When we go out to sample a number of beers we usually go to one location, park our asses on a stool or stand in lines at a festival to taste as much as we can, all for a price. The variety comes to us. With Oregon’s Zwickelmania, we the indulgent masses, get a once a year opportunity to tour over 110 local breweries in five hours, sample a multitude of beers, talk with the brewers themselves and do it all free of charge. Trekking to the freshness is worth it.

Last year I visited 7 breweries via the Rogue Ales shuttle ($10). This year I hopped a ride with 4 friends, allowing us the flexibility to visit locations, not feeling like herded cattle or rushing to catch the shuttle before it leaves. We hit up 6 places, ranging in scale from one of the oldest and largest in the state to one of the smallest and newest around, plus plenty in between.

We started our stumble at Breakside Brewing’s original brewpub in NE Portland. They were hopping busy as they were releasing their small batch, Safe Word Triple IPA and Bellwether Sour Gin Barrel Wit. We sampled their new Lunch Break ISA as we entered, then the practically unfermented Bergamot Special Bitter sans a coming addition of Earl Grey tea (from the zwickel) and a 1 day old smoked porter. Doing all this tasting in their tiny, brew-pub basement made the experience all the more personal.

Next we were sidetracked by some well-placed signs for Ex Novo Brewing, one of Portland’s newest breweries, now in their 8th month of operation. Aside from their unique status as a non-profit operation, donating 100% of their profits to four non-profits doing work locally and around the world, it’s all for naught if the mugs aren’t worth a quaff and were they ever. The center of their space is occupied by their beautiful 10-barrel system, allowing for a quick self-tour before reaching their sample beers – the Saazberries Saison and Damon Stoutamire. Clever names for some impressive beers.

We then travelled on to our originally intended destination, the Widmer Brothers Brewery, by far the largest we visited. Upon entering we were greeted by the brothers themselves then poured into one of the best tours of a production facility I’ve ever been on. Not only did they have 10 beer samples evenly spaced throughout the tour, each station included excellently paired hors d’oeuvres for the two to three beers on hand. I think the tour lasted around 45 minutes, but I honestly don’t recall as I was reeling after sampling their Altbitter (30th Anniversary Deschutes collab), their 2009 Cherry Oak Vintage Doppelbock and Belgian-Style Golden ale – all phenomenal.

We moved on to one of Portland’s havens of craft beer nerdom, Cascade Brewing’s Barrel House. Every year they’re one of the few who really explore the concept of sampling a variety of beers at differing stages in the fermentation process. Those on hand to sample were their Pineapple Wheat, NW Sour Red, the Sour Pie Cherry Blonde and a Blackberry Wheat. I enjoyed the wheat offerings most for their bigger mouthfeel and richness. The place was packed and while we would’ve liked to stick around, we were running out of time…

We stopped at The Commons Brewerymainly to pick up a bottle of their just released Boysen Strong Dark Ale with Boysenberries, but we also stuck around to try, as well as their new Brotherly Love Bourbon barrel-aged Belgian Dark Strong Ale with Sour Cherries. It includes one of editor Tom Bobak’s favorite ingredients: a blend of locally roasted cacao nibs from Ecuador and Trinidad. They weren’t officially participating in the Zwickel madness as they’re in the midst of moving, but the place was still packed to the gills and by this time of the day, the crowd seemed a bit toasty.

Lastly we hit up local stalwart Hopworks Urban Brewery, completely unsurprised to find pizza samples and brewmaster/owner Christian Ettinger serving their new Nonstop Hef Hop, a dry-hopped session Hefeweizen, from their famous keg-bike. Moving inside to the tour, we were refilled with their Organic IPA as we learned about their sustainable operations. Heading into their cooler, we sampled from their last batch of the Organic Abominable Winter Ale for the year while we heard about their increased focus on canning and repurposing spent grain that’s cutting their landfill waste to 10%.

In all it was another awesome year of reveling in what makes the Oregon Craft Beer scene so amazing. We almost wish we could do it more than once each year, especially in all the other great locales throughout the state. Although the Craft Brewers Conference is coming soon…