pFriem x Fort George Release Companion West Coast and Hazy IPAs

Same grain, same hops, two breweries, two very different IPAs. That’s the pFriem x Fort George collaboration: pFriem’s Vacation Destination, a West Coast IPA, and Fort George’s Destination Vacation, a hazy IPA, both 7% ABV. They released Oct. 8 on draft and in 16 oz 4-packs at both breweries’ tasting rooms and roll out through October, including parts of Southern California. Earthlings, this is a controlled experiment.

pFriem x Fort George, side by side

	Vacation Destination	Destination Vacation
Brewery	pFriem (Hood River, Ore.)	Fort George (Astoria, Ore.)
Style	West Coast IPA	Hazy IPA
ABV	7.0%	7.0%
IBU	50 (per pFriem)	Not published
Grain and hops	Shared bill	Shared bill
Yeast, fermentation, dry hopping	pFriem’s call	Fort George’s call
Format	Draft, 16 oz 4-packs	Draft, 16 oz 4-packs

What’s the same

According to the press release posted by pFriem, both breweries signed off on a shared grist and hop bill, then brewed independently. The shared build:

• Malt: Pilsner and pale malts, plus malted and unmalted wheat
• Hops: one hop bill of Eclipse, Krush, Citra Cryo and Simcoe
• Strength: 7% ABV for both

Both come from Oregon breweries on the Columbia River. pFriem Family Brewers brews in Hood River in the Columbia River Gorge. Fort George is in Astoria on the Oregon Coast, which, per Fort George’s store listing, sits on the same river 103 miles west.

What’s different

“Everything after that, yeast, fermentation management, dry hopping, etc was entirely up to the individual brewery,” the release says. The breweries’ own descriptions, from the release:

• pFriem used “targeted hot-side hop additions and a clean, attenuative fermentation” for “a brilliant, straw-hued West Coast IPA” with “an assertive, satisfying bitterness and a bone-dry finish.” Its beer page lists 7.0% ABV and 50 IBU.
• Fort George used “a distinct yeast strain and massive, bio-transformative dry-hop additions” for “a plush, pillowy-soft mouthfeel,” with “the bitter edge” rounded out “entirely.” Its product page calls it “a fiercely fruit-forward Hazy IPA.”

The brewers on the split

“We both beat to our own drums and find inspiration from each other,” said Josh Pfriem, pFriem’s co-founder and brewmaster, calling the project a chance to take shared raw materials “in two totally different directions.” He suggested tasting them side by side. “One’s hazy, the other is clear. One is the gateway to the Oregon Coast, while the other is the gateway to Mt. Hood,” said Brian Bovenizer, Fort George’s director of sales and marketing.

Release parties and rollout

After the tasting room launch, the beers roll out through October at select retailers and draft accounts in Oregon, Washington, Idaho and parts of Southern California. Release parties, per the announcement:

• Oct. 8: pFriem Milwaukie tasting room, 3-5 p.m., then 1847 Taproom, 5-7 p.m.
• Oct. 10: Fort George Brewpub pre-party, then Bridge and Tunnel at 5 p.m.
• Oct. 14: Queen Anne Beer Hall, Seattle, 5-8 p.m.

There’s also a weekend getaway giveaway: one winner picks two nights in Astoria with a $100 Fort George gift card, or two nights in Hood River with a $100 pFriem gift card. Entries close Dec. 1, 2026; no purchase necessary, 21+.