10th Annual Zwickelmania Oregon Brewery Tours & Open House Event

 

It's nearly time for Oregon's largest state-wide celebration of beer. Zwickelmania, the brewery open-house event, is now spread over two consecutive Saturdays, kicking off February 17th in Portland and continuing on the 24th in the rest of the state. Started ten years ago with three-dozen participating Oregon breweries, the event has grown with an expected 150 breweries to participate this year in giving tours of Oregon breweries with the brewers and free samples to around 4,000 beer fans.

More from a press release:

 

 Over 60 Portland Metro area breweries will kick off the event on Feb. 17, while breweries across six more Oregon regions – Central Oregon, Eastern Oregon, Mt. Hood/Columbia River Gorge, Oregon Coast, Southern Oregon, and Willamette Valley – will welcome guests the following Saturday, Feb. 24. More than 30,000 visitors are expected to attend the free event, which runs from 11am to 4pm both days.

 

“It’s amazing to see how the scope of this event has grown in the last decade,” explained Brian Butenschoen, executive director of the Oregon Brewers Guild, which puts on the annual event. “Oregon drinkers strongly support their local brewers, and by spreading Zwickelmania out over two Saturdays, it allows beer lovers more opportunity to explore breweries across the state.”

 

Zwickelmania is named in honor of the zwickel, a screw valve that mounts on the outside of fermentation or conditioning tanks and allows brewers to sample the beer inside for quality assurance and control. Similarly, Zwickelmania offers a unique opportunity to taste beers where they were produced and interact with the brewers who created them. Last year, more than 30,000 people toured 128 participating breweries statewide.

 

Visit the Oregon Brewers Guild’s Zwickelmania event page at OregonCraftBeer.org/Zwickelmania for a regularly updated list of participating breweries and cities in Oregon’s seven brewing regions, as well as maps, brewery listings and itineraries that can be viewed online or printed out.

 

For more information, visit OregonCraftBeer.org and follow @OregonCraftBeer on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, using the hashtag #Zwickel18.

 

About the Oregon Brewers GuildThe Oregon Brewers Guild is Oregon’s non-profit trade association for the state’s independent breweries. The Guild, which receives no state funding, comprises 165 brewing companies, 133 associate or supplier members and more than 4,000 enthusiast members or S.N.O.B.s (Supporters of Native Oregon Beer). For more information, visit http://oregoncraftbeer.org.