The annual Little Woody Barrel-Aged Beer, Cider & Whisky Festival returns this weekend, one of the region’s most distinctive beer events.

The Little Woody began in 2009, and each year it focuses a spotlight on the magic of aging beer in wood with a smaller-format two-day festival.

Prior to the 20th century, nearly all beer was stored or aged in wood. With the advent of the stainless-steel keg in the 1940s, beer migrated out of wooden casks for the newer kegs, and by the 1970s nearly all beer in the U.S. was conditioned in steel.

Wood was no longer commonly used until craft brewers started experimenting with barrel aging in the 1990s. Goose Island Beer Company of Chicago is widely considered to be the first brewery to produce a bourbon barrel-aged beer with its Bourbon County Stout in 1994.

In the 30 years since, barrel aging exploded in popularity and is now fairly common. The Little Woody embraces and showcases these creations, featuring a broad range of options among the 15 breweries and cideries represented, with each bringing at least two beers or ciders to the event (though not all have been aged in barrels).

Barrel goals

Broadly speaking, there are two primary goals of barrel aging. The first is to add complexity to the beer with the use of barrels that previously housed other spirits or alcohol, or even new unused barrels for the character of the wood.

This added complexity is expressed in the flavor and often the aroma and mouthfeel as well.

Immersion Brewing Company will be offering two beers that fit this mold: Onism and Meraki, a barrel-aged imperial stout with vanilla and a barrel-aged blend of imperial stout and barleywine, respectively. They were aged in bourbon barrels for over a year, and both offer up rich, intricate experiences reflecting the bourbon influence.

The other goal is to sour a beer, by developing tart and funky character in barrels that host wild cultures of yeast and bacteria. Common among the brewers of Belgium, this process can be time intensive to allow the flora present in the wood to work, but can result in beers that are lusciously sour and complex.

An example of such a beer pouring this weekend is Oude Perzik from Boneyard Beer Company. Oude Perzik is a sour golden ale blended from several wild fermentation projects, aged for several years, with the addition of Oregon peaches. It’s tart and dry with a big punch of peach character.

Sampling specialties

Part of the fun of a festival like the Little Woody is the opportunity to try these and other specialty beers in one place — particularly when exploring other types of barrels than whiskey.

One standout is Barrel Aged Rindless from Portland’s Hopworks Brewery, a watermelon gose (soured wheat ale with coriander and salt) aged in tequila barrels for six months. The combination is reminiscent of a margarita cocktail and highlights the tequila character.

10 Barrel Brewing Company is bringing Playing Favorites, a doppelbock aged with toasted pecans in two distinct types of barrels — brown sugar rum and ice wine. It’s an unusual blend that should offer notes of vanilla, toffee, and concentrated grape sweetness.

Gin Barrel Aged Grape & Plum Mead from Lazy Z Ranch Wines is fermented from locally sourced honey with grapes and purple plums, then aged in a gin barrel from Crater Lake Spirits, the only gin barrel-aged offering listed on the website.

These join many other distinct creations available on tap at the Little Woody this weekend, and in some cases, these may be rare beers only available at the festival. If you’re a fan of barrel-aged beers or simply barrel curious, don’t miss out.