Widmer expansion by AP

7:16 AM PST on Friday, November 10, 2006
Associated Press
Widmer Bros., the sixth-largest craft brewery in the nation, is beginning a $22 million expansion aimed at introducing hefeweizen beer to a wider market.
Founders Kurt and Rob Widmer put a keg of their most famous beer in the back of the car earlier this year and hit a string of restaurants and bars to get Texans to sip their hefeweizen brew.
Earlier this week, the company broke ground on a new building that will house fermentation tanks and an additional kegging line. Once the expansion is completed, the brewery will nearly double its annual capacity to 550,000 barrels -- or more than 136 million pints -- of beer.
The brewing company has been straining against its current size in recent years as its beer gained in popularity. Its distribution is handled by beer giant Anheuser Busch Cos., which owns 40 percent of Widmer.
"We've been growing at double digits for the last four, five years," said Kurt Widmer, the brewmaster. "This will allow us to meet the ever-increasing demand ... and free up some capacity to pursue some beer styles that we haven't been able to do."
A Belgian-style beer, for instance. Or a double bock or some other maltier or more flavorful kind of beer, he said.
But the expansion will help the Widmers make and sell more hefeweizen, a gold-colored, cloudy, unfiltered wheat beer with citrus undertones that is the main franchise for the brewery, accounting for 82 percent of its sales last year.
For many, Widmer hefeweizen is the brew that turns beer drinkers into loyal craft brew customers, said Jim Parker, one of the owners of the Oaks Bottom Public House and former executive director of the Oregon Brewers Guild.
"They're bringing people into the fold with that beer," he said.
The Widmers said hefeweizen has broad appeal to men and women, with a wide age range.
As part of the expansion, the flagship beer will also undergo a small makeover, as Widmer Bros. tries to better distinguish its brand from others, including Seattle-based Pyramid Breweries Inc., which also makes a popular hefeweizen.
Widmer Bros. plans to emphasize its name more prominently on the label, with "Hefeweizen" a bit smaller, in hopes of training customers to ask for a Widmer rather than a hefeweizen, said Rob Widmer.
Construction of the new building is expected to take about 18 months, and once the new site is fully operational, the company plans to add as many as 45 employees. It currently employs 185.