Did you know that February is Oregon Craft Beer Month?

Launched by the Oregon Brewers Guild in 2007, OCBM originally occurred in July as a month-long celebration of Oregon’s craft beer industry. In 2020, the Guild moved it to February, one of the slowest months of the year for the industry. The goal is to bring awareness to and drive sales for the state’s craft breweries with events, beer releases and more.

To commemorate the month, I thought it would be interesting to highlight some history and statistics around Central Oregon’s brewing scene.

Deschutes Brewery is the largest and oldest of Bend’s breweries, having opened its doors in 1988. But it was not the first in Central Oregon; that honor belongs to the Ochoco Brewery of Prineville, founded in 1882.

Ochoco was the first of three frontier-era breweries, lasting eight years before closing in 1890. Woods Brewery, located at Tetherow Crossing on the Deschutes River west of present-day Redmond, operated from 1890 to 1898. The Prineville Brewery opened in 1893, and during its 13 years in operation supplied the region with beer, finally closing in 1906.

Bend itself, incorporated in 1905, had a number of saloons and a lusty red-light district along Bond Street, but no breweries. Due to a number of factors, Prohibition and national brewery consolidation among them, the area would not have a local brewery again for over eight decades until Deschutes poured its first beer.

New-brewery growth was gradual over the next 20 years after Deschutes opened, and Central Oregon counted eight breweries by 2010. The next five years saw a rapid expansion, with 23 operations starting up, an average of more than four per year, and 13 more since 2016. Not all have survived, however. Overall, 13 have closed since 2013.

Today, Central Oregon is home to at least 30 brewing companies spanning a variety of sizes and specialties. The actual number of facilities producing beer depends on how you count; some, like Deschutes, Bend Brewing Co. and Wild Ride Brewing Co., brew beer at multiple locations.

Others such as 10 Barrel Brewing Co. and Worthy Brewing Co., have multiple brewhouses on site, and often release beers branded under each (Worthy’s Heart & Soul pilot series, for instance, or 10 Barrel’s tinyHaus beers).

Unsurprisingly, we can find examples of nearly every style and type of beer locally, not to mention many award winners. For instance, since 1990, Central Oregon breweries have won a collective 102 medals at the Great American Beer Festival.

A great way to become acquainted with many of these breweries and their beers in a single day is Zwickelmania, the signature event of Oregon Craft Beer Month. In just over a week, on Saturday, Feb. 25, Central Oregon’s breweries open their doors to the public for a special “open house” behind the scenes glimpse into the industry. Participating breweries will host brewery tours, beer tastings, and other special events, commonly including opportunities to meet the brewers behind the beers.

And as the name of the event implies, you’ll often be able to taste “zwickel” samples of beer. A zwickel is the valve or sample port attached to the outside of a tank, allowing the brewer to draw samples of the fermenting beer to assess its progress.

Having the opportunity to taste these beers-in-progress can offer interesting surprises. Several years ago, Boneyard Beer Co. offered zwickel tastes of its flagship RPM IPA at various stages of fermentation, and as I recall, the sample from day three tasted just like fresh apricots. Considering RPM’s finished profile of pine and citrus, this was a revelation as to how fermentation transforms the beer.

The Oregon Brewers Guild website maintains an updated list of breweries participating in Zwickelmania at oregoncraftbeer.org/2023-zwickelmania; the Central Oregon participants are located under the “Statewide” section for the 25th.

Even if you aren’t able to join the Zwickelmania festivities next week, you can still support Oregon Craft Beer Month by enjoying one of the many beers available locally and raising a toast to the industry. Cheers!

Escape From Escondido West Coast IPA — Sunriver Brewing

Meet Your Maker Belgian Dark Strong — Monkless Belgian Ales 

Masked Laughter Black Pilsner — Fort George Brewery 

Dankness on the Edge of Town IPA — Three Creeks Brewing 

Raspberried at Sea — Pelican Brewing