Widmers Going German

Back when I was writing about beer for Willamette Week, the Widmer Brothers were demons about calling their product "bier" no matter if it was an alt or an IPA. The intention was to brand themselves as a German brewery, which I think was the goal all along. Events and market realities intervened, and the alt for which they wanted to be famous never sold well (as an early micro, it was too agressive for Weinhard-attuned palates).

But times change. DA Beers reports that of the beers currently available at the Gasthaus, four are Teutonic: the Alt (naturally), a Dortmunder, a schwarzbier, and a doppelweizen. It may be coincidence. But for any stray Widmers who may be reading this, consider it a request, too. It's not 1989 anymore, and beer drinkers have come full circle. So many of us blew past the German beers, with their malty subtlety, right to the hop monsters and gravity bombs. But now we're old and calmer and we're finding our ways back. The alt, for example, seems like a sprightly little number that could tastily whet our whistle for a night's session. Schwarzbiers are gaining quick popularity among dark-beer fans who lament the paucity of dark beer styles. And I have yet to meet a single person who does not like doppelbock. Doppelweizens surely are not an apple fallen far from that tree.

If you brew it, we will come. This time, anyway. Promise.

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PHOTO CREDIT: VJ PDX