Vortizafa
Fort George Brewery + Public House

Look: Slightly cloudy yellow on the pour with a sudsy head that recedes to a pillow and leaves great lacing behind

Aroma: I could smell it on the pour. Pink grapefruit, pine sap, navel orange, peach, strawberries, fruity dank, raspberries, tangerine, and bready malt

Taste: Opens up with some pithy grapefruit and juicy navel orange and tangerine that strike quick and begin to develop depth. Peach and dank come next as pine sap and fir seep in as well and these go back and forth until it closes with a nice bite

Mouthfeel: Full, smooth, clean, medium-high carbonation, and moderately dry on the finish

Overall: This is some good stuff. I had to try this as a fan of both Vortex and Bodhizafa and like I expected, it’s tasty. It brings a lot of the juicy orange and berry elements that Bodhi is known for, to the table and pairs them nicely with the conifer, grapefruit, and dank elements of Vortex to create a unique offering that sort of tastes like you blended the two beers on your own. Definitely worth checking out, especially if you’re a fan of either of these two beers

Clear yellow-amber brew with adequate foam in the snifter. Pine and grapefruit aroma. Thickish texture. Flavor starts with some fruit, then it's dank and pitchy, then citrus peel. Quite bitter aftertaste, but it's the endless resiny flavor that gets to you and the grapefruit juice adds a different challenge. This is full of complexity, as in the flavor morphs from one disturbing experience to another. From the 16 oz can, same 03/21/25 date. [OPEN OTHER END]

 

Poured from a 16 ounce can dated 3-21-25 into a tulip glass at 50 degrees.

Look- Straw, sudsy white head, moderately hazy, plentiful small visible particulate, average lacing, slightly above average head retention.

Smell- Clementine, slight pine, grapefruit, between medium and high strength of scent.

Taste- Clementine, pine, grapefruit, pith, lemon, between medium and high strength of flavor.

Feel- Between medium and full body, average carbonation, highly creamy, moderately bitter, moderately dry finish, mildly astringent.

Overall- The appearance was outstanding with straw color and plentiful visible particulate. The bouquet was citrus heavy with a slight note of pine. The flavor followed the nose with some pith and lemon character. The body was fuller than expected for the style with plentiful creaminess. This beer provided a nice drinking experience. It was basically Bodhizafa with a small pine kick. I thought it was a slightly better than Bodhizafa, but nowhere close to Vortex.

 

 

Poured into a Seattle Beer Week pint glass. Pours a medium golden amber with a two finger, white head with great retention and solid lacing. Aroma of caramel malt, citrus hops, orange, grapefruit and light mixed fruit. Flavor is lightly caramel pale malt, citrus and dank hops, orange, grapefruit, mixed light stone fruit, catty dankness and some pine developing in the finish. Solid citrus rind and dank bitterness lingers. Medium bodied with light to moderate creaminess. A pleasant Northwest style IPA that verges on an imperial. It does have character from both the Bodhi and Vortex, but the malt is crisper and more similar to the latter. Nice, but busy hop bill, which is probably to be expected when trying to merge the character of two brews. The aroma has more caramel and I hoped that would continue into the taste. There was more dankness in the taste than aroma. Solid IPA, I like it.

16-ounce can purchased at Wildwood Taphouse, Hillsboro, OR. Date stamp reads "03/21/25 OPEN OTHER END". Enjoyed in a Fort George 2024 Lupulin Ecstasy taster glass.

This beer is a collaboration between Fort George Brewery and Public House (Astoria, OR) and Georgetown Brewing (Seattle, WA).

Look:
Peachy orange-gold body with a touch of haze. The head is off-white, tall, dense, and somewhat rocky. Good retention to the bottom of the glass. Leaves fat clumps of lacing after each sip.

Smell:
Sweet pineapple with lots of tangy citrus: tangerine juice, orange peel, a twist of grapefruit. There's a little peach and mango too, along with the smell of a freshly-opened bag of King's Hawaiian Rolls.

Taste:
Vortizafa starts off with the burst of tangy citrus promised by the nose. It's a zippy combination of tart tangerine with a splash of pineapple juice. The middle is toasty, crackery malt layered with orange marmalade flavors. A piny, resiny bitterness follows. It gains strength and an orange oil burn as the beer finishes with an aftertaste heavy with grapefruit peel. Moderate level of sweetness persists from start to finish.

Feel:
Medium-bodied with carbonation that's a little rough out of the can, but softens quickly. Lingering hop burn is kinda harsh, to be honest.

Overall:
Vortizafa starts off juicy and citrusy like Georgetown Bodhizafa and finishes piny and bitter like Fort George Vortex IPA. It isn't necessarily better than either of those, but it's still a well-done interpolation of both beers that manages to land halfway between them. If you like them then you'll find plenty to like in Vortizafa.