The Big Woody Comes To Town This Weekend With Beer List

Taking place this evening and on Saturday evening is the inaugural Big Woody Barrel-Aged Beer and Whiskey Festival. Come out and celebrate craft brews and whiskey during the Northwest’s first judged wood-age beer festival January 17 and 18 from 4:00 to 11:00pm each day. The location is conveniently located at the Left Bank Annex in Portland on the Portland Streetcar line and north of the Rose Quarter Transit Center.

The Big Woody will gather 18 of the best breweries from across the Northwest and West Coast to showcase 20 craft barrel-aged beers. These limited-edition brews will be judged by experts and enjoyed by attendees. The Big Woody will be a sanctioned BJCP event, meaning that each brewery’s beers will be judged by experts certified by the Beer Judge Certification Program. Winners will receive medals for each category of judging and one beer will be awarded overall Best in Show.

Beyond the delicious barrel-aged beers, Big Woody will also feature a tasting of small-batch American bourbon, rye and single-malt whiskeys, including Burnside Bourbon, Crater Lake Rye Whiskey, Clear Creek McCarthy’s single malt, and Blanton’s Original. Festival entry is $40 and includes 20 tasting tokens and a commemorative snifter glass. Beer pours are 2 ounces and whiskey pours are 1 ounce. To purchase tickets and learn more, visit www.woodybeer.com. 
Below is a list of the 18 Big Woody Breweries and Beer Descriptions:

Hopworks Urban Brewing
Judged Beer Name: Army of Darkness
Big Woody Beer Category: Imperial Stout
Underlying Style: Bourbon barrel aged Imperial stout
ABV: 11.1% IBU:63
Description: Black as a moonless night, Army of Darkness emerges from the Hopworks cellar after 9 months in Bourbon Barrels. What was once a roasty, fruity, warming stout has become chocolatey and smooth. Caramel and Vanilla dominate the nose, while Bourbon barrels impart a mildly drying finish. Big, black and bold all around, this beer embodies darkness in the best way possible.

Beer Name: Boom Stick
Big Woody Beer Category: Double American Strong Underlying Style: Deluxe Organic Ale
ABV: 8.9% IBU: 38
Description: Alright you primitive screw-heads, listen up! You see this? This is my Boomstick! Let it blast your palate with big vanilla notes and intense caramel malts. Smoky aromas and warming bourbon heat lock in an epic battle with the big body on this amped up version of our Deluxe Organic Ale like the struggle between good and evil.  One thing’s for sure: this delicious beer will swallow your soul!!

Stone Brewing Co.
Beer Name: Stone Cali-Belgique IPA aged in White Wine barrels
Big Woody Beer Category: 2
Underlying Style: Belgian Style West Coast IPA
ABV: 6.9% IBU: 77
Description: This beer is indeed a complex and surprising combination of flavors. Stone IPA with the addition of a carefully selected strain of Belgian yeast adds unexpected layers of flavor and aroma. This version was also aged in a white wine barrel adding another layer of funkiness and dryness.

Three Creek Brewing Co.
Beer Name: Sex Panther
Big Woody Beer Category: Stout
Underlying Style: Foreign Stout with Cacao nuts aged in Panther Creek Pinot Noir barrels
ABV: 6.5% IBU: TBD
Description: Illegal in 9 countries, this irresistible export stout smells of desire thanks to aging in Panther Creek Pinot Noir barrels and the addition of raw cacao nibs. A formidable scent of oak, red wine and chocolate confirm that 60% of the time it works every time.

Deschutes Brewery
Beer Name: 2012 Super Jubel
Big Woody Beer Category: #1 Underlying Style: Imperial Winter Warmer
ABV: 10% IBU: 65
Description: This is a super-duper version of our dark, malty celebration ale known for its layered flavors and beautifully balanced hopping. It pours deep garnet in color, with notes of chicory, earth, spice and fruit. Super Jubel is made with the same recipe as our Jubelale but with an increased amount of malt to create a stronger beer for the most festive time of the year. We aged 100% of it in Oregon Pinot Oak Cask to create a super smooth experience.

McMenamins Edgefield Brewery
Beer Name: Night Court Barleywine
Big Woody Beer Category:  Experimental Beer
Underlying Style: Barley Wine
ABV: 10.5% IBU: 99
Description: The Night Court is a year old English style barley wine that has been aged in the Edgefield Distillery’s Three Rocks Rum American Oak Barrels for two months with vanilla beans that have been steeped in coffee liqueur. As it has aged, this behemoth has mellowed into a malty, full bodied ale that balances its heavy rum, vanilla, toffee, oak, coffee and banana flavors quite well. It’s a very complex, boozy, and potentially overwhelming beer that has enough depth to occupy any refined palate.

Crux Fermentation Project
Beer Name: Tough Love Imperial Stout
Big Woody Beer Category: 1
Underlying Style: Imperiac Stout – Bourbon Barrel Aged
ABV: 11.5% IBU: 70
Description: Constructed with dark roasted malts, malted rye, and Oak-smoked wheat, and then banished for 9+ months in Kentucky bourbon barrels. The aging process smooths out the edges on an otherwise bold statement.

Oakshire Brewing
Beer Name: Brandywine
Big Woody Beer Category: 2
Underlying Style: American Barleywine aged in used Brandy Barrels
ABV: 10.1% IBU: 80
Description: Brandywine is our 2012 Barleywine, called Ol’ 2 Planker that was aged for one year in used Brandy Barrels. Layers of fruit, oak, mild vanilla, and sweet wine intertwine with the bold malty flavors of the Barleywine. The hops have faded leaving a complex malty elixir.

Widmer Brothers Brewing
Beer Name: Downward Spiral Imperial IPL
Big Woody Beer Category: 2
Underlying Style: Oak Aged Imperial India Pale Lager
ABV: 9% IBU: 84
Description: Downward Spiral is an imperial version of our Hopside Down India Style Pale Lager that was aged on new oak spirals. This bold, wood-aged beer is an aggressively hopped, cold-fermented brew that brings together the clean, crisp finish of a lager with the hop character of an IPA, balanced by distinct oak flavors and aromas.

10 Barrel Brewing
Beer Name: El Capitan Big Woody
Beer Category: Experimental Beer
Underlying Style: Pumpkin Beer
ABV: 9.5% IBU: 70
Description: We brewed this imperial pumpkin beer, jacked it up with cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and vanilla and aged it in Jamaican rum barrels. Full bodied and packing a serious punch. Drink up!

The Ale Apothecary
Beer Name: SAHALIE Big Woody
Beer Category: Experimental
Underlying Style: Apothecary, This beer is brewed in a manner to avoid current beer style categorization, intentionally.
ABV: 10% IBU: 30
Description: SAHALIE is the flagship brand of The Ale Apothecary, where old world brewing practices meet current brewing innovation, influenced by wine and champagne production. SAHALIE is mashed, fermented and condition in oak barrels. Fermentation last 6 months or more by our unique blend of brewery microorganisms, some which arrive through the mountain air where our brewery resides. Made of barley and wheat malts, along with a reserved amount of cascade hops, the beers character is developed by our unique brewing process utilizing oak barrels over stainless steel whenever possible.

Silver Moon Brewing
Beer Name: Barrel Aged Elf Brew
Big Woody Beer Category: Experimental Beer #4
Underlying Style: Experimental Ale
ABV: 5.5% IBU: 20
Description: Elf Brew is an American light ale aged in used French Pinot Noir barrels for 18 months. Inoculated with Brettanomyces Bruxellensis and left to mature on tart cherries and Pacific Northwest lavender.

New Belgium Brewing Company
Beer Name: NBB <3’s Leopold (NBB loves Leopold)
Big Woody Beer Category: Experimental Beer #4
Underlying Style: Barrel Aged Sour Ale
ABV: 9.5% IBU: Negligible
Description:  Barrel-Aged Sour Ale cellared in Leopold Brothers Blackberry Whiskey Barrels.

Trinity Brewing Co.
Judged Beer Name: Red Swingline
Big Woody Beer Category: Experimental #4
Underlying Style: Primitive/Sour IPA
ABV: 4.1% IBU: 100 originally, but aged for 5-6 months, so IBU’s drop by packaging
Description: It is a Hybrid of American and Belgian. Brewed with Mosaic, Amarillo, and Citra Hops. Dry hopped in barrels with a Brettanomyces and Lactobaccillus presence. Hints of coriander and tangerine zest and aged in French Oak Chardonnay barrels.

Other Beer Name: Le Capitaine
Big Woody Beer Category: Experimental #4
Underlying Style: Saison Regal
ABV: 10.4% IBU: 12
Description: This a Blonde “Super Saison” with pumpkin, candied endive and cacao nibs. Brewed with Saison Yeast and Brettanomyces and Lactobacillus. It is aged in French Oak Chardonnay barrels and aged on “Buddha’s hand”.

Sasquatch Brewing
Beer Name: Vanilla Bourbon Crème Ale
Big Woody Beer Category: 4. Experimental Beer
Underlying Style: Cream Ale on light toast oak chips soaked in bourbon.
ABV: 6.6% IBU: 32
Description: This Vanilla Bourbon Crème Ale starts as non-traditional Cream Ale with additions of Special Roast and Honey Malts to give it a supportive backbone. After fermentation we add our special blend of bourbon soaked light toast American oak chips and vanilla bean. The result is a smooth, subtle beer with the warmth of wood and bourbon and a hint of vanilla sweetness.

Mazama Brewing
Beer Name: Nightside Eclipse
Big Woody Beer Category: #3 Porter/Stout
Underlying Style: Baltic Porter or Imperial Porter
ABV: 7.7% IBU:
Description: Many beers are aged in a wooden vessel; very few are fermented directly in oak. Nightside Eclipse is one such rare exception. We believe that this process integrates barrel character much differently than post-fermentation aging. Nightside Eclipse was brewed into just drained, charred American oak barrels provided by our neighbors at 4 Spirits Distillery. It is fermented with a blend of lager and neutral ale yeasts. The beer has spent 3 months in the barrel – just long enough to harmoniously weld vanilla, oak and spice from the barrel to the smooth chocolate, coffee, and light roast character of the base beer, without either beer, barrel, or acidative notes totally dominating the flavor profile.

Rouge Ales & Spirits
Beer Name: Rye Strong Ale
Big Woody Beer Category: Strong Ale with Rye
Underlying Style: Experimental
ABV: 7.5% IBU: 73
Description: Made in Oregon White Oak Rogue Big Ass Barrels. 7 ½ feet tall, 6 ½ feet in diameter producing 1,500 gallons of Rye Strong Ale.

Elysian Brewing Co.
Beer Name: Barrel Aged Dragonstooth Stout
Big Woody Beer Category: Porter/Stout
Underlying Style: Stout
ABV: 7.5% IBU: 36
Description: The award winning Imperial Oatmeal Stout takes on a new dimension as they combine Dragonstooth taken from barrels that once held whiskey from Seattle’s Westland Distillery and Spokane’s Dry Fly, and some former Bourbon barrels from Claremont and Buffalo Trace. Malts: Made with 10% rolled oats, roasted Barley, Crystal, Munich and chocolate malts. Hops: Bittered with magnum and finished with Cascade and Centennial.

Lagunitas Brewing Company
Beer Name: High West Barrel Aged Cappuccino Stout
Big Woody Beer Category: Stout
ABV: 11-12% IBU: low
Description: This is Lagunita’s standard Cappuccino Stout aged in High West Oak Whiskey Barrel’s for at least a year.

The Big Woody
Leftbank Annex
101 N Weidler St.
Portland, OR 97227