Zwickelmania 2017 (Recap)

We came, we drank, and we conquered.

When I first started making my plans for Zwickelmania 2017, I forgot that I had a two-hour Cambodian language class before I could meet up with everyone. That being said, the group met up at noon-thirty at HUB to really get things started. (A few girls went to Double Mountain before hand and got me some sweet swag. AKA a cute hop key chain – THANK YOU!)

Hopworks Urban Brewery  

#Zwickel17 Squad Goals

On the tour we got to try the zwickel of Spring Fling, a chocolate and raspberry summer beer. I’m really excited about this beer coming out soon. As someone who likes fruit beers that don’t have strawberries in them! They also had Gear UP IPA on tap, which is a pleasant sipper for those who can handle a light IPA.

Gigantic Brewing Company

Gigantic Tour

Next stop was Gigantic for some beers, they were sampling Mons Meg, a strong Scotch Ale, which I’ve had from a bottle before, and can definitely say is better on draft, their Sound and Vision pale ale, that I’ve recently stocked in my Airbnb, so I was happy to give that a try and liked. Finally, from the zwickel, Gigantic IPA. Which honestly on draft I’m not a fan of (just cause I don’t like IPAs and prefer their Pipewrench IPA) but warm and flat the Gigantic IPA is pretty good.

Ross Island Brewing

Excited face for Ross Island Brewing

It was fun to finally meet the Ross Island headbrewer. Before I’ve met his wife and his wife’s sister so now I feel like I know the whole family! This new brewery was doing samples of the TNT IPA. This beer is a collaboration with Alameda and features a new hop called “TNT”.

Grixsen Brewing

At first I was excited to check out this new brewery. Unfortunately, they charged for samples. Which I believe goes against the whole spirit of Zwickelmania. Joy and I each bought five samples and were so unimpressed we left without finishing up our punch card. We tried:

1. Belgian Blonde
2. Kolsh
3. Hopped Saisson
4. Fresh Hop Saison
5. Brown Ale
6. Scotch Ale
7. Stout
8. Pilsner – this was actually deceptive. While chatting with a lady, she mentioned this was her favorite beer here. So Joy and I gave it a try, turns out it’s a lemon dill pilsner. Definitely the most unique offering here.

I’m not sure I’ll make it back to Grixsen. They seemed more interested in selling beer samples, and t-shirts then marketing their craft beer offerings.

Baerlic Brewing Co.

We did a pit stop here and didn’t stick around. It was a 25-minute wait to get a 20 minute tour and samples. Still love them though.

Ground Breaker Brewing

New gluten free brewery in town! We decided to skip the 20-minute wait for a tour and just get a sample of all their beers. I had to check this gluten free place out to make sure it was legit for all my dietary restricted friends. It definitely made the cut so we’ll be back. Here is what we tried:

1. Pale Ale
2. Imperial Darkness
3. Cascadian Dark Ale
4. Dark Ale on Nitro
5. IPA No. 5
6. Clemy – This was my all time favorite from Ground Breaker. Definitely had a saison mouth feel to it.
7. Dark Grinder
8. Gorgon

Base Camp Brewing Company

Mama Nancy’s First Zwickelmania

Last stop, we got to try the Bourbon Barrel Aged S’more Stout from the Zwickel and because it was Mama Nancy’s first time to this brewery, I got her a full pint of S’more Stout with the toasted marshmallow. The other sample they were handing out was Ultra Gnar Gnar.

Did you attend Zwickelmania?  What was your favorite brewery to tour? Beer to sample?