Let's say it's early July, the sun is out, and I'm celebrating the coming three rainless months with a big ol party for everyone I know. "We'll provide food, you bring beer," the invitations say.

I write that invitation with a great, naive hope that those friends of mine who aren't beer connoisseurs will spend the next month researching the perfect beer, pulling all-nighters and trying countless ales and lagers until they find the exact right beer to bring to the party.

Me: Hey guys, thanks for coming!

Them: Hey we spent weeks researching beer and brought this amazing stuff!

Me: OMG six bottles of Base Camp Celestial Meridian CDL! That's so unbelievably thoughtful! Thank you!

And then we spend the rest of the party enjoying the beer, and each other's presence.

What actually happens is a bit different.

Them: Hey look at that label! There's an orange wedge that's wearing sunglasses! What a riot!

Me: OMG six bottles of Shock Top. That’s so unbelievably thoughtful. Thank you.

They see right through my sarcasm font and we spend the rest of the party awkwardly avoiding each other.

But the last two summers have been a distinct improvement from the norm.

Them: Hey we know you like the Timbers, and we saw the logo on the label, so we got this for you!

Me: OMG six bottles of Green and Gold Kolsch! That's so unbelievably thoughtful! Thank you! You know, this beer is a collaboration between Widmer Brewing and the Timbers Army, using an award-winning recipe developed by Abram Goldman-Armstrong, who was one of the guys who used to be pictured on those billboards around town. It's a beer made by the Timbers Army, for the Timbers Army!



The original recipe used hops grown in Abram's backyard, which Widmer's tried to emulate by using a combination of hop varieties that produced an almost minty hop flavor...

And they spend the rest of the party awkwardly avoiding me. But at least it's not the other way around.

Sadly, the Green & Gold Kolsch era has come to an end. Widmer has discontinued it in favor of a new partnership deal with the Timbers, which has made the nearly 30-year-old Widmer Hefeweizen the new Official Craft Beer of the Portland Timbers.

Now I have a familiar new reality to look forward to this July.

Them: Hey we know you like the Timbers, and we saw the logo on the label, so we got this for you!

Me: OMG six bottles of Widmer Hefeweizen. That's so unbelievably thoughtful. Thank you.

Putting aside my own selfish desire to have my favorite beers delivered free of charge to my home, this shift also appears to have brought a more limited tap-list to Providence Park.

In past years the main concessions stands have featured a mix of Green & Gold, Hefeweizen, and various other seasonal options (yes, spiced IPA), along with Budweiser. Other stands served other brews from Fort George, Lompoc, and other area breweries.

Now, if the preseason offerings are any indication, our options appear far less varied, while the availability of Hefeweizen has skyrocketed. I can still find the Fort George Vortex -- but that's the only non-Widmer, non-Budweiser beer I could find during the preseason. If that's going to be the norm throughout the regular season, I'm gonna save a lot of money this year.

But I digress. This post should much more be a celebration than a visit to the complaints department. That such a great beer, created by the fans for the fans, ever existed is in itself amazing. We were all lucky to have experienced it for the short time we did.

So let's celebrate the memory of the Green & Gold Kolsch by sharing some fond memories in the comments.

As with every appreciation thread, please consider our Appreciation Thread Etiquette:

1. Be respectful to the beer. No beer is perfect.

2. Focus on what it did well while with the club.

3. Save harsh criticisms for other posts concerning it. It's not uncommon for brewers to actually read these threads.

4. If you have nothing nice to comment, please do not comment at all.