What started in 2009 as a small, local beer festival with a unique angle—all wood-aged beers—is back for its seventh year, taking place in Bend September 4th and 5th—The Little Woody Barrel Aged Beer, Cider & Whiskey Fest. The name has expanded along with the festival; when it originally started, it was beer only and all seven(!) of Central Oregon’s breweries participated.

It was unique from the start; I had never heard of a similarly-themed brewfest at the time, and the venue eschewed the regular open-field format in favor of taking place on the property of the Des Chutes Historical Museum in downtown Bend. It has taken place at that venue ever since, with beers (and now ciders) pouring in the parking lot along with food carts, and seating, games, and live music taking place on the lawn.

The Little Woody has grown from its original seven breweries (which really did represent all the active breweries here in Central Oregon at the time) to encompass some 23 breweries and cideries from around the Northwest this year. And, as they have been doing in past years, there will also be whiskey tasting taking place inside the Museum.

Here’s the description from their press release:

The Little Woody Barrel Aged Beer and Whiskey Festival will celebrate craft wood-aged beers from across the Northwest, along with small-batch American rye whiskeys and bourbons, and new this year, barrel-aged ciders, during the [seventh] annual festival September 4-5, 2015. The Little Woody takes place next to the Des Chutes Historical Museum, 129 Northwest Idaho Avenue in downtown Bend, Ore.

New on the Little Woody tasting lineup this year is cider. In celebration of the growth of the local and regional cider scene, there will be several barrel-aged cideries including Reverend Nat’s Hard Cider, Schilling & Co. Hard Cider, and Bend’s newest local cidery, Far Afield Cidery.

To commemorate one of Central Oregon’s hallmarks—craft beer—and lend a nod to the historic techniques used by brewers with oaken casks, The Little Woody will once again feature small-batch beers aged in wood barrels by top Northwest breweries including Deschutes Brewery, Ninkasi Brewing, 10 Barrel Brewing, New Belgium Brewing, as well as pours that include for the first time Lompoc Brewing, Burnside Brewing Co., Fremont Brewing, Vagabond Brewing, and Fort George.

The hours are 5 to 10pm on Friday the 4th, and noon to 10pm on Saturday the 5th. It’s strictly a 21-and-over event. The pricing structure looks like this:

Basic entry including commemorative glass: $12
Tasting package: $20. Includes glass, entry and 8 tokens
Whiskey tasting: Tokens will apply to both beer and whiskey
Tokens: $1 each and tastes cost 2-5 tokens each

You can pre-purchase tickets or packages online here.

And here is the full brewery and beer list they have online:

• 10 Barrel Brewing (Bend):
  • Huckleberry Hound, Uber Berliner Weiss base, aged in Pinot barrels for a year, and conditioned with Oregon Huckleberries
• 21st Amendment Brewery (San Francisco):
  • Hop Crisis Imperial IPA, aged on oak
• Bend Brewing Company (Bend):
  • Raven – Bourbon Barrel Aged Baltic Porter
  • Currant Volkssekt, Cabernet Barrel Aged Currant Berliner Weisse
• Burnside Brewing (Portland):
  • Curious Funk, “sour blend of our Stout and Strong Ale aged in Four Roses barrels”
  • Couch Select Lager
• Deschutes Brewery (Bend):
  • Sour Pumpkin Bier de Gourd, 19 months in oak barrels with Brux and Lambicus
  • Barrel Aged Trees of Doom Dunkel, new Rye Whiskey barrels from Oregon Spirit Distillers for three months
  • X-Tap The Abyss 2014
• Far Afield Cider (Bend):
  • Scallywag Cider, aged six months in One-Eyed Jon Rum barrels from Oregon Spirit Distillers
  • Temptation, a sweet(ish) cider with vanilla and honey.
• Fort George Brewery (Astoria):
  • 3-Way IPA
  • Barrel Aged Plazm Farmhouse Ale, ged in French Oak Pinot Noir barrels
• Fremont Brewing (Seattle):
  • Bourbon Abominable: Kentucky to Scotland, aged in 15 year old American oak bourbon barrels, infused with cherry wood soaked in peat smoked Islay Scotch
  • Summer Ale
• Hop Valley Brewing (Springfield):
  • Hop Valley Oakeroo, 2014 Winter seasonal aged in bourbon barrels from Heaven Hill distillery
  • Bohemian Dub Hop Pale Ale
• Lagunitas Brewing (Petaluma, CA):
  • High West-ified Coffee Stout, “vintage-ize an West High Rye and Bourbon Barrel”
• Lompoc Brewing (Portland):
  • Port Barrel Aged Cimmerian, dark Belgian style ale aged in Maryhill Winery Port barrels for five months
• Mazama Brewing (Corvallis):
  • Ginger Quad, Barrel Aged Quadrupel Aged 9 months in ginger mead barrels from Nectar Creek Honeywine
  • Nightside Eclipse Bourbon aged Baltic Porter
• McMenamins Old St. Francis School (Bend):
  • Isle of Unicorn Scotch Ale, conditioned for 4 months in McMenamins Whiskey barrels
  • Caped Crusader Robust Porter, Aged in a McMenamins Hogshead Whiskey barrel and then keg conditioned for 6 more months
• New Belgium Brewing (Fort Collins, CO):
  • Love Peach Oscar, Soured Oscar base aged in Leopold Bros peach Whiskey barrels
  • Love Apple Felix, Soured Felix base aged in Leopold Brothers Apple Whiskey barrels
• Ninkasi Brewing (Eugene):
  • Oak-Aged Sleigh’r, “aged it for 15 months in Heaven Hills bourbon barrels, adding in cocoa nibs, apricots, and wild strawberries during the aging process”
  • Wünderbier
• Reverend Nat’s Hard Cider (Portland):
  • Whiskey Barrel-Aged Soured Pippin with Makrut
  • X-Tap Cider, bourbon cherry barrel aged lacto-fermented Sacrilege Sour Cherry
• Schilling Cider (Seattle):
  • Oaked aged cider
  • Wild Aged Cider X-Tap, “This sour style wild fermentation cider is aged in Mischief Whiskey barrels and is just under 2 years old.”
  • Ginger Cider
• Silver Moon Brewing (Bend):
  • One Eyed Elf, 2014 Elf Brew aged in OSD One Eyed Jon Spiced Rum Barrels
  • Bourbon Barrel Aged Dark Tranquility Stout
• Stone Brewing (Escondido, CA):
  • Reason Be Damned, Belgian Style Abbey Ale aged in Red Wine Barrels
  • Barrel Aged Brown Ale W/ Balaton Sour Cherries, “Aged almost 3 years in wine barrels, followed by several months in our foudres”
• Three Creeks Brewing (Sisters):
  • Whiskey a Cocoa, Rye Whiskey Barrel aged FivePine Chocolate Porter
  • Top Hat Belgian Tripel
• Vagabond Brewing (Salem):
  • Fancy as Funk, classic Saison brewed with orange peel and rose hips, aged in Pinot Noir Barrels for a year
  • Belgian Pale in Pinot Barrels with Apricots, King Estate Pinot Noir Barrels
• Wild Ride Brewing (Redmond, OR):
  • Bourbon Barrel Aged Brain Bucket Imperial IPA
  • X-Tap Saison, Fermented in Pinot Noir Barrels
• Worthy Brewing (Bend):
  • Lyrical Genius Flemish Red, aged in oak Sangiovese barrels for 18 months with brettanomyces, lactobacillus, & pediococcus
  • Dream On, “We took our Farmhouse-style Saison, added a few pounds of raspberries, spiked it with lactobacillus and brettanomyces yeasts and then aged it in Pinot Noir barrels”

That is a stunningly good beer list! If you can make it to Bend for Labor Day weekend, don’t miss The Little Woody!