Portland, OR - The growing popularity of America's Original Hefeweizen has pushed demand for Widmer biers above production capacity. To meet this demand, until their new brewery is open in the spring, Widmer Brothers Brewing Company will focus primarily on production of its flagship bier, Hefeweizen.

The result is that for a short time, other Widmer biers will be available in limited supply only. Beginning immediately and lasting for about 75 days, Hefeweizen's popularity will impact even Widmer's own North Portland brewpub, the Gasthaus, located at 929 N. Russell Street. During this limited time, the Gasthaus is pleased to feature other local Northwest craft biers and selected imported biers as a way to satisfy the growing demand for high quality bier.

"We know our customers will stay with us and support us as we put our efforts into fulfilling this demand," says Kurt Widmer, president. "We are currently working on the start-up of our new craft brewery and bottling plant, which means we are close to distributing our Hefeweizen in bottles. But rest assured, we will soon be back to providing our entire line of Widmer craft biers to our loyal customers and distributors."

The new Widmer brewery and bottling plant is under construction near the banks of the Willamette River in North Portland. At 65,000 square feet, the brewery has an initial annual capacity of 140,000 barrels, and an ultimate capacity of 750,000 barrels annually. Even with its state of the art features, the focus and commitment remains on the German old world style of brewing and quality that has made Widmer a favorite among bier lovers in the Northwest.

The Widmer brothers introduced their Hefeweizen bier to America in 1984 and America's Original Hefeweizen has since skyrocketed in popularity. This golden, cloudy Widmer bier is kegged directly from the lagering tank and is not filtered, leaving Widmer's special yeast suspended in the bier. As Oregon's top selling craftbrew, its flavorful taste and texture distinguish America's Original Hefeweizen as a Widmer classic.

Brothers Kurt and Rob Widmer founded Widmer Brothers Brewing Company in 1984. For more than 12 years, the Widmer brothers have created deliciously original biers and overseen the entire brewing process from fresh ingredients to finished biers.

Widmer Brothers Brewing Company brews unique and authentic German-style biers. After living in Germany and enjoying fine German biers in the 1970's, Kurt Widmer returned to Portland, Oregon, with a mission to create American interpretations of authentic German bier styles. His search for an original bier experience led Kurt back to a brewery in DŸsseldorf, where he studied recipes of that famous brewing center. Widmer's special brewing yeast was obtained from the world renowned Brewing Research Institute in Weihenstephan, Bavaria. This special yeast has been maintained in Widmer's brewery for the past 12 years, and is an important part of the Widmer Brothers' brewing process.

The Widmer brothers use traditional altbier brewing techniques with their Bavarian yeast and fresh Northwest ingredients. The altbier brewing style which Widmer uses combines both ale and lager brewing techniques. Widmer biers are top fermented like an ale, and cold conditioned like a lager, resulting in a rich, smooth, refreshingly original taste.

Contact: Greg Jackson, Metropolitan Group, 503.223.3299