Three years ago, I would never have thought that "Hazy" beers would have continued to make an impact in the beer market. I thought it was going to be another trend and go away slowly over the course of the following couple of years. Well...it hasn't! Not only has it not gone away, but it's redefining what IPAs are capable of doing. It's attracting non-IPA drinkers and mesmerizing regular hop-heads with either yays or nays. One thing it's done, is expand the beer market for everyone. In March of 2017, my wife and I took a long weekend trip to Cannon Beach on the coast of Oregon. Our weekend was full of geocaching, sight-seeing and romantic dinners. As we returned home that Sunday, we stopped in Astoria for a tour of the Column, a 125 foot column with 164 steps to ascend to the top. On regular days you can see for miles. Even out to the ocean and across the Columbia River to the Washington side. This day was different. We were socked in! I mean thick fog. You couldn't see more than a few hundred feet. So we chose to find the two geocaches near the column ( GC1901 / GC6BEQZ ).
Now that that was done, we checked our smart devices to figure out if there was a good burger joint that was open on sundays. None! But the local brewery was! We drove down the hill into the center of town and found the Fort George Brewery in an old manufacturing building. We sat at the bar and ordered a flight! This flight had something called the 2017 Beta IPA in it. Another Hazy being prepped for summer, I thought! No! This was "One" of the beta versions of a 3-way collaboration that Fort George draws together every year. This one was being produced by Fort George Brewing, Great Notion Brewing and Seattle's own Reuben's Brews in Ballard. It was spectacular!! Absolutely stunning! Full of life bouncing from one side of my mouth to the other and up and down and with a massive tropical fruit finish. HOLY SHIT, was that a good beer!!
Unfortunately for FG, the 2018 made by FG, Holy Mountain from Seattle and Modern Times Brewing, wasn't anywhere as interesting as the '17, still close and tasty beer. The 2019 was terrible. Unlike it's predecessors, it was almost 2-sided, meaning it didn't have really much to it, and most of the beer fans around me weren't impressed with it either. Not much lost! However...the 2020...WOW!! I still don't think it's as good as the 2017, but man does it put FG back on that "So looking forward to the 3-Way next year" map once again. The 2020 is a Collab. with Level Brewing and Structures Brewing. Using Chinook, Azacca, Citra and crazy amounts of Simcoe hops these three well-established brewers went to work producing a monster of a beer full of tropical fruit with hints of melon, pineapple and an orange-peel finish!! Such a great beer! I mean that..."GREAT BEER". For me, it ranks in my Top 3 for 2020 and Top 5 for the year. Easy. This beer is NOT found easily, but I've got a really good relationship with my beer guy! So, every time I see him, I always ask him politely if he would sell me a 4-pack. He usually says yes.
The Fort George 3-Way IPA is usually released in early to mid-June and gone by end of July. Some places can get kegs of it well into August and September, but seldom to you see it beyond that. You won't find it east of Idaho either...too bad for them!! More beer for me. 😜
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