Astoria’s Fort George Brewery has brewed 3-Way IPA since 2013, featuring two different craft brewery collaborators every year. This year, Holy Mountain Brewing Co. and Modern Times Beer shared ideas and techniques with Chris Nemlowill of Fort George Brewery, and after 6.66 people brewed six batches, presto(!) — the final 2018 Fort George 3-Way IPA. Peaks and Pints will host the Fort George 3-Way IPA release party for the South Sound tonight. In conjunction, Peaks and Pints presents an all-day flight of the three, 3-Way breweries that we call Craft Beer Crosscut 6.5.18: A Flight of 3-Way IPA Breweries.
Holy Mountain Transfiguration
6.1% ABV
Holy Mountain Brewing Company is built on a foundation of oak. More than half its beers are aged in oak barrels at some point on their way to your glass. Transfiguration is an exception. It’s a clean saison brewed with Pilsner malt and Vienna, then hopped in the kettle with old world Tardif de Bourgogne and Tettnang. Holy Mountain is ferments this beauty in stainless and then dry-hops with the same varietals for a fairly dry saison with hint of citrus, leather and soft funk.
Fort George Cavatica Stout
8.8% ABV, 30 IBU
Fort George Brewery at the mouth of the Columbia River in Astoria, Oregon excels at dark craft beers, such as its Cavatica Stout. The Latin root of Cavatica is cave, crevice, abyss or a dark place. Just like a stout should be. Fort George brewers dump in black barley and Munich malt to get a molasseslike heft. Cavatica’s extra ethanol will blend smoothly into your glass. A big head of sandy foam and the resolute sweetness of raisins, cocoa and candied walnuts impress. Cascade hops provide a balancing slice of orange that is distinctly Oregon.
Modern Times Booming Rollers
6.8% ABV, 75 IBU
Modern Times Beer names the delicious fruits of their labor after “utopian experiments and mythological utopias.” But when it comes to this special release, the term “Booming Rollers” refers to the name of The Big Lake of the Booming Rollers in Carl Sandburg’s Rootabaga Stories — a beloved collection of fantastic children’s stories. Modern Times’ Booming Rollers offers wave after wave of Citra, Motueka and Centennial IPA hops. Citra waves reach the highest point, but this IPA is amplified with the dark stone fruit character of New Zealand-grown Motueka hops for tropics of pineapple and papaya plus the constant slow rolling wave of citrus. The finish isn’t overly dry, allowing more of that epic nectar to slowly evaporate off our palates, leaving a hint of lip smacking pineapple behind. Booming Rollers offer a firm bitterness, thanks to Centennial, yet all the juicy fruit goodness was not completely overtaken.
Modern Times Blazing World
6.8% ABV, 85 IBU
Much like the first Bear Flag —a cotton sheet, red paint, crude drawing of a grizzly bear and a lone red star — Modern Times Beer specializes in mashups, blending together different styles and flavors. Blazing World is an aggressively hoppy brew that shares characteristics with both imperial IPAs and amber ales. Nelson Sauvin, Mosaic and Simcoe hops give it a dank aroma packed with white grapes, mango and grapefruit peel, while the flavor blends burnt sugar, biscuits and grass.
Fort George Vortex IPA
7.7% ABV, 97 IBU
Caught in a tornado in the Midwest while hauling their original brew system cross country from Virginia, it made sense from Fort George Brewery to whip up Vortex IPA. With a hearty 7.7% ABV unfiltered, unpasteurized organic malt spine that makes way for Simcoe, Amarillo, and Centennial hops this IPA is medium bodied with a resinous mouthfeel, grapefruit more than pine and finishes with lingering hop bitterness. This beer is straight up delicious.
