“Wayfinder is a lager-centric brewery, with half of its beers being clean lagers and half hoppy IPAs,” says Kevin Davey, brewmaster at Wayfinder in Portland, Oregon. “It seemed like a good time to make something that was a fusion of the two: clean and refreshing but hop-fresh with a quick turnaround. Drier, crisper, more drinkable—wester than West Coast.
“On paper, Relapse is aggressively hopped with some classic C-hops,” Davey says. “The grist is more like an American malt liquor: pilsner and rice. When choosing a clean yeast, we considered Chico—but that would have stuck a third strain in our profile and given me a ton of headaches. Plus, everyone makes West Coasts with Chico. So, we decided to use our house lager strain but ferment warm, at 65°F [18°C].”
