German beer, foods on menu at Oktoberfest in Battle Ground

If you were going to say Northwood in German, you’d say “Nordholz.” But that’s entirely optional, since the Northwood Public House and Brewery is in Battle Ground. And that’s where, next weekend, you’ll find the fourth annual Northwood Oktoberfest.

“We do it a little differently,” said Northwood owner Eric Starr. “It’s not outside under tents. We convert our place to a German beer hall for the whole weekend. And we toss the usual menu out and do a German menu and a great lineup of German beers.”

One of those will be Weihenstephan, a beer that comes from the oldest operating brewery in the world — the start date was the year 1040 — at a Benedictine abbey of the same name in Bavaria. There’ll also be a couple of German-style, home-brewed beers as well as a good ol’ Pacific Northwest IPA, Starr said.

“We need to provide an IPA in order to have peace in the family,” he said.

The German menu will include sausages, schnitzels, sauerbraten, smoked meats and — Sunday only — a roasted pig that’s stuffed with bratwurst.

Keeping the festivities lively and a little loony will be Those Darned Accordions, a California band that Starr described as “The B-52s meet Weird Al meets Lawrence Welk. They are incredibly entertaining.” Also performing are the folk-rocking Big Yellow Taxi and fiddle-and-accordion duo Nordic Spirit.

Kids will enjoy face painting; some macho dudes and ladies will enjoy the strong-arm competition, which involves holding a big, full, one-liter stein of beer out at arm’s length. No elbow bending allowed.

“It’s a last-man-standing kind of thing,” Starr said. “There’s ongoing commentary and harassment. It’s pretty hilarious.”