Widmer’s New Saison Launches Nation’s First Statewide Reusable Bottle Program

Sustainability has long been championed by the craft beer industry and Widmer Brothers, along with a small band of fellow eco-conscious breweries, have joined the Oregon Beverage Recycling Cooperative in the nation’s first statewide refillable beer bottle initiative.

Here’s the deal…

As we detailed last May seven Oregon breweries including Widmer Brothers, Buoy Beer, Double Mountain, GoodLife, Gigantic, Wild Ride and Rock Bottom the Oregon Beverage Recycling Cooperative (the people in charge of collecting and recycling beverage containers in Oregon), in a new reusable bottle campaign  that expects to have 2 million to 3 million refillable bottles going into circulation during its first year.

Made possible by a unique Bottle Bill, the tall, 500-milliliter brown bottles have the distinctive BottleDrop logo imprinted on the side, indicating that they can be washed and reused up to 40 times instead of being crushed and melted like the rest of your glass beverage receptacles.

And it seems appropriate that a legacy brewer like Widmer Brothers be the first brewery to initiate this impressive program with a prosaic new release…

Widmer’s new Le Petit Brasseur is dry and zesty 5.2% ABV Belgian Farmhouse Ale that perfectly complements the eco-integrity of the initiative as the bottles themselves do the beer.

Crafted with a blend of locally malted barley from Mecca Grade Estate Malt and Goschie Farms, and generously dosed with comet and crystal hops, this hazy Farmhouse ale has a lemony ambiance and nuanced malt finish that as the Willamette Week suggests , “develops even more muscle as it warms.”

And while Widmer’s deft new Saison may be the first Oregon beer to be released in this eco-friendly format, it’s far from the last.

There’s a full roster of exciting BottleDrop releases from the six other regional breweries that are expected to hit retail over the next couple of months…..more great beer and a greener future!