Holy Sh*t! Run leads to Ginormous Fermenters!

We participated in The Portland Rock ‘n’ Roll ½ Marathon yesterday. We had a fantastic day for running and a great run. Afterwards, we headed to Widmer to have a few celebratory beers and lunch. When we stepped off the Max at the Albina/Mississippi Station (2) ginormous tanks sitting on semi truck trailers were there to greet us. They were fermentation tanks. I was excited by the sight. I picked up my pace to get a closer look. I asked my fiancée if she would stand next to one to give it scale. She said, “I’m gross”, meaning she was soaking wet from running in the rain, but she kindly posed. I still thought she looked cute as ever standing next to the massive fermenters. The stainless steel tanks, crafted by Paul Mueller Company in Springfield, Mo. were made with love. They were very pleasing to look at, almost flaunting themselves.

Huge fermentation tanks / Tiny marathon medal receipt (aka my lady).
Both sexy as hell.

After examining the tanks I stopped in Widmer’s official store to see how the fermenters were going to be lifted into the building. The fellow at the counter said the streets would be closed and the largest crane on the West Coast would lift off the roof and lower them in. When he said this, I was thinking of the Lampson LTL-2600 crane used at Intel’s up-and-coming DX1 fab site, but then I realized this is the world’s largest crane and there was no way this bad boy would be required. Regardless of whatever crane it would be, I thought watching this event would be cool. That’s the engineering geek coming out kids. I considered calling in sick to work, but I was off Friday, so my little noggin’ convinced me this was not an option. Brain 1, Chris 0. There will be (2) more tanks going in soon, so maybe I can catch the action then.

We finally ended up in Widmer’s tap room where we celebrated our ½ marathon accomplishment. After struggling to stomach the free Michelob Ultra that was handed out after the run, we were extremely happy to indulge in a few of Widmer’s finely crafted beers.

Medal winning Widmer Beers

For additional insight, photos and fine reporting on Widmer’s expansion check out ‘The Beer Here’ and ‘Brewpublic’.