There are IPAs, and then there is Fort George Vortex — the one that doesn’t just sit in the glass so much as hum, a low, citrus-laced frequency that feels like weather remembering its teeth. Born from a near-mythic road trip moment — a brewhouse nearly scattered by a tornado en route to Astoria — it arrived with just enough chaos stitched into its bones to keep things interesting. Pine, grapefruit, structure, restraint — a Northwest spine with a pulse. Over time it became something rarer than hype: a standard. Not loud, not trendy, not chasing the next shiny thing. Just steady, whirling, unmistakably itself. Oh, Vortex did win the 2025 Tournament of Beer: Northwest IPAs.
And then, because Fort George has never been particularly interested in standing still, April turned into Vortex Month — a celebration where the flagship doesn’t sit politely on a pedestal, it multiplies, wanders, experiments, picks up a few co-conspirators along the way. Variants bloom. Ideas loosen. Collaborations drift in from across the Pacific Northwest, each one nudging the original in a new direction — more hop saturation, softer textures, a Lucille detour, a Structures daydream — until the whole thing feels less like a single beer and more like a moving weather system gathering personality as it rolls.
So here it is: five expressions pulled from that swirl — the anchor, the amplifier, and a trio of collaborative side quests that stretch the idea without breaking it. Not a lineup so much as a field guide to the storm.
Peaks & Pints Fort George Vortex Month Flight
Fort George Brewery Double Dry Hopped Vortex (2026)
7.2% ABV | IPA – American | Astoria, Oregon
Turn the dial and everything brightens — grapefruit peel and sticky pine surge forward with amplified intent, citrus oils hanging in the air while a resinous hum builds underneath, the familiar backbone now pushed into a louder, more radiant register, all energy and momentum without losing its footing.
Fort George Vortex IPA
7.2% ABV | IPA – American
The original current moves with quiet authority, citrus zest and pine resin threading through a steady malt frame, balanced and alive, a storm held just shy of chaos, carrying a sense of history without ever feeling weighed down by it.
Fort George Fuzztex
7% ABV | Hazy IPA
Peach and citrus drift in first, soft-edged and glowing, then a gentle pine line emerges to keep things grounded, the texture plush but not sleepy, shaped in collaboration with Structures Brewing and echoing their Fuzz, like two coastal voices finding a shared rhythm in the haze.
Fort George Vorcille IPA
7.2% ABV | IPA – American
Soft stone fruit and citrus shimmer set the tone before a restrained bitterness slides into place, clean and composed, the whole thing balancing ease and precision as Vortex and Georgetown’s Lucille meet somewhere in the middle and decide to take the scenic route.
Georgetown Brewing Lucy In the Vortex With Diamonds
8.6% ABV | IPA – Imperial | Seattle, Washington
Big, bright, and a little unhinged in the best way, this one spins pine, orange zest, and bursts of pineapple through a fuller body that hums with warmth—brewed in collaboration with Fort George for Vortex Month, it fuses Georgetown’s Lucille and Vortex into something more vivid, more electric, like the storm finally deciding to show off.
LINK: Peaks & Pints beer and cider cooler inventory
