number of elements that give Beervana it's particular flavor, and an occasionally overlooked one is the sense of community and collaboration. This happens at the brewery level, where brewers share information and tips about recipes and methods. But it also connects beer drinkers directly with breweries through collaborative projects and events. In Portland, the line between brewer and drinker is murky.

The Lucky Lab's annual "The Mutt" fresh-hop ale is the quintessential metaphor for this sense of community and collaboration. The brewery picks their own hops and solicits donations from gardeners around the Rose City. Beginning at four pm, volunteers wade into the pile of bines and began shucking. When they're done, the baskets go into a beer called "The Mutt"--for the hoppy parentage of the beer is always a vast, mutable tapestry of hop strains.

If you have extra hops, drop them off any time today (with apologies from the blogger for the short notice). And if you want to help harvest--the zymurgical equivalent of a community barn-raising--be there at 4 pm to start plucking. It's happening at the patio of the Hawthorne Lab (915 SE Hawthorne), and I can absolutely guarantee a good time.