Widmer Brothers Teams Up With Gigantic Brewing and Gets All Crafty

For the 4th release in Widmer Brothers 30th Anniversary Collaboration Series they teamed up with Gigantic Brewing, the self proclaimed “world’s most crafty brewery”, to offer us Craftylicious. This Golden Ale is a bright, partial kettle-soured beer that is tart, hoppy, citrusy, and made for the late summer months.

Named after the great “craft vs. crafty” debate, Craftylicious came about from the way Widmer Brothers have recently been treated by the craft beer trade organization, Brewers Association. A few years back the BA took the liberty to label select breweries based on their size, ownership or what ingredients these breweries are using and labeled some as being ‘crafty’. Well Widmer was one of these breweries to be labeled this way. This action shocked Kurt and Rob Widmer enough that other breweries voiced their disdain towards the way in which the BA reacted. You can read more about the brothers reaction in this well written article by Jason Notte from The Street. 

Many of Portland’s local brewers were upset by this knee jerk reaction from the BA. Gigantic Brewing’s Van Havig was one of them. Widmer is a larger brewer but they welcome smaller, local brewers in their lab to assist them in evaluating their beers along with other guidance to help these fledgling breweries become more successful.

When brewery collaborations were being discussed for Widmer’s 30th Anniversary, the brewers at Widmer Brothers asked Gigantic Brewing’s Havig and Ben Love to be a part of this six beer series. The two breweries thought they’d poke some fun at the recent “craft vs. crafty” debate among some craft beer industry insiders, brewers, and beer geeks. The beer is Widmer Brothers and Gigantic’s take on the debate in beer form, and is meant to push the boundaries and challenge the perceptions of what is “craft,” what is “crafty,” and what is simply delicious beer. It is from here where the name of this new beer, Craftylicious, came about.

Craftylicious is the fourth of six limited release collaboration beers with Oregon breweries to be released this year as part of a series that commemorates Widmer Brothers’ 30-year history. The 30th Anniversary Collaboration Series is a celebration of the Oregon brewing community and the unique camaraderie among craft brewers.

“I’ve known Ben and Van at Gigantic for a long time, and both of these guys have contributed to the Portland beer community in a big way,” said Ben Dobler, innovation brewer at Widmer Brothers Brewing. “They always manage to brew some really interesting, innovative beers, and we were excited to collaborate with them for the 30th Anniversary Collaboration Series. The idea for this beer came to us when we started talking about ‘craft vs. crafty.’ Given that Gigantic is a craft brewery by any standard, yet the guys at Gigantic proclaim that they’re ‘the world’s most crafty brewery,’ and Widmer Brothers has been labeled ‘crafty,” we thought we would have some fun with those definitions and labels with Craftylicious.”

Craftylicious is now available in 22-ounce bottles and on draught, with limited distribution in select markets, including Portland, Seattle, San Francisco, San Diego, Minneapolis, New York City, Boston, and Philadelphia.

Next up in the 30th Anniversary Collaboration Series will be a beer that is brewed with Eugene’s Ninkasi Brewing Company. This collaboration will be available later next month in October.

Craftylicious Stats:
Craftylicious is a limited release collaboration beer brewed by Portland, Oregon’s Widmer Brothers and Gigantic Brewing. The fourth release in a series of six beers brewed to celebrate Widmer Brothers’ 30th Anniversary in 2014, Craftylicious is a unique, bright, partial kettle-soured beer that’s tart, hoppy, citrusy, and perfect for late summer. Named for the “craft vs. crafty” debate among some brewers and beer geeks, Craftylicious pushes the boundaries and challenges perceptions with a beer that manages to be craft, crafty, and delicious all at the same time. Can you handle this? Prost!

ABV: 5.7%
IBU: 33
OG: 12.75P
AE: 1.95P
COLOR: 10 SRM