THE ORIGINS of VORTEX IPA
Back in 2006, our two co-founders were midway through a cross-country trek, headed back to the North Coast in the cab of a rented truck pulling a flatbed trailer loaded with tanks and brewing equipment they’d picked up from a shuttered Virginia brewery. A call came in on the CB radio that there was a tornado headed their way. With nowhere to take cover in the wide open expanse of middle America, they decided to push through. Dirt and debris in the air brought visibility down to nothing as high winds strained the straps holding the tanks to the flatbed. But the storm passed over. And the makings of our first little brew system, almost scattered to the winds before we’d even begun, were spared.
There’s still a little bit of nature’s intensity (and our gratitude) in every can of Vortex IPA.
So we’re celebrating Vortex in April with four unique variations of our most beloved beer, including the return of Vortex Hands (Vortex + Block 15’s Sticky Hands) and a super special collaboration with Georgetown Brewing: Vortizafa.
Imagine you’re standing in your favorite bottle shop. There on the shelf is a 6-pack of Georgetown’s legendary, best-selling Bodhizafa. And there, to the left, is a 4-pack of Fort George’s Vortex IPA. Both so reliable, so consistent, so packed with zings of bright citrus and unspeakably luscious hop flavor. It’s impossible to choose. To spare you the agony of choice, we put our heads (and our decades of brewing experience) together and brewed Vortizafa. Two perennial Northwest favorites in one.
SPECIAL LIMITED RELEASES IN APRIL
Vortex + Bodhizafa = VORTIZAFA
A limited collaboration with Georgetown Brewing.
Bright, silky, positively citrusy, brewed with the power of two Georges: Fort George and Georgetown.
Vortex of the future = Cryotex
A special release with Cryo Hops and Dynaboost.
Cryotex is a wild, fruity, futuristic version of this Northwest staple with Cryo hops, hop hash and a clean and crispy lager yeast for extra flavor perception.
Vortex + a lot more hops = DDH VORTEX
Vortex with more Vortex in it. All the hops of a regular Vortex IPA, plus twice as many hops in the dry hop.
Fiercer, wilder, bolder.
Vortex + Sticky Hands = VORTEX HANDS
The return of the greatest Fort George/Block 15 collaboration ever. It’s Sticky Hands and Vortex, together again in Vortex Hands.
Luscious hop flavor, bright, crisp and aromatic.
VORTEX TODAY
You can find Vortex year round wherever you get good beer.
At our brewery on the Astoria waterfront, we make about 4 batches of Vortex a month. That may not seem like enough. You drink a lot of Vortex, and so do we. So do our neighbors and in-laws and the people at the beach, all those tasteful and discerning folk all over the whole Northwest. But we’re making the big batches. Big Big Batches. We need almost a thousand pounds of hops JUST for each batch of Vortex. So don’t worry. There will be plenty.
Back in the olden times (a few years ago), we’d all make it a point to grab a can of Vortex as a shifty on the day it was packaged. Vortex is great any day but there’s something special about Vortex right off the packaging line – Vortex so fresh that when you crack the top you can hear the echo of the soothing lullaby that our packaging manager sings to every 4pack as it’s neatly tucked into its cardboard case box and palletized.
We make a batch of Vortex once a week now. You’ll still sometimes see us grabbing a can on packaging day, though. We like Vortex. We like it A LOT, which is why we keep making it. It’s part of our most serious and sacred mission: we’re here to make good beer for our people.
