Hoptrip day 3

On the third day of our Hop Trip we remained in Portland for a heavily anticipated collaboration with Breakside Brewery. For those not familiar with West Coast breweries, Breakside is a titan on the IPA scene. Their reputation draws lots of collab requests; they agree to about 10 a year. Lucky us. 

We were greeted at Breakside’s Slabtown location, which opened in 2019 as a hop lab to crank out super hoppy beers. We hooked up with Dylan Norby, Breakside’s R&D brewer. He grew up in hop country and paid his dues over the past decade to become an expert in his own right. Dylan knows how to brew great beers, but we quickly realize he also knows how to drink them as well.  

Dylan and Uiltje’s master brewer Paddi agreed the collaborative brew would be a West Coast IPA. That’s precisely what we wanted as West Coast IPAs are the style Breakside’s stellar reputation is largely built on. They brew about 150 brands of beer – with a core of 7-8 beers – but when it comes to West Coast IPAs they are probably the most awarded brewery in America.

The mechanics of a collaboration is no secret: two like-minded brewers come together and spend a day brewing beer, sipping beer, eating wings and sharing stories. It’s just a fun, casual event that, in this case, ended up at Breakside Brewery & Tasting Room in Milwaukie where one particular beer totally blew us away: their Fresh Hop IPA – Crystal (2025). Good lord! Two sips in we realized we had a contender for our favorite fresh hop beer of the trip. Alas no cans available to purchase and bring back home to wow our colleagues and friends. 

The Breakside x Uiltje collab beer doesn’t have a name yet but will launch late October/Early December in all three Breakside venues. Anyone who finds themselves in Portland around that time, have a sip and share your thoughts with us. 

Another day in fresh hop paradise. Tomorrow off to Yakima Valley for another important selection session.