Full Sail LTD 05

This is the next in the LTD lager series from Full Sail. It’s an Amber Lager brewed with Pale, Chocolate, and Caramel malts with Czech Saaz hops.

Stats:
Amber Lager. 5.6% ABV. 28 IBUs. Oregon.

Nice dark amber to copper in color with a nice fluffy head in this pils glass.

Lots of caramel malts with just a hint of chocolate malt on the nose. Nice little hop spice component.

Light body with high carbonation, but what else were you expecting?

Hint of chocolate, caramel, raisins, all wrapped up in this nice spice component. Grainy finish with a hint of vanilla.

This is nothing but a solid brew. I’ve loved this series of lagers and here’s another good one. Buy it. 88 points.

Full Sail Amber

One of the last beers that I havn’t reviewed from Full Sail is their flagship Amber ale. I’ve had this beer many times, and as someone who isn’t a huge amber fan, I keep going back to it. It’s also been around awhile; according to their website it’s the first bottled craft beer. This brew features Pale, Crystal, and Chocolate malt with Mt. Hood and Cascades.

Stats:
Amber Ale. 5.5% ABV. 31 IBUs. Oregon.

Dark caramel brown with a very loose head that fades quickly.

Lots of sweetness and caramel on the nose with a little bit of vanilla and honey and just a hint of black pepper and tobacco.

Mouthfeel is a pretty light on the body with medium high carbonation.

Lots of caramel sweetness with brown sugar and raisins. Hint of plums carries to a slight tobacco and pepper mid-palate and then to a vanilla and grain finish.

I think this is a classic of the style. It’s a fairly light brew, but has a ton of flavor and surprising complexity. Definitely a buy. 90 points.

Full Sail Phil’s Existential Alt

This is the second in the new Brewer’s Share series from Full Sail. The cool thing about this series is that a portion of the proceeds go to the Brewers charity of choice. In this case, it’s the Friends of the Children charity in Portland. This alt features a “generous amount of Munich and Vienna malts” with some kind of German Noble hops. It’s also been lagered for 6 weeks.

Stats:
Altbier. 5.1% ABV. 43 IBUs. Oregon. Limited Release.

This is just a beautiful looking beer. It’s got this nice dark caramelized color with a fluffy off white head.

Caramel and vanilla on the nose. Just a hint of plums and blueberries.

Mouthfeel is a bit of a surprise. It’s actually quite full bodied, as I was expecting a light and carbonated body.

Caramel, vanilla, custard, and roasted plums on the palate. The finish is fairly grainy with a lovely length and a nice hop bitterness to balance out.

Well, this is just a fantastic beer, especially on this rainy afternoon. It’s got a great price point, supports a good cause, and tastes damn good. Buy it. 91 points

Full Sail LTD 04

I’ve been loving these LTD lagers from Full Sail. The 04 is a single malt, Pale, and one hop, Willamette. You might think this is going to be really light, but it packs enough malt to give it a 7% ABV.

Stats:
American Pale Lager. 7.0% ABV. 45 IBUs. Oregon. Rotating Release.

Golden color with a pillow-y head.

Buscuity malt with a heavy black pepper spice. Actually, it’s almost a bit like a chili pepper with a honey component.

Mouthfeel has a medium-low body with a fairly heavy carbonation level.

Spicey hops and biscuit malts with that slight honey flavor. It keeps it’s flavor throughout, and has a surprisingly high bitterness.

It’s a solid lager, but I find that it’s a bit too bitter for my liking. 86 points

Full Sail Extra Special Barney

Here’s a new Full Sail for me. This is one of their Brewer’s Share releases, which seems to be a new special release series from them. Not only do these beers showcase the brewers there, but some of the proceeds from sales go to an organization of the brewers choice. This ESB is made with 5 malts and all Challenger hops and supports the Columbia Gorge Arts in Education.

Stats:
Extra Special Bitter. 6.5% ABV. 35 IBUs. Oregon. Limited Release.

Nice reddish caramel color. Head fades pretty quickly leaving on a trace of white foam.

The nose has quite a bit of biscuit and caramel with a lemon zest play.

Mouthfeel is actually medium to full bodied which I love, but still has a prickly carbonation to give it some drinkability.

Caramel and lemon zest up front, which actually turns into a fairly fruity mid-palate with citrus and stone fruits coming through, then transitions to a grainy finish.

I like and dislike this beer. I do think it’s a good brew, but there’s something about it that I kind of hate. It’s hard to put my finger on that, but it’s just a personal taste kind of thing. 88 points.

Beer Club 02/18/12 American Pale Ales

February gave us a chance to try something that wasn’t just a seasonal. After the Winter seasonals and the stout tastings, I wanted to try something on the lighter side of things. The American Pale Ale is arguably the most important American craft beer other than the IPA. These beers are a nice way to show what American brewing is often about, without getting too hoppy. Besides, I love these beers because they are sessionable and go great with so many types of food.

We started with one of my favorite beers to come out last year, 21st Amendments Bitter American. It’s a 4.4% session beer that packs a great flavor punch. This beer was generally liked, but fell a bit flat compared to the bigger beers that we drank after this.

We moved on to one of my favorite party beers. The plain old Full Sail Pale. There’s nothing amazing about this beer, but it’s more than solid beer at a great price point.

Deschutes Mirror Pond is a classic. This was definitely on the malty side compared to the other pales. I think this was pretty well liked because of that, but I personally prefer on the hoppy side.

Of course, the most classic of them all is the Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. This might have been the least favorite of all the beers we had. I was really surprised by this, especially since this was actually MY favorite of the bunch. It’s got this amazing citrus hop flavor that didn’t resonate with the other palates.

Oskar Blues Dale’s Pale Ale was next and quickly became the favorite of the night. This was the biggest beer at 6.5% and was definitely on the malty side. Go figure, this was MY least favorite of the bunch, but people really loved that grainy malt flavor.

We finished the night with another Deschutes beer, this time the Red Chair NWPA. I put this last because I figured this would be the hoppiest of the beers. And it was, in terms of hop flavor, but actually had a very mild bitterness. Because of that, people actually enjoyed this one quite a bit. I did notice a hint of diacetyl, that I don’t recall before, but the tasting would probably make that more noticeable.

Full Sail Hop Pursuit 2011

I’ve actually reviewed last years Hop Pursuit, and didn’t turn out to be a big fan. I’m usually hit or miss on these Full Sail beers, but you gotta love the price. This pale features Cascade, Willamette, and Mt. Hood hops and it’s dry-hopped for 2 weeks.

Stats:
American Pale Ale. 6.0% ABV. 55 IBUs. Oregon. Available March-June.

Orange color with quite a bit of sediment.

Very citrusy nose. Wow, this smells like a mixture of orange juice and lemonade. But I don’t wanna give the impression that it’s over the top fake or anything. It’s just this lovely citrus hop aroma with a nice malty background.

Mouthfeel is pretty nice actually. Prefect for a pale. Nice medium body and medium carbonation.

Again, you get a heavy citrus hop note. Very little pine, and it transitions to a more grainy flavor near the end of the palate. Nice length, with a little bit of bitterness, but much less than the name would suggest.

I’m loving this beer. It’s a delicious pale with a beautiful hop presence. Kudos to Full Sail on this one. 88 points.

Full Sail IPA

Full Sail makes 3 year-round beers, not including the Session’s. That’s the Pale, IPA, and an Amber. Turns out I’ve only reviewed the pale, so expect a review of the amber soon after this. I’m a big fan of Full Sail. It’s not that I think they make amazing beer, but what they do make is cheap and very solid stuff. And any brewery that wants to specialize is craft lagers is a winner in my book. This is an IPA, however. There’s so many IPA’s in this area of the country, so it’s difficult to find one that’s outstanding. RateBeer says this beer is brewed with 2-row pale and hopped with Challenger and East Kent Goldings.

Stats:
American India Pale Ale. 6.0% ABV. 60 IBUs. Oregon.

Golden yellow color. It keeps a head and little bit of lacing.

Definitely an IPA on the nose. The hops here bring a heavy citrus play with a bit of a floral component. But the citrus really shines, and it’s almost tart-like.

Mouthfeel is a light-medium body. It’s got a nice crispness without being too light or heavy.

Again, you get a heavy dose of citrus. You get a grapefruit flavor often in IPAs, but this is almost exactly like grapefruit juice. There are also hints of lime and orange peel, and it actually is slightly tart. The citrus gives way slightly to some malts, but as soon as that happens you get the bitterness of the hops, which are pretty well balanced.

This is a nice, easy-going, sessionable IPA. Actually, it’s 6% so it’s as sessionable as most IPA’s get, if you can still consider it sessionable. Good choice for a BBQ this Summer. 88 points.

Full Sail Session Black

Full sail makes 2 “Session” beers. The first one is a light lager that I reviewed awhile ago, and actually like quite a bit. This is their other one, a black lager. I love the 11oz stubby bottles, and they only come in 12 packs perfect for a party.

Stats:
Schwarzbier. 5.4% ABV. 18 IBUs. Oregon.

Dark brown with some red coming through. Not a lot of head, just a bit around the sides.

The nose is mainly dark malts. It’s a bit sweet with caramel and vanilla, a slight cracker component and I get this kind of chocolate covered jelly type of thing, like the candy.

Mouthfeel is light and pretty highly carbonated.

Dark malts on the front with a hint of caramel, vanilla, bread, and chocolate. The flavor dies a lot as it transitions from the front end to the back. A little bit cracker and grape come through on the finish.

Light flavor, but non-offense, and highly drinkable. Not a bad choice for the type of situation that it’s designed for, a session with friends. Though, I do prefer the regular session to this one. 81 points.

Full Sail Bump In The Night Reserve ’11

This beer is a Cascadian Dark Ale, which has now been named an American Black Ale by the powers that be. I personally preferred Black IPA. Yes, I know it says black and pale, but it makes sense. Anyways, it’s essentially and IPA with darker malts in it. I’ve had a few of these American Black Ales now, so let’s see if this can compare.

Stats:
American Black Ale. 6.5% ABV. 65 IBUs. Oregon. Available January-Mid-March

On the lighter side for what I’ve had in the style so far. Head doesn’t last.

Well, the nose kinda smells like a garbage can. It has some very funky, earthy, vegetal tones that aren’t doing much for me. Lots of hops.

Mouthfeel is okay, on the lighter, crisper side.

Lots of floral, vegetal, earthy, mushroomy, and some pine from the hops. Not getting much malt as the hops dominate, but it might come in a little at the end. Very bitter finish probably from the hops mostly, but could also be some from the malts, although the malts seem to not be as dark.

Full sail has some work to do with this one. This style should be about the balance between the hops and the malt, but the hops dominate here. I think they might want to reconsider the hops for this guy. 82 points.