Zwickelmania. Finally some down time.

February 19th marked my attendance at my first ever Zwickelmania. For folks who don't know what that is, in a nutshell it's the most important beer holiday in February. When all breweries are open and giving tours and tastings of their wares in all the land. It's pretty amazing actually. Here in Portland, where if you throw a rock you'll hit a brewery/brewpub/homebrewer there is no shortage of places to visit. The hardest decision my fellow homebrewer Joe and I had to make was where we wanted to go and whether or not we could hit over 5 breweries in one day if we weren't driving. We meticulously mapped out our route and come 1030am on Saturday we were in front of Breakside, patiently waiting for them to let us in and dazzle us with their creations.

I have to say that my initial visit to Breakside in January wasn't great. I wasn't terribly impressed with their selections and I thought that their concoctions were a little to out there and at times seemed like they hit you over the head with the flavors rather than take the subtle route. I was more interested in their 3 barrel system more than their beer, but at Zwickelmania they blew me away with their imperial brown poured through a randall filled with cherries and vanilla beans. They also had a gruit on tap that I made me want to go right out and try making that for some summer drinking.

Next up Joe and I took the bus to Upright and got there before the crowd hit the place. I tasted everything but the rye beer and the IPA, since I am still in the no hoppy beers part of the year and I just dislike rye. My favorite was the Saison. I could drink that everyday and still find something to love about it.

The rest of the day was pretty much a blur sadly. I don't think I had eaten enough to counter the serious amount of alcohol that I was imbibing. I know we went Widmer, Green Dragon, Beer Mongers and for some reason the Jolly Roger.

I can't wait for next year.