Widmer Brothers Brewing, whose flagship Hefeweizen redefined that style for America, also makes many, many other excellent beers. And one of those, Broken Halo IPA, was their spring release last year. One of their most successful seasonal releases, demand for Broken Halo continued long after the seasonal cycle ended last summer. Widmer Brothers announced yesterday that it would be fixing that and making Broken Halo IPA a year-round addition to their portfolio.

From the press release:

Widmer Brothers Brewing announced today the launch of Broken Halo IPA, the result of a tried-and-true recipe from the company’s seasoned brewmasters. Broken Halo will be distributed to select West Coast bars, taverns and finer grocery retailers beginning the week of April 3, 2006. Inspired by the traditional India Pale Ale (IPA) recipe originating in 19th Century England, Broken Halo contains higher concentrations of hops and alcohol than typical beer, and will be ceremoniously launched the same week in history when Prohibition was repealed for beer on April 7, 1933.

“I can’t think of a better way to celebrate 73 years of the freedom to enjoy beer than with our new Broken Halo IPA,” says Kurt Widmer, co-founder of Widmer Brothers Brewing. “We saw the first signs of this IPA’s success when we offered it as a spring seasonal Ale, then as a Brewmasters’ Release recipe. With so many people at bars and taverns requesting it, the obvious choice was to listen and bring it back. Rob and I are really proud of the result and I think craft beer lovers will really enjoy it, too.”

Broken Halo uses Cascade and Columbus hops for balanced bitterness, flavor and aroma. Bitterness is 45 IBU, alcohol by volume is 6% and original gravity is 14.25 degrees plato.

The label for Widmer’s new Broken Halo IPA.