Zwickelmania – Celebrating Oregon Craft Beer For 17 Years
|With February fast approaching, this means the return of Zwickelmania, the annual free statewide brewery open house. Presented by the Oregon Brewers Guild, the 17th Annual Zwickelmania brings together Oregon craft breweries that open up its brewery for tours and tastings on Saturday, February 22, 2025 from 11:00am – 4:00pm.
First held in 2009 over President’s Day Weekend, the annual brewery open house expanded in 2017 to take place across the state of Oregon over two weekends. To meet the demand for craft beer aficionados, Zwickelmania expanded to take place over President’s Day Weekend for Portland area breweries and then the following weekend for all other breweries in the state. This set up lasted until the year 2023. Then with interest in the annual event waning, last year Zwickelmania returned to to its original weekend, solely taking place over President’s Day Weekend. Now this year for some reason, the Guild decided to move the event to the weekend following President’s Day.
Seventeen years strong, Zwickelmania is named after the zwickel, a valve on a brewing tank that allows a brewer to sample the beer during the fermentation process for quality control and assurance. This event also allows brewers to interact a bit more with its valued customers and a few brewers pour its beer samples directly from the zwickel to assist in the educational process.
More than 50 breweries from all areas of the state are expected to participate in Zwickelmania this year. Oregonians are encouraged to support their local pub or visit a participating brewery that is new to them on February 22. Craft beer enthusiasts can expect samples directly from the zwickel, beer releases, tours, meet-the-brewer opportunities, educational talks, food and beer pairings, specials, NA beverages for designated drivers and more! In Portland, there is a free shuttle making stops at more than a dozen breweries. Enjoy this free, non-ticketed event responsibly.
Each brewery visit will be different, just as we experienced in 2024. Last year a group of us visited a few breweries in Northwest Portland and had a varied experience. Breakside Brewery – Slabtown held its event in the banquet room that overlooks its in-house brewery. The brewing process was discussed while the attendees were led through a comprehensive beer tasting, including a few excellent barrel-aged beer offerings. After a quick lunch at Breakside, we headed over to Von Ebert Brewing in the Pearl where there was little Zwickelmania fanfare. This Von Ebert location has since closed, with its new Mississippi neighborhood location in the former Ecliptic Brewing space set to open its door’s on Zwickelmania this year. From there we walked over to nearby Deschutes Brewery Portland Public House. This place was packed as Jake Harper led an informative brewery tour with plenty of samples and a festive atmosphere!

As previously mentioned, the Guild expects to have over 50 participating breweries for Zwickelmania this year. Some regions of the state will be a bit more active, such as Bend, Willamette Valley and Portland.
In Central Oregon, Sunriver Brewing Company will offer an early bird beer and donut tasting followed by cask ale tapping with barrel aged beer tasting throughout the day. Deschutes Brewery invites patrons to tour the bottling and canning line in Bend, enjoy samples of pilot brews and enter a raffle. Those who tour Wild Ride Brewing in Redmond will enjoy a complimentary beer and cookie pairing. Spider City Brewing’s head brewer will lead tours and Van Henion Brewing will pour zwickel tastings of its Leichtbier. Free pickles are at Boneyard’s Zwickel with a Pickle event that features beer samples from the zwickel and straight from the barrel; Fat Tony’s Pizza will be slinging pizzas from their mobile wood-fired pizza oven.
The Portland metro area will be buzzing. Or should we say bussing as there will be two different free shuttle busses. Hop on the free shuttle bus visiting more than a dozen NE/SE breweries. Stops include Assembly Brewing, Baerlic, Crux, Gigantic Brewing (SE 26th Ave. featuring barrel-aged beer, live music and an evening comedy show hosted by Ben Love), Grand Fir Brewing, Hopworks, Montavilla Brew Works, Migration Brewing (also celebrating its 15th anniversary with live music/DJ, specialty food menu, and a variety of cellared beers), Steeplejack Brewing Co. on NE Broadway, Threshold Brewing (raffle, tours, special pours and Cousins Maine Lobster on site), Von Ebert Brewing’s new spot at 800 N. Cook St., Zoiglhaus, and more!
Check out the gluten-free beer options at Ground Breaker Brewing (on the shuttle route), the $5 chili special and designated drivers get a free root beer. Zwickelmania coincides with the 11th anniversary of StormBreaker Brewing, offering new releases, grab-and-go bites, a barrel-aged bottle ring toss for a chance to win rare barrel-aged beers and more. Visit the woman-owned Leikam Brewing (a shuttle stop) for its new beer release paired with a special pickle flight. This day marks a rare opportunity to tour the Deschutes Portland brewhouse, plus taste pub exclusives. Double Mountain Brewery & Cider Portland locations are also celebrating with tours and freebies. Breakside Slabtown will have donuts, pastries and stouts galore!
Just outside the Portland metro in Tigard, Cooper Mountain Ale Works will be pouring tasters of the West Side IPA, a collaboration with other brewers in the Tualatin Valley and in Beaverton, Binary Brewing will offer samples from beers currently in production.
Traveling a bit further outside the Portland metro area are the brewers of the Willamette Valley. Heater Allen Brewing’s on-site food cart will have a separate special menu to pair with a few beers plus a special hot dog for the day, while fellow McMinnville brewery Golden Valley Brewing will offer tours and samples. Claim 52 in Eugene will educate patrons on the brewing process; bites paired with beer samples will be offered. Conversion Brewing will have brewery education sessions and specials.
In Eastern Oregon, Side A Brewing will offer three separate food pairings with three beers. Down in Southern Oregon, Weekend Beer Company will host a raffle, tour, samples and more.
Out on the coast, Public Coast Brewing in Cannon Beach will offer food and beer specials, Q&A with a brewer, giveaways, a ‘Puppy Love’ Costume Contest and more. Arch Rock Brewing Company in Gold Beach will showcase a Brewer’s Select Series batch release.
Then in the Gorge, so far the only brewer to have signed up for Zwickelmania is pFriem Family Brewers. The Hood River brewer will offer tours with unique beer and food pairings. Join their beer club post-tour and receive an additional gift.

2025 Zwickelmania Participating Breweries:
- Arch Rock Brewing Company
- Assembly Brewing
- Away Days Brewing Co
- Baerlic Beer Co
- Bevel Craft Brewing
- Binary Brewing Co
- Boneyard Beer
- Breakside Brewery – Slabtown
- Claim 52 Brewing
- Conversion Brewing
- Cooper Mountain Ale Works
- Crooked Creek Brewery
- Crux Fermentation Project
- Deschutes Brewery Portland Public House
- Deschutes Public House – Bend
- Double Mountain Brewery & Cidery – Portland
- Gigantic Brewing
- Golden Valley Brewery
- Grand Fir Brewing
- Ground Breaker Brewing
- Heater Allen/Gold Dot
- Hopworks Brewery
- Krauski’s Brewskis
- Leikam Brewing
- Lucky Lab Beer Hall
- Lucky Labrador Brew Pub
- Migration Brewing
- Montavilla Brew Works
- Occidental Brewing Co
- pFriem Family Brewers
- Public Coast Brewing Co.
- Side A Brewing
- Spider City Brewing
- Steeplejack Brewing Co.
- StormBreaker Brewing
- Sunriver Brewing Company
- The Old Market Pub and Brewery
- Threshold Brewing
- Van Henion Brewing
- Von Ebert Brewing
- Weekend Beer Company
- Wild Ride Brewing
- Zoiglhaus Brewing Company
This is just the preliminary list of participating breweries. The Guild expects more to join in the fun filled event. Please refer to https://www.oregoncraftbeer.org/zwickelmania for a list of participating breweries in Oregon and their offerings. The list will continue to be updated.