Put your Vortex Hands together for Fort George and Block 15

It’s been a whirlwind 17 years for Fort George Brewery. The Astoria, Oregon, started with an actual whirlwind and this month, created a whirlwind with their flagship Vortex IPA. This April 2024 they are celebrating Vortex Month, a great time to revisit or try an all-new version of the now classic Oregon IPA. You can try them all Thursday, April 25 at Peaks & Pints in Tacoma’s Proctor District. We’ll be tapping Vortex IPA, Double Dry Hopped Vortex, Cryotex, and Vortex Hands, a collaboration with their friends at Block 15 Brewing, plus other draft beers from the Fort George and Block 15.

In 2006, Chris Nemlowill and Jack Harris flew to Virginia Beach, Virginia, to salvage an 8.5-barrel Saaz brewing system and drive it across the country to install it in their soon-to-open Fort George Brewery in Astoria. While traveling with the equipment strapped to a flat bed, they met up with a tornado that nearly spread the brewery across a Nebraska cornfield. This became the inspiration behind the name Vortex IPA. Before the tornado, though, their U-Haul broke down in Rabun County in northeastern Georgia. The tow truck driver said, “You’re not from around here, are you?” They replied, “No, we’re from Astoria where The Goonies was filmed.” The tow driver replied, “Well, you’re about 30 miles away from where Deliverance was film. You best get out of here.”

Joining the OG Vortex for Peaks & Pints’ celebration of Vortex Month will be Double Dry Hopped Vortex, which is like Vortex but with way more Vortex in it. We’re also tapping Cryotex, the original Vortex recipe but made with Cryo and CGX Hops from Yakima Chief and Crosby Hop Farms. Rounding out our celebration will be Vortex Hands, a collaboration with Block 15 Brewing from Corvallis. It’s like Vortex, but with the spirit of Block 15’s strong, smooth, and piney Sticky Hands, or maybe it’s Sticky Hands with the spirit of a bright and balanced Vortex.

It will be a whirlwind of deliciousness Thursday night at Peaks & Pints. Come ride the Vortex!

FORT GEORGE VORTEX NIGHT AT PEAKS, 5-8 p.m. Thursday, April 25, Peaks & Pints, 3816 N. 26th St., Basecamp Proctor, Tacoma, no cover

LINK: Peaks & pints beer and cider cooler inventory