Cryotex
Fort George Brewery + Public House

Look: Medium and slightly burnt orange in the glass with a frothy head that engulfs the top of the glass, slowly receding to reveal nice lacing left behind

Aroma: Pink and white grapefruit, pine sap, navel orange, peaches, strawberries, fruity dank, and bready malt

Taste: Opens up with an intense and resinous pine hit – like fresh pitch – and soon followed by waves of citrus fruit. Lemon-lime, orange, grapefruit, and kumquats all in play, along with some peach while strawberries and dank peek in and out as it winds to a close, accompanied by a nice bite

Mouthfeel: Ful, lightly slick, clean, medium-high carbonation, and medium strength dryness on the finish

Overall: This is some tasty stuff. A fun and delicious twist on an old classic by a brewer I respect and enjoy – I’m all in – so grabbed two of these to try and glad I did. The cryo hops add an intense punch in both the nose and flavor throughout with the Citra and Simcoe shining (for me). Recommended

 

 

Expect a clear pour, a finger of frothy head, fading to a skim. Massive wave of fruit...like a tropical market, rich with aromas of mango, papaya, pineapple. Taste is clean well-hopped with a dominant bitterness with zero harshness. Good finish, lots of hop flavor on the long finish. Mouthfeel is superb, plenty of carbonation with enough viscosity to enjoy the ale for a good long time. No alcohol heat at all even with an ABV of 7.2%.

Highly recommended; hope it stays around for a while.

16 oz. can purchased (to-go) from Westside Taphouse in West Salem Oregon.
$5.00
Pours a clear light golden body with a frothy off-white head. Great lashings of lace.
Aroma is very fruity hope. Getting pineapple, grapefruit, and rose water? Strange but interesting.
Taste overall. Very balanced. There is even a "wild" aspect to the blend (Comet?). Some peaches and a bit of pine and tangerine.
Mouth feel is medium with medium carbonation, keeps things moving along smoothly.
An excellent addition to the Fort George stable of beers.

This beer is draft only. Enjoyed at the Beaverton location of John's Marketplace, served in one of their bulbous glasses that reminds me of those Samuel Adams "Perfect Pint" glasses.

Look:
Deep gold and perfectly clear, topped with a finger of dense, finely-textured white foam. Low retention and not much lacing.

Smell:
Wow. Pungently fruity. Ripe mango and pineapple. Grapefruit and mandarin orange peel. Fruit punch Starburst candy. Pine resin. Diesel. Intense!

Taste:
At the risk of repeating myself: WOW. Starts with intense citrus flavor. Thick-cut marmalade, candied grapefruit peel, grapefruit pith, lime zest. Then it morphs into ripe mango, peach nectar, red Swedish fish candy, diesel, fennel seeds. Sweet but not too sweet, with a lip-smacking tangy edge. All the while, bitterness accumulates and provides necessary balance. Finishes with pine resin, mango, gummi bears, grape tannins, a breath of carnations.

Feel:
This has a medium-full body which is somewhat lightened by its moderate carbonation. Mouth-coating and a little oily.

Overall:
This is one of the most intense single IPAs I've had in many years. So many layers, such density of flavor. The regular Fort George Vortex IPA is a big beer, but Cryotex is a science-fiction alternate universe version of that beer, still recognizable but far more efficient and powerful, and frankly a little daunting. Unsessionable and hard to follow. Plot your course accordingly and approach with caution.

really epic stuff, a major modernizing of a beer that needs no tweaks at all, a version of the iconic vortex done with cryo hops and thiolized yeast, which is really becoming a thing very quickly. its impossible not to love this as a hop head, also impossible not to recognize the contributions of these ingredients, but the intensity of this almost mandatorily limits how much of it i can drink, like i have to move slowly with this, take it all in, and readjust my palate to the just how robust this is, drinks much more like an imperial with the boldness of the hops, but its downright amazing. doesnt look much different than the original, but the nose is striking, huge right up front hop character, the cryo level of intensity, candied orange peel, fresh pineapple, dehydrated mango, sticky nuggets, a red fruit punch note, and the typical grain balance of the original vortex. the yeast is crazy, still clean, but the aromatics on this are on steroids from the thiols, seems almost overkill with the cryo hops, but its not green or harsh or even really very bitter when i taste it. on the tongue i get green grape, fresh bubble hash, zested grapefruit and orange, and a honey decadence without it being that sweet, like there is a floral pop in this as well, really unique, and its sort of heavy because of its intensity, amazing and truly unique as it is. the yeast is obviously adding a lot to this, almost an estery thing coming from the hops with this yeast, and it stays with me for a long time after each sip, even though its incredible, its also a lot. no doubt this is where ipa is headed, and id rather this than any more hazy massively dry hopped beer, i think that cryo hops of any persuasion have rarely been used better than right here in this beer, and the overall quality and uniqueness of this are through the roof. truly sensational beer, but im not having five of them in a sitting...