Christian Krogstad moved to Portland in 1991 with a singular mission: to make beer. After years in craft brewing, he caught the whiskey bug when a brewery owner distilled his washes into something entirely different. In 2004, Krogstad and Thomas Mooney launched Westward, betting that the Pacific Northwest's brewing culture and ingredient sources could birth a new American whiskey tradition. They weren't making bourbon or rye—they were building something else: American Single Malt, inspired by the craft beer revolution happening in their backyard. What makes Westward radical is the *process*. They brew like a pale ale (using craft ale yeast, the kind you find in hoppy IPAs), distill like a Scottish distillery (two pot stills, copper reflux), and age like a bourbon maker. That fusion of beer-making precision and distillery craft creates something distinctly Northwest: fruity, complex, surprisingly approachable. Every ingredient is local—malted barley from Oregon and Washington, water from the Willamette Valley. In 2016, French spirits giant Rémy Cointreau took a significant stake, giving Westward resources while keeping the operation rooted in Portland's SE Distillery Row. Today, Westward stands as one of the Pacific Northwest's defining whiskey voices. The founders co-created the American Single Malt Whiskey Commission to establish this emerging category as a legitimate American whiskey style—a legacy that punches above the distillery's physical size.
- Ale yeast, not distiller's yeast:: Most whiskey makers use distiller's yeast; Westward ferments with ale yeast. That choice drives the fruity, complex character that sets them apart.
- Co-founders of the American Single Malt movement:: Krogstad and Mooney helped define the legal category itself—if you drink an American Single Malt today, you're drinking something Westward helped create.
- 2020 Gold medals:: Both the Original and Stout Cask expressions won gold at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition in April 2020.
- Distillery Row royalty:: Located smack on Portland's legendary SE Washington corridor, alongside Bull Run and other craft makers.
- Oregon malts only:: 100% malted barley, sourced from the Pacific Northwest—no sourcing from elsewhere.