This Saturday, February 19th, is Oregon’s 3rd annual Zwickelmania event: “a free statewide event that offers visitors a chance to tour Oregon breweries, meet the brewers and sample their favorite beers.” The Oregon Brewers Guild has a fantastic listing of all the participants—worth checking to see what’s local to you—but of course I’m going to crib their Central Oregon listings:

10 Barrel Brewing Co.
20750 High Desert Lane #107
Bend
541-585-1007
11-4pm

Bend Brewing Co
1019 NW Brooks St
Bend
541-383-1599
11-4pm
Brewer on site doing tours and tasters.

Boneyard Brewing
37 NW Lake Pl – Suite B
Bend OR 97701
541-323-2325
11-4pm
Brewers on site doing tours and tasters.

Cascade Lakes Brewing Co.
The Lodge
1441 SW Chandler Ave Suite 100
Bend
541-388-4998

Deschutes Brewery
901 SW Simpson Ave
Bend
11-4pm
541-385-8606
Participate in a self guided tour of the brewing facility, talk with our brewers, learn to identify a “zwickel”, and sample some of our favorite brews! If you are a homebrewer yourself…leave with a booklet of Deschutes Brewery Clone Recipes and a 2oz bag of our delectable whole hop flowers for your next home brew batch

McMenamins Old St. Francis School Brewery
700 NW Bond St
Bend
541-382-5174
11-4pm
Beer tasting and light appetizers. Brewers on site to talk and to see/tour the brewery.

Silver Moon Brewing Co.
24 NW Greenwood Ave
Bend, OR 97701
541-388-8331
11-4pm
They will be pouring something special in the brewhouse.

Three Creeks Brewing
721 Desperado Ct
Sisters OR 97759
541-549-1963
11:30-4pm
Brewery tours on the hour and the Brewer will be on-site with tastings and beer discussion all day.

Bend Shuttle Bus-
Cascade Lakes Brewing Co. The Lodge- 1441 SW Chandler, Ste 100-11:30am-Walk to Deschutes-NW on Colorado-0.7 miles
Deschutes Brewery-901 SW Simpson Ave @ 11:30 a.m.
10 Barrel Brewing Co.-20750 High Desert Lane @ 11:50 a.m.
Silver Moon Brewing Co.-24 NW Greenwood @ Noon-Walk to Bend Brewing head west to Brooks then south-0.36 miles
Bend Brewing Co.-1019 NW Brooks @ 12:10-Walk to St. Francis Shool-head south to Franklin, west to Bond and south on Bond. 0.3 Miles
McMenamins Old St. Francis School-700 NW Bond St @ 12:15-walk to Boneyard, head north on Bond, east on Franklin, south on Hill to Lake Pl-0.50 Miles
Boneyard Brewing-37 NW Lake Pl – Suite B 12:20-walk to Deschutes Brewery-south on Hill, west on Delaware, south on Sisemore and west on Colorado-1.1 Miles
Bend WinterFest/The Old Mill-12:30

In case you need a refresher course, a “zwickel” is a special sample tap hooked up to barrels (or tanks) of fermenting beer so that the brewers can pull samples to taste. And while many breweries already offer free tours (often with tastings) to people year-round, for Zwickelmania many of them are doing something special beyond just a tour: Deschutes, for instance, is giving away booklets of homebrew clone recipes (along with 2 ounces of hops), Full Sail is giving complimentary pint glasses and pairing beer with chocolate, and Ninkasi will feature some great food deals for example.

Don’t miss it! This Saturday, February 19th, from 11am to 4pm statewide.