Collab Breakside

Breakside is one of America’s most acclaimed brewers of West Coast IPAs. With a loyal local following and a trophy case full of awards to prove it, their hop-forward beers—such as Breakside IPA, Wanderlust IPA, and Rainbows & Unicorns—are almost legendary. So when a small team from Haarlem arrived in Portland one autumn morning, we knew exactly what we were there to brew: a true West Coast IPA. 

Breakside’s Slabtown brewery is the very embodiment of revitalized industrial gentrification. It’s still gritty enough to uncover hidden gems, but with amazing coffee on nearly every corner. Well-caffeinated, we met Breakside’s Head R&D Brewer Dylan Norby at 8 a.m. and immediately got to work.

Every year, Breakside hosts an international brewer for a collaboration, typically arranged by nearby hop grower and merchant Crosby Hops. Past guests have included Wicklow Wolf, Fauve, and Hoppy Road. This year, Uiltje the honor of a collaborative brew. 

“It’s fun to meet new brewers, especially those from other countries,” Dylan says. “It’s good for our relationships; it keeps things fresh—especially with breweries we get along with.”

Raised in Oregon’s hop country, Dylan worked five harvests before ever setting foot in a brewhouse. After just two batches of his own homebrew, he was hooked. “I knew what I wanted to do and contacted 75 breweries in Portland alone,” he recalls. “Only three replied. The first said, ‘Call back in nine months if you want to work hard for no money.’ The second offered me a delivery job. The third was Breakside—but I had to wait a year until they had an opening.” 

He started out in the Breakside warehouse, loading trucks and making deliveries. Today, he oversees the brewery’s Slabtown Hoplab, working under the guidance of Ben Edmunds: Breakside’s founding brewer, current Brewmaster, and an industry legend in his own right. While Breakside’s nearby Milwaukie facility produces roughly 95% of its 30,000 annual barrels, Slabtown was designed to churn out super-hoppy beers. It’s no coincidence that the Breakside x Uiltje is a West Coast IPA.

“Breakside is one of the world leaders in West Coast IPAs. At the last World Beer Cup, they won six awards, four of which were for their IPAs. So there’s a lot for us to learn here,” says UiltjePaddi Parupudi, Master of Craft. “They’re leading the way through innovation—their dry hopping, their yeasts—and they take a very scientific approach to their methods. Moreover, quite a few people on their team are judges at the Great American Beer Festival. Then there is Ben, one of the most respected brewers in America.”

The Breakside x Uiltje is a day-long event, but much of that time is spent chatting and observing. 

“It’s one thing to compare a recipe over the phone, quite another to watch someone make it,” Paddi says. “You take a lot of things for granted, but when you really observe another brewer’s systems, it makes all the difference. Only then do you truly understand how things are done.”

In addition to its close relationships with local Oregon hop suppliers such as Crosby and Indie Hops, Breakside is one of some fifty craft beer members of the Hop Quality Group, a nonprofit founded in 2011 to advocate for hop quality across the craft brewing industry.

“We really benefit from our close proximity to the many growers in the region,” Dylan says. “Visiting farms just once a year isn’t always the best way to evaluate new hops. You’re just smelling what’s drying at that moment. But being local means we can visit multiple times throughout the season. If they have something incredible, they’ll share it with their friends—who tend to be local breweries.”

Throughout the day, we balanced technical discussions and debates with beer tastings and casual chats about Portland and the West Coast craft beer scene. We did this while sitting inside the Slabtown brewery, which has become a cornerstone of the local community since it opened in 2019. In addition to beer, Slabtown hosts yoga festivals, LGBTQ+ events, and paint-and-sip nights. It’s also located along the Portland Marathon route.

“We’ve established ourselves as a go-to spot for IPA,” says Carter Pelly, a 23-year-old member of the Breakside team. “People know our beer, which gives us the freedom to engage with the community in more meaningful ways.”

This initiative is crucial in a city where the craft beer scene is evolving. 

“Ten years ago, a new brewery opened every other day,” Dylan says. “Now, more are closing than opening. The new openings are mostly expansions—existing breweries adding locations.” 

Despite the turbulence, Breakside has remained stable over the past three years, thanks largely to the breadth of its brands. “To people outside Breakside, we’re best known for our hoppy beers. But internally, we pride ourselves on variety. We’ve always made our name by brewing unique brands—over 150, each with its own unique recipe.”

The Breakside x Uiltje Coast IPA will be on tap at Breakside’s three locations—Portland, Beaverton, and Milwaukie—starting in late October. Unfortunately, Uiltje at home looking to try this incredible IPA will have to make the trip to the West Coast. However, we’ll be applying a few tips and tricks we learned from Breakside at our own brewery this year—which is exactly how a quality collaboration should be.