Even if you're not familiar with barleywine, you have to love the name of the Hell With the Lid Off Barleywine Tasting.

The second annual event is happening from 4 to 8 p.m. Feb. 18 at Kelly's Bar & Lounge in East Liberty. Admission is $30.

"Hell with the lid off" is one writer's famous description of Pittsburgh from when the fires still burned making steel.

Barleywine is actually beer, but brewed to wine-high levels of alcohol -- up to 12 percent and even higher. If you're not careful, "hell" will be how your lid feels the next morning.

Kelly's manager Dan Cross is a barleywine lover who cooked up the idea. He says they'll serve 15 to 20 barley brews -- Brooklyn Monster Ale, Sierra Nevada Bigfoot -- in separate themed "flights," as well as a buffet of food even a vegetarian can enjoy.

For information, call Kelly's at 412-363-6012; you can purchase advance tickets by going to the bar at 6012 Penn Circle South.

And speaking of barleywine, East End Brewing's Gratitude, a barleywine bottled as a thank-you to the little Homewood brewery's supporters, is now available there for $15 a bottle on Thursdays (5-7 p.m.) and Saturday (2-4 p.m.). For details, visit www.eastendbrewing.com or call 412-537-2337. (He also was making a very limited amount available on cask at the Map Room in Regent Square starting last night.)

You can try this rare draft, Gratitude, at the Hell event, says East End brewer Scott Smith, who attended the first tasting and pronounces it, "Great food, greater brew and very well presented and organized."