Latest move: Northwood Public House celebrates Oktoberfest once again

Blue and white streamers fly from high beams Northwood Public House and Brewery On the Battlefield. A strange wooden cuckoo clock hangs above the bar. Oktoberfest is here again; It’s a tradition that started when Eric and Paula Starr bought the business 10 years ago.

This year, Bavaria’s beer-heavy polka and brat festival will strike a bittersweet note for those who’ve been celebrating here for the past decade.

The seeds of this fall festival were planted decades ago when Eric Starr visited Munich for Oktoberfest. The Northwood staff thought he was crazy the first year when he pushed tables together and seated strangers, just like in Germany. But bringing people together worked like a charm. Joy, or gemütlich as Starr calls it, spread in the vaulted beer hall. The following year the staff turned out, eagerly wearing long socks, for another Bavarian-inspired beer celebration.

Friendly service and thoughtful touches like the fresh cut flowers Paula Starr brings from her garden or the group photo of patrons hanging on the wall have made Northwood a popular community gathering place year-round. This successful business attracted the attention of the White Salmon-based company’s new owners, Doug and Christine Ellenberger. Everybody’s Brewing Beer.

“We went to dinner at Northwood and loved it,” said Rana Beaman, financial controller of Every’s Brewing. “We have the exact same feeling at White Salmon. “We want to preserve this atmosphere and add our own atmosphere.”

Locals looking to get a feel for the new owners can attend the 16th anniversary celebration in White Salmon on Oct. 12. Last year, Everybody Brewing closed down White Salmon’s main drag to throw a street party for its 15th anniversary. The event was so popular that the city of White Salmon asked Everyone’s Brewing to do it again this year.

The staff at Northwood will remain the same when the Ellenbergers take over on Nov. 1. The taps will switch to Everybody’s Brewing beer and the menu may see some changes, but overall the Ellenbergers aren’t interested in changing a successful business.

Eric Starr will be around a while longer to help with the transition, but this Oktoberfest is his last big rush. The festival has been two days in the past, but this year’s festival is a one-day pub ball.

Paul Rogers, leader of Those Darn Accordions, a rock accordion band that plays polkas, classic rock covers and original tunes, will provide music and emcee games, including a strong-arm pint contest.

“We are so excited to be in Northwood. This is the last and 30th time I played Oktoberfest for Eric. The entire group of six is ​​coming. I have no idea where we’re going to put everyone,” Rogers said.

Rogers met Starr decades ago, when Starr was managing a venue in Portland.

“It’s going to be sad, but I don’t think about it. Eric has been a great friend for years. We want him to know we care about him. He was trying to bring Munich Oktoberfest to Northwood. I think he did a great job,” Rogers said.

In addition to That Darn Accordions’ upbeat musical style, Northwood will offer a special food and drink menu, including a slow-roasted whole pig stuffed with bratwurst.

Oktoberfest platter for two to four people is $39.95. Roast pork dinner with red cabbage and spaetz is $26. Roast pork sandwich with potato salad is $16.95. Entrees include a large Bavarian pretzel ($7.50) and spring rolls ($14). Plates including chicken schnitzel ($26), pub brats ($26) and stuffed cabbage ($21) also fill out the one-day special menu.

Seven special Oktoberfest beers will be on tap, including Northwood’s uncle Otto’s Marzen, a classic Oktoberfest beer brewed in honor of Starr’s dear friend and mentor Ottomar Rudolf.

Weihenstephan has been brewing beer on Weihenstephan Hill in Freising, Germany, since 1040. Classics like festbier, hefeweissbier, and Korbinian doppelbock will be available from this ancient brewery, as well as Russian River Brewing’s cult favorite Pliny the Elder and a West Coast IPA called Blind Pig.

Attendance at Oktoberfest has dwindled over the past few years, but this latest one-day Oktoberfest is likely to be popular as the community dances, performs the last polka, and sips one last libation to bid farewell to their favorite locals and make way for a new festival. age.