The Little Woody Barrel-Aged Brew Festival

If there is one thing Bendites like, it’s their beer. With seven world-class craft breweries within walking distance of each other, an official Ale Trail, and a barrelful of annual events featuring beer, residents of Bend, Oregon can swill the suds with the best of them.

Last week, thousands of beer drinkers – from aficionados to couch potatoes – came together to celebrate the good old days of aging beer in oaken casks. Due to the overwhelming interest in the 2009 premier of the Little Woody Barrel-Aged Brew Festival, the bacchanal returned to the Des Chutes Historical Museum in Downtown Bend for two full days on September 3 and 4, 2010. Exhibitors included Deschutes Brewery, Ninkasi, McMenamins, Three Creeks Brewing, and Bend Brewing Company.

The Little Woody celebrates the ancient brewing technique as adapted by American craft brewers, featuring beers aged in wine barrels, whiskey barrels and oak barrels, which uniquely flavors and intensifies the beer. In addition to showcasing the wide variety of barrel-aged beer from local and regional microbreweries, this year’s Little Woody offered bourbon tasting from some of the region’s finest distilleries.

Mark your calendar for the first week of September 2011. The Gnomes and their best beers and bourbons will be back!