Jeff Alworth over at Beervana brought to my attention the fact that this weekend will be the first annual Firkin Fest. Originally I thought it was Saturday, turns out it's actually Sunday. Oops.

The Fest is its first year, so the name can only improve. Firkin Fest isn't bad, but I agree with Jeff that something with a few more "F"s would be much better. Something like the Fantabulously Freakin' Fine Firkin Fest.

A Witigonen crew will showing up for the later of the two sessions. As of right now Christine, and Michael, and myself will be there to taste the beers and socialize with our fellow Portlanders that love good beer as much as we do. If we haven't had enough (of good beer or to drink), then on to the Green Dragon which is a guaranteed great drinking establishment.

So here's what's going on at the Firkin Fest. Pay $25 to get in. Once inside you get 8 drink tickets, a pair of food tickets, and a commemorative glass. Which I hope falls into the category of holding an Honest Pint.

There will be 9 kinds of beer, and apparently 3 kinds of food. But unless the food is ambrosia, who cares? The beers look solid though.

Especially the stouts as I am a guy that likes to drink my meals, or so my friends tell me.

I don't know nearly as much about beers as I might like, but here is the beer list and my thoughts about each:

BJ's Pizza, Grill & Brewery featuring Lasto's Oatmeal Stout. This brew clocks in at 5.4% alcohol content I am looking forward to this one. Course I love my stouts, and a good Oatmeal Stout is a definite weakness of mine.

BridgePort Brewing Company's Extra Special Bitter As I sit here sipping on BridgePort's IPA, I can't help but look forward to this one. Not a guy that typically likes ESBs, I'll definitely be giving this one a shot. 6.0% alcohol by volume (ABV).

Double Mountain Brewery & Taproom's India Red Ale. Haven't had anything from Double Mountain, and never had an IRA, so I'm just not sure what to expect. Had the double mountain kolsch last night, and it was a good beer. So far Double Mountain is one for one in my books, and I hope that continues. I am a recent drinker of IPAs, so I'm definitely looking forward to tasting the difference in an Indian Red Ale. 6.5%

Full Sail Brewing Company's Imperial Stout. It's a stout. I love stouts, and I like Full Sail. I'd leave it at that, except it's an Imperial and the second heaviest hitter on the list, alcohol wise. 8.5% ABV

Hair of the Dog Brewing Company's Organic Doggy Claws. A barley wine. I like barley wines. They don't typically rock my world, but I haven't been disappointed by one yet. 11.5% and this one will put you down. Plus Hair of the Dog is a good brewery.

Hopworks Urban Brewery's Organic Velvet ESB. Another ESB. Don't know anything about Hopworks, but there's only so many breweries a young guy can have visited so far. Definitely one I'd like to try, but won't be disappointed if I get stuck on other beers. 5.2% Alcohol content.

Laurelwood Brewing Company's Magnum Pale Ale. Haven't had any of the Laurelwood either, but I've heard good things. Plus, the Laurelwood staff I've dealt with when planning events (that I haven't attended) have been phenomenal, so if their beers is anywhere close it should be good. I like Pales so I'm interested to try this one out. 5.5% Alcohol.

Pelican Pub and Brewery's IPA (Indian Pelican Ale). Another IPA, but with a catchy name. As my tastes have recently changed to include some IPAs, I'd like to try this one. Plus amusing names always hold a special place in my heart. This pelican ale flies in at a strong 7.5%

Rock Bottom Brewery's Oregonic Amber. A Northwest Amber. Despite having lived in Portland for a little while I have yet to try a NW amber. Probably at the top of my list to try for reasons of exposing myself to more styles of brew. Plus the NorthWest is damn awesome, so a beer styled after it must have at least some of the same greatness. 5.9% ABV