I can’t believe I’ve almost neglected to mention that The Little Woody, Bend’s barrel-aged brewfest, is coming up this Labor Day weekend—this Friday and Saturday, September 2nd and 3rd, to be exact! This year marks the third showing for this festival, which features barrel- and wood-aged beers from Central Oregon’s local breweries as well as breweries from Portland, Eugene, and Corvallis.

The fest takes place from 5 to 10pm on Friday the 2nd, and from noon to 10pm on Saturday the 3rd on the Des Chutes Historical Museum lawn and parking lot in Downtown Bend (located at 129 NW Idaho Street). The entry fee is $6 for the commemorative tasting glass, $5 without, and for $15 you can get a tasting package that includes entry, glass, and ten tokens. (Standard token pricing/pours apply.)

This is definitely a beer geek’s festival, as in addition to the big bourbon-y strong beers you’ll also find soured beers and beers that have picked up wild yeasts from the barrels—which isn’t everyone’s cup of tea.

I haven’t seen word on what will be pouring yet, but these are the breweries in attendance:

• 10 Barrel Brewing (Bend)
• Bend Brewing (Bend)
• Boneyard Beer (Bend)
• Block 15 (Corvallis)
• Cascade Lakes Brewing (Bend)
• Deschutes Brewery (Bend)
• Hopworks Urban Brewery (Portland)
• McMenamins Old St. Francis School (Bend)
• Ninkasi Brewing (Eugene)
• Oakshire Brewing (Eugene)
• Silver Moon Brewing (Bend)
• Three Creeks Brewing (Sisters)
• GoodLife Brewing (Bend)
• Oregon Trail Brewery (Corvallis)

And besides the beers there will be wines available as well as cocktails from Bendistillery.

In addition to the above there is also a whiskey tasting that for $45 will get you six tastes of whiskeys from Oregon and Washington, including the relatively new Oregon Spirit Distillers from here in Bend.

There’s food on hand and a live music line-up, but it’s also important to note that this is a 21 and over event only.

I’ll post the full beer list that will be pouring if I can get a hold of it.

Update: I received the beer list and was pleased to note that in addition to the breweries I initially listed, GoodLife Brewing and Oregon Trail Brewery will also be represented.

Update 2: I received confirmation from Lay it Out Events (the organizers) that wines and cocktails will not be available.