Widmer Brothers Releases Latest Batch of 30 Beers for 30 Years
13 Jan 2015 --- The start of the New Year means that only seven beers remain in Widmer Brothers Brewing’s 30 Beers for 30 Years Series, as the brewery continues its 30th anniversary celebration in the last months of its 30th year in business. Widmer Brothers announced three beers in the unprecedented series: Rejected Ale, X-114, and Belgian Golden Ale.
Like all of the beers in the series, the three releases hold a special importance to the brewery. Rejected Ale is unique to the entire series, as it is the only beer to date that is not from Widmer Brothers’ 30-year recipe archive.
Rejected Ale is an homage to 2007, the year Widmer Brothers was unceremoniously kicked out of the Brewers Association. This unfiltered IPA is brewed with cinnamon and mango, infused with 15 pounds of jalapenos, and dry hopped with copious amounts of Mosaic, Centennial, Chinook, and Cascade hops.
“We brewed Rejected Ale to reflect our opinions about the Brewers Association’s definition of ‘craft’ and the decision in 2007 to no longer consider Widmer Brothers a craft brewery,” said Kurt Widmer, co-founder of Widmer Brothers Brewing. “We aren’t bitter about it, but wanted to commemorate the moment in our history with a new beer in the 30 Beers for 30 Years Series. We had a little fun with the label art and beer, making a refreshing, fruit-forward IPA with a sweet burn.”
The beer representing the year 2008 in the series is X-114 IPA, which is a fan favorite that originally appeared in Widmer Brothers’ now-retired Rotator IPA Series. At the time of its initial release, Widmer Brothers’ brewers were often brewing with experimental hops because of the brewery’s longstanding relationships with and access to the Northwest’s premier hop growers.
The experimental hop known as X-114, a brewer favorite, ended up being named Citra, which is now an extremely popular hop variety among brewers looking for pronounced tropical fruit and citrus aromas and flavors. X-114 IPA is loaded with Citra hops and is being revived for the 30 Beers for 30 Years Series.
Belgian Golden Ale is also being re-released and represents the year 2009 in Widmer Brothers’ history. Belgian Golden is Widmer Brothers’ first large-scale Belgian-style beer. It was originally released as part of the “W Series” in 2009, a few years prior to Belgian-styles gaining popularity in the American craft beer industry.
All three beers will be available throughout January in the Portland area only. Like all beers in the 30 Beers for 30 Years Series, an extremely limited quantity of each beer was brewed and packaged with custom labels for sale in 22-ounce bottles and on draught.
Each beer in the series features unique label art from 30 different local artists and designers. Designer Mairwen Eslinger created the Rejected Ale label, Josh L. Anderson and Peter Williams created the X-114 IPA label, and the creative team at The Beauty Shop, led by Jen Thomas, created the Belgian Golden Ale label.
