The ninth annual Zwickelmania, the statewide “brewery open house” that has turned into an Oregon beer holiday, returns to Central Oregon this Saturday, February 25. It used to take place during President’s Day weekend but this year the popularity grew to the point where the Oregon Brewers Guild split it into two weekends. Last weekend was in Portland, this weekend is the rest of the state.

I wrote about Zwickelmania and the local participating breweries for the Bulletin last week, but I’ve got the latest details and links here.

Unless I’ve otherwise noted below on a per-brewery basis, the official Zwickelmania time is from 11am to 4pm. The official list of Central Oregon breweries is here along with a Google map. It’s not completely accurate as the Deschutes Pub downtown is not participating, just the production brewery on Colorado and Simpson. Here is the full list:

• Bend Brewing: They open up their upstairs brewery to tours, sample tastings, and will have half-priced bottles for sale.
• Boneyard Beer: Their “Pickles and Zwickels” spin on the day returns: “Why Pickles and Zwickels? Well, because it rhymes! We’ll be throwing our annual Pickles and Zwickels parking lot party Saturday 2/25 from 11:00am-4:00pm. We will be serving up full pints in the tent, blasting Metal from our Mashalls, giving out free pickles PLUS the Chef of our soon-to-be pub will be slanging Empanadas and Posole! Our Head Brewer, John VanDuzer, will be giving small tours of our originial facility at 12:00, 1:00, 2:00 & 3:00. 21+ only inside the tent!”
• Cascade Lakes Lodge (Bend): They will be pouring free six-ounce pours of their winter seasonal beer, giving out Cascade Lakes gift bags (while supplies last), and will have live music from 2 to 5pm featuring KC Flynn.
• Craft Kitchen & Brewery: Meet their brewer and sample the beer.
• Crux Fermentation Project: Crux’s Zwickelmania runs from 11 to 6pm: “We’ll be offering intimate behind-the-scenes brewery tours (from 11AM to 6PM) where you can chat it up with our brewers as they sneak you tastings of some of our rare [BANISHED] beers straight from the barrel. And, of course, as tradition would have it, we’ll be offering tastings of other brews direct from the zwickel. It doesn’t stop there— our chef and his crew are busy preparing a special Zwickelmania menu highlighted by our Pork Parfait, Smoke-Aroni, and Rooster’s Kick-Ass Beef Jerky.” They’ll have live music with Meekoh starting at 6:30.
• Deschutes Brewery: They are hosting their Beer Brunch Bash at their production brewery: “Participate in our free self-guided tour of the facility with beer stops along the way and knowledgeable tour guides and brewers will be there to offer information about the brewing process, equipment, & beer. After touring the facility, groove with us in the parking lot in front of the brewery… we’ll have LIVE music by Wayward Soul from 12:30-3pm, brunch-inspired burritos and sandwiches from Pilot Butte Drive In, pints for sale pouring from the Swig Rig, samples of The Abyss Scotch, and our Black Butte Porter Cold Brew Cocktail, and a Girl Scout Cookie & Beer Pairing! This event is family friendly, 4 complimentary beer samples for ages 21 & over, pints & food for sale in the lot, & more.”
• GoodLife Brewing: Tours, tasters, and merchandise sales at GoodLife: “Come and join us for Zwicklemania 2017 at GoodLife Brewing! We are opening our brewery doors for you beautiful people from 11am-4pm this Saturday, Feb. 25th and giving free tours and free tasters! There will be sales on merchandise, too! We’ll have the whole GoodLife team there to hang out, and we can’t wait to show you a good time! See you Saturday!”
• Immersion Brewing: Meet the brewer, tours of the brewery, tastes off the zwickel (that’s the valve on the side of the tank, incidentally), and food specials for the day.
• McMenamins Old St. Francis School: One of my favorite stops, Zwickelmania at McMenamins is a great open house of their tiny basement brewery, with tastings of at least two beers (this year, Double Helix Double IPA and Post Punk India Session Lager) along with free appetizers and the opportunity to chat with the brewer.
• RiverBend Brewing: They will offer tours of their brewery (located across the parking lot from the pub) and zwickel tastes, along with brats, burgers, and full pints available.
• Silver Moon Brewing: At their downtown pub, they will be hosting tours throughout the day with free samples and zwickel pours.
• Sunriver Brewing (Bend Pub): They will be hosting a specialty beer tasting on the back (heated) patio of their Galveston pub. Also meet the brewer(s) and enjoy food pairings.
• Three Creeks Brewing: Like last year, they are hosting their Pre-Zwickelmania Breakfast at their production facility in Sisters from 9 to 11:30am: “Kick off this year’s Zwickelmania with us. Drop by the Production Facility for breakfast snacks, breakfast beers, tours, zwickel tastes, coffee and more. This is a great chance to spend some one on one time with our brewers and learn more about our main trail beers, off trails beers and brewing systems. No charge. Must be 21+.”
• Wild Ride Brewing: Head out to Redmond for Wild Ride’s Zwickelmania: “We will have FREE pairings of beer & candy/desserts, tours, tastings, and a chance to meet the brewer! Come on out to enjoy some samples, grab a bite from our food trucks and enjoy a pint of your favorite Wild Ride beer!”
• Worthy Brewing: Worthy will have a randall for Zwickelmania (similar to a jar packed with hops or whatever that the beer is pushed through): “We will be having a brewery open house for Zwicklemania! Stop by for tours, sample beer (we’ll have one pouring through a randall), giveaways and discounts on Worthy gear too.”

These are the “official” listings—that is, the ones that are members of the Oregon Brewers Guild who organizes the event. Of course some of the other, non-member breweries in town are celebrating with Zwickelmania events of their own:

• Monkless Belgian Ales: They will be hosting guests and have coffee and a food truck: “Join us for brewery tours and beer samples, directly from our tanks, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Our friends from We’re The Würst Food Truck and Fika Bend Coffeehouse will be with us all day providing fabulous food, coffee and homemade pretzels!”
• North Rim Brewing: They’ll be greeting folks with brats: “We’re opening our doors on Saturday, February 25, 2017! Come meet us, tour our facilites, and try our beer! We’ll also be grilling brats for everyone who comes out. See you there!”
• 10 Barrel Brewing: They posted their plans for their production brewery on 18th Street, running from 11 to 5pm: “Free food by Mauna Kea Grill and CURB B Q, tons of specialty 10 Barrel beers and live music from Scribbled Rhymes and Shady Grove.” There will also be a shuttle running between the production brewery and their pub on Galveston.

Those are just the “unofficial” events that have been posted—but of course, feel free to visit any of the other breweries to celebrate too! And if you want to add some fun, check out my Zwickel Bingo card generator over on my beer blog.

Cheers and happy zwickeling!