Breakside and Wayfinder Brewing Made a Hopped-Up Hefeweizen

It’s as close as a glass of beer gets to a joke or a magic trick—but it's a damn good one.

By Matthew Korfhage

Definitely Not—the new collab from Breakside and forever-forthcoming brewery Wayfinder—is definitely not an East Coast IPA, even though it has that same yeasty and fruity hop character, and that same silky viscosity.

Related: Breakside is One of Portland's Most Prolific Breweries

Breakside brewer Ben Edmunds has been steadfast in his light mockery of Vermont haze, but the beer is definitely not a West Coast IPA either. Hell, it's not even an IPA.

Related: We Drank Every IPA in Portland. These Are the Best.

It's a hopped-up hefeweizen that Breakside brewer Ben Edmunds says is what he imagined the Widmers might brew if they'd invented their American-style hefe now instead of in 1984. Hopfenweizen, maybe? Either way, it's heavy on that fruity haze and light on the heavy wheat, so you actually have to be told what it's "definitely not." Really it's as close as a glass of beer gets to a joke or a magic trick. But if it's a joke, it's a damn good one. Recommended.

Willamette Week

Willamette Week’s reporting has concrete impacts that change laws, force action from civic leaders, and drive compromised politicians from public office. Support WW's journalism today.