Portland, OR - It's a brand new look for Widmer Brothers Brewing Company, as one of the country's leading craft breweries prepares to bottle its popular biers. In May, four Widmer biers will start appearing on store shelves, and each bier will have it's own unique look, including Widmer's pioneering creation, America's Original Hefeweizen.

"In our 12 year history, we've always distributed our bier in kegs only," says Kurt Widmer, president. "As we move into bottles, we wanted our packaging to be as unique as our biers."

Bob Vandehey, Senior Designer at CKS Partners in Portland, Oregon, the firm responsible for designing the packaging and graphics, said it was the dream project. "Not only were we working with a fun product ... bier, but it's one of the premiere biers in the country!"

Larry Jost, a popular Bellevue, Washington, artist was commissioned as the illustrator. His unique, traditional woodcut designs utilize a different illustration for each of the four biers; Hefeweizen, an unfiltered wheat bier with suspended yeast, shows a field of wheat bathed in golden colors; Amberbier, with a pronounced aromatic hop bouquet, displays a Northwest hop farm; Widberry, a black raspberry wheat bier, features a field of black raspberries; and Blackbier, rich like a stout but smooth like a porter, portrays the depth of The Black Forest.

Other innovations abound on various parts of the packaging. All six-pack carriers have handles with rounded corners Ð a first for American biers; one side of the six-pack handle tells the Widmer story, while the other side lists the unique product information. Flip the six-pack over, and on the bottom you will find the bier already poured into a glass with a listing of the bier's ingredients. The neck label on each bier bottle features a portrait illustration of brothers Kurt and Rob carrying on a conversation regarding the attributes of that particular bier.

But perhaps one of the most unique Widmer packaging elements is the surprise you'll find under the bottle cap. Because bier should always be consumed following a good toast, or as the Germans say, "prost", you'll find 20 different prosts to unique things in life, such as the platypus, squash that look like people, and dogs named Steve.

Brothers Kurt and Rob Widmer founded Widmer Brothers Brewing Company in 1984. Their combination of craft, dedication, and commitment has resulted in a winning blend that's propelling Widmer as a leading craft brewery in the country.

This success begins with the commitment of two brothers and their passion for making great biers. Then there's the Old World Altbier brewing style Ð top fermenting which results in the full flavor of an ale, and cold conditioning which creates the smoothness of a lager. Finally, there's the most important ingredient: unique German Altbier yeast providing a one-of-a-kind taste. The result is some of the most popular craft biers in the country Ð rich, smooth, and refreshingly original.

Widmer Brothers Brewing Company is committed to brewing 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 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 remain on the German Old World style of brewing and quality that has made Widmer a favorite among bier lovers in the Northwest.

Contact: Greg Jackson, Metropolitan Group, 503.223.3299