The Bulletin file photoGuests sampled beers and mingled in Goodlife Brewing Co.'s production room during last year's Zwickelmania.

A day trip to Bend wasn’t even on Aaron Gerschler’s radar as late as Friday afternoon.

But like many before him, the temptation of Central Oregon craft beer was too much to pass up for the 29-year-old Portland groom-to-be, who was staying in Sunriver with friends for a bachelor party.

Standing outside Crux Fermentation Project Saturday afternoon, Gerschler said he found out Friday that Zwickelmania, a statewide brewery open house, was scheduled for the next day, and a dozen Bend establishments were taking part.

“There are some incredible breweries here,” he said. “People in Portland know Bend’s beer scene is legit.”

From 11 a.m. through 4 p.m. Saturday, local beer havens like Crux, 10 Barrel Brewing, Boneyard Beer, Deschutes Brewery and GoodLife Brewing Co. opened their doors for a behind-the-scenes look at their brewing processes, offering tours, food and samples of new and rare creations.

The event, in its sixth year, went on statewide and included dozens of breweries in Portland, Eugene, Salem and southern Oregon. The name zwickel comes from the small taps placed on fermenting barrels.

Offering patrons a sneak peak at the brewing process “is what Zwickelmania is all about,” Crux brewmaster Larry Sidor said. He spent the early afternoon dishing out samples of Crux’s Tough Love dark stout, along with chocolate truffles.

Over at Boneyard, guests like Allison Weyrick were sampling some pale ale and snacking on “zwickel pickles.”

“I couldn’t think of a better way to spend a Saturday,” the Bend resident said.

Many people started at one brewery and planned to zip to several others across town throughout the day.

A pair of vans started at Deschutes Brewery & Public House in downtown Bend and took guests as far east as Worthy Brewing near Northeast 27th Street, and as far north as 10 Barrel’s Northeast 18th Street production facility.

Workers at GoodLife were showing off the brewery’s expansion, which added three new fermenting tanks. Guests milled about the 22,000-square-foot brewery, sampling the GoodLife Brown Ale and other brews.

Phil Weibel, 53, and his wife, Lee, came to GoodLife after trying out Crux and Boneyard earlier in the day. They’re not big drinkers by any stretch, but Phil said the small zwickel samples gave him a chance to try out several beers he’d never had before. He took a sip of the brown ale, and thought for a second before declaring it “tasty.”

“The only problem is how crowded each place is,” he said. “But they’re doing good business.”

The Oregon Brewers Guild has organized Zwickelmania events each year since 2009. According to its website, more than 30,000 people came to 93 breweries statewide during last year’s event, and more than 100 breweries were expected to be participating this year.

— Reporter: 541-617-7820, eglucklich@bendbulletin.com