Happy anniversary, brothers Widmer
Widmer Brothers Rob and Kurt celebrate their 25th anniversary in business on Thursday. If you are going to be in Portland (Oregon, but you knew that, right?) that means you can stop by their Gasthaus and drink $1.50 pints. If you’re not there are still plenty of reasons to raise your glass in their direction.
Don’t obsess on the fact their “hefeweizen” doesn’t taste like like one from the south of Germany. Don’t worry about if Americans would be creating unique wheat beers that don’t approximate “style” (I’m pretty sure they would). Instead put yourself in Portland in the mid 1990s. A tourist perhaps. A would-be brewer perhaps. Look around. More people are drinking Widmer Hefeweizen on tap than Budweiser.
Amazing. Inspiring.
So grab a nice beer and read an excellent interview with Rob Widmer.
It’s still kind of hard to think of us more than just a couple of homebrewers who turned their hobby into a pretty nice gig.
Pretty astonishing.
Posted: March 31st, 2009 under Beer culture, Ingredients.
April 1st, 2009 at 5:23 am
“Instead put yourself in Portland in the mid 1990s. A tourist perhaps. A would-be brewer perhaps. Look around. More people are drinking Widmer Hefeweizen on tap than Budweiser.”
Actually, I was — and did, and was shocked to taste this murky thing called a “Hefeweizen”… and there was none of that character I was expecting (as you point out).
I understand the inspiring part, but I wonder why the name was hijacked — off to the interview.
Oh, and I don’t really remember seeing much Bud drunk at all in Portland then — after all, it had the most brew-pubs per capita (maybe still has) than any other city in the US.
April 1st, 2009 at 5:29 am
Interesting quote…
“Certainly (ours) was more heavily hopped, as we are in the Pacific Northwest…”
Pac Northwest is a reason for heavily hopping? Hmm.
“The key thing, I guess, is that our yeast handling was very rudimentary and we were terrified of things microscopic.”
Hah — I like that honesty, might even make me try out the Widmer again with that sort of perspective in mind.
April 1st, 2009 at 6:11 am
I have never been able to palette their Hefeweizen, but then I learned to drink beer in Germany and it was their Hefes that captured my heart. That said I have enjoyed their Drifter Pale ale and Drop Top Amber recently, they are both great beers.
April 1st, 2009 at 1:49 pm
Pac Northwest is a reason for heavily hopping? Hmm.
Two stories. Back in the 90s, there was a brewery here called Saxer, helmed by a brewer of pristine German lineage, Tony Gomes. The brewery produced only lagers and the flagship was a decoction bock. When I visited, the owner, Steve Goebel, was raving about the beer but made the comment that their bock was partly good because of the increased hop rates Oregonians demanded. Poor Gomes’ face fell. He instantly apologized, which caused Goebel to react in alarm. (This was a beer that won three consecutive golds at the GABF–no one had anything to apologize for.)
Second story. This weekend I was visiting breweries in Astoria, and the new brewer at Astoria Brewing relayed an amusing tale about the flagship beer, Bitter Bitch. It’s a 100+ IBU hop monster, totally out of balance but beloved by locals. The brewer decided to ratchet the beer back to 93 IBUs (!), the threshold at which he figured people couldn’t taste further IBUs. But people knew and complained. He had to go back to the original hop schedule.
We’re getting better about expanding our horizons, but hops are a big deal.
April 2nd, 2009 at 5:02 am
“…the increased hop rates Oregonians demanded.”
Why do you suppose that was/is with Oregonians (and now a widespread affliction)?
Is it because increased hopping added the most distinct flavor character to an otherwise bland beer world, thus drinkers knew that if it was hop-bombed it would actually have flavor?
April 2nd, 2009 at 9:38 am
We like intense flavors in the NW. It’s no surprise that gourmet coffee caught fire here first, or that we have a robust microdistilling scene. I can’t quantify it, but there’s something about the fresh, green, organic bitterness of hops that really fits the NW.
(It’s also taxonomically related to cannibis, but I’m sure that has nothing to do with it.)