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Rainier Beer is returning to Washington.

(Rainier)

One of the Pacific Northwest's most recognizable beer brands is coming home.

Rainier Beer, named for the mighty mountain in Washington but produced elsewhere for nearly two decades, will return to The Evergreen State this year with a new pale ale brewed in Woodinville, according to a press release.

The new beer line -- a revival of a historic Rainier brand -- is a collaboration between Pabst Brewing Company, which bought the brewery in the late 1990s, and the Portland-based Craft Brew Alliance, the Widmer-Kona-Redhook collaboration that owns the Woodinville brewery.

Ongoing expansion of Craft Brew Alliance facilities in Oregon and Hawaii freed up production capacity at the Redhook Brewery in Woodinville. As part of the agreement, Pabst was granted the right to purchase the Washington State brewery at any time over the next three years.

It wasn't immediately clear what would happen to Redhook should Pabst exercise the option. As the Seattle Times notes, last August, the Alliance said the brewery, Washington's oldest, has become "the least profitable brand in the portfolio."

-- Michael Russell