PETRA Wetzel, the entrepreneur behind Glasgow’s WEST bars and brewery, has launched the first in a series of new beer brands as she looks to capitalise on the £5 million investment made in the firm’s production facilities last year.

Ms Wetzel pledged 2017 would be a year of expansion for WEST after the delay-hit process involved in expanding its brewing capacity. That concluded when it launched its 35,000-hectolitre brewery at its home in the former Templeton’s Carpet Factory on Glasgow Green in November - a year behind schedule.

WEST, which specialises in German-style beer, has debuted a new bottled brand for its Hefeweizen product. Until now it has only been available in draught format on a limited basis.

Heidi-Weisse, which Ms Wetzel said was a “homage” to her much-missed golden retriever, and “brewery dog”, Heidi, is only the second WEST beer to become available in packaged format.

The beer will initially be available bars, restaurants and specialist beer shops, before going on sale more widely in Scottish supermarkets at the start of next year.

WEST’S St Mungo lager is already widely distributed in bottled format in Scottish supermarkets, including Waitrose, Tesco and Asda, as well as across the on-trade.

Ms Wetzel, who revealed the beer would also be exported, added: “I think 2017 will be really exciting because we are also working on two other beers in different packaging formats. This is the year for WEST to launch things in small packs, rather than kegs, which is lovely.”

Brewed by WEST on Glasgow Green to a strength of 5.2 per cent alcohol by volume, Heidi-Weisse is stronger than St Mungo and as such will command a slightly higher price point, with Ms Wetzel expecting it to retail for between £2.10 and £2.20 a bottle compared with St Mungo’s £1.60 to £1.90.

Ms Wetzel, whose ultimate holding company for her various WEST businesses is Heidi Beers Holdings, said leisure Kained Holdings, owner of Glasgow venues Lebowskis, Porter & Rye and Kelbourne Saint, would be among the beer’s stockists. It is also expected to appear on shelf in stores such as Valhalla’s Goat, Great Grog and Hippo beers.

Ms Wetzel said: “You will see it in really good beer and wine shops, you will see it bars and restaurants, and we are obviously exporting it.

“We’ve had some really positive feedback in the Middle East for it, believe it or not. Then I’m hoping in early 2017 it will be in the supermarkets we already work with.”

Ms Wetzel believes WEST is the only brewery to produce wheat beer to this scale in Scotland, noting that consumer interest in the style is on the up in a market crowded by IPA (India Pale Ale) craft beers.

And she said making Heidi-Weisse available in bottle format means it is now possible for a wider range of outlets to stock the beer.

Ms Wetzel said: “Hefeweizen is a funny beer because it is a beer that doesn’t like to be in keg for very long. A keg of Hefeweizen should be sold within three, four days. Unless you have an outlet that sells that amount of wheat beer, it’s not really ideal to sell them a keg of wheat beer.

“We thought a lot of people would love to have it [but] they just don’t have the throughput, so let’s put it into bottles. So there will be lots of people in Glasgow who have bars where they don’t quite merit having wheat beer on draught, but they would like to have it.”

While admitting that the wheat style is not to everyone’s taste, Ms Wetzel said: “It’s actually one of the fastest-growing beers in the UK beer market today. I can’t think of a single other brewery that makes a wheat beer like ours. That’s a really bold statement but [beer writer] Pete Brown said it was the nicest wheat beer made in the UK today. I take Pete’s word for it.”

However Ms Wetzel added: “It’s obviously for a discerning clientele – not everybody likes wheat beer. Wheat beer is something you either love or hate.”

Ms Wetzel pledged to follow Heidi-Weisse with the launch in packaged format of two other draught beers in the WEST stable later this year. The identity of the beers in question has not been disclosed, though they will also been given new brand names.

WEST’S new brewery has a capacity ten times greater than its predecessor at the Glasgow Green building, which continues to be used. A previous project to build a brewery at Speirs Wharf in the north of Glasgow hit planning difficulties.