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Breakout Brewer: Wayfinder

Behind the alluring façade of what appears to be a pious cathedral of traditional lager, discover the dogma-busting heresies of Wayfinder Beer in Portland, Oregon.

Joe Stange Oct 26, 2020 - 13 min read

Breakout Brewer: Wayfinder Primary Image

Wayfinder Brewmaster Kevin Davey. Photo: James Rexroad

Their house yeast is a lager strain. The decoction kettle gets plenty of use. Kräusening and spunding here are routine matters. The walk-in is well stocked in Saaz, Hallertauer, and Tettnanger. They are beloved by local lagerheads for their Bavarian-style helles and Czech-style pils, poured with panache and gorgeous creamy foam from Czech side-pull faucets.

Yep, all the trappings are there—it must be a reverent house of traditional lager orthodoxy.

Get past that façade, though—then behind the curtain—and you’ll find that the narrative takes some turns. One of those side-pulls is pouring a hazy IPA. That decoction kettle is being used for something called “cold IPA”—with the grist of an American malt liquor, it’ll be dosed with lager yeast and later kräusened by a fresh batch of pils or helles wort.

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