Full Sail Grandsun of Spot IPA

Close your eyes, think about a good, solid IPA… the golden amber color, the hoppy, floral nose, the bitter hop body balanced with moderate malt flavor, the moderately complex finish with hints of citrus… Now open your eyes… you couldn’t read any of that since your eyes were closed, but if you could, you would have a mental drink of this fine brew.  Part of the Brewmaster Reserve, Grandsun of Spot was part of the summer “sun” series at the brewery and was a might tasty brew for the style.

JBB6 Rating: Will Buy Again

Full Sail Keelhauler

Nailed this one (Full Sail Keelhauler – part of the Brewmaster Reserve) and liked it… also met one of the employee-owners the other day at Sockeye’s and had a quick chat.  Seemed really passionate about what he does and the company in general, so it was a great conversation.  Didn’t get a card or anything, though, so can’t remember his name but he was in charge of distribution for the area, I believe… whoever you are out there, cheers! 

This brew was available for a limited time from March-ish to June-ish.  Glad I picked one up.  The brew pours a dark amber with a nice head… nose is sweet caramel leding to a very scottish ale… overall very smooth, low IBU at 45 but ABV is nice at 6.8%.  Great balance of malt and hop with a slightly bitter finish… a bit like sweet and sour mixer… not that pronounced, though.  Overall very nice!

BTW… good definition of Keelhauler here.

JBB6 Rating: Will Buy Again

Full Sail Session Black

Brought to you from the folks at Full Sail in commemoration of their 10th anniversary as an employee-owned brewery, Full Sail Session Blackfollows in the footsteps of the original Session Lager (which we actually don’t have on the blog yet).  This time around, they were going for more of a dark malt/chocolate spin, but keeping it light and easy to drink (Session… duh…) in lager style.

I have to say… I brought this one out to the ’sac last night and received a ration of shit from around the fire.  “Drinking some cough medicine, Dug?”  “You need a nipple for your little baby bottle?”  and so on and so forth… at the end of it, I didn’t really care, though, because I would be proud to call this little bottle ‘mine’ any day.

As far as the taste goes, this really is a pretty solid little dark lager.  Not much of a head to go on, but nice lite aroma on the nose and dark, dark amber coloring as you hold it up to the light… almost like root beer (but don’t let the kids try it).  The body is light and easy to drink… roasted coffee and dark chocolate are evident… I can’t catch the citrus that is supposed to be there, but I will take their word for it.  Decent carbonation and the finish is well balanced. 

Overall a solid little brew that may get you made fun of a little but will be worth it in the end.

JBB6 Rating: Will Buy Again

Full Sail Black Gold Imperial Stout

Full Sail Black Gold Imperial Stout… this is one of the brews i actually ordered from http://www.liquidgratitude.com/, along with my Mirror Mirror… felt like cracking a new bottle tonight, so here you go…

Tasted with Mr. Dave, this one comes at you with a pretty nice nose… possibly the most distiguished feature of the brew… vanilla and oak just as the bottle notes. you can smell the bourbon bottle aging, which is very nice. At first taste, I think this is going to be one for the record books… but it loses its ‘wow’ fast and by the time i was half way through the glass, it had lost a lot of its pizzaz. Still a really nice beer but for the price, I expected it to last a bit longer.

JBB6 Rating: Middle of the Road

P.S. I am so ashamed… I accidentally deleted my pics of this one… so sad.  You get the standard pic instead…

Full Sail LTD 02

Full Sail’s LTD Lager comes to us this year with Recipe 02… ooohhh… recipe 02… anyhow… not a bad little ditty, but not something I will be seeking out again. Only reason to buy is if they change the recipe… see if I like it then. Definitely not as bad as some of the American Macro lagers, but not something I really enjoyed either. Color is orange, head is short, body is lager for sure but they were able to smooth out the end of the body and into the finish so it doesn’t tasty skunky or bitter… as much… still there, though.

JBB6 Rating: Middle of the Road

Full Sail Imperial Porter

Full Sail Imperial Porter, part of the Brewmaster Reserve, came top me the other night thanks to the one and only Mr. Dave.  This 7.5% ABV porter has a dark smell with hints of coffee and chocolate on the nose, a dark malty body, and a bitter finish.  Overall a good little porter that supposedly only has limited availability… I will give mine to you next year, dear reader, as this one didn’t do anything special for me.

JBB6 Rating: Middle of the Road

Full Sail Barley Wine

Full Sail Old Boardhead Barlywine Ale pours a dark amber color with a small head…. slight nose, mild for a barley wine, tart… good on the hops… that is about it.  Prett average for a barley wine.

JBB6 Rating: Middle of the Road

 

Full Sail Slipknot Imperial IPA

A long day equals the perfect environment for beer… on the docket for tonight was Full Sail Slipknot Imperial IPA.  This is truly an Imperial IPA through and through.  It smells hoppy, tastes hoppy, and finishes hoppy…  in its most simple form, this is a classic Imperial IPA that won’t dissapoint. 

JBB6 Rating: Will Buy Again

Full Sail Doppelbock

From the small town of Hood River, Oregon (pop 6700) comes Full Sail Brewing Company.  These folks have a good thing going and so far have done so/so on the blog… but not for lack of trying and I garauntee it is better in person and on tap, but still, Full Sail Doppelbock came to us as their gift for their 21st anniversary… special website and all.   It is our duty to be honest and just in our tasting, but they definitely get an A for effort.

This particular doppelbock comes light in amber color with a bit of a light, creamy head.  The first thing you will likely note is the sweet, sweet smell and sweet, sweet body… you definitely get the malt, but along with that is an interestingly sour finish that doesn’t quite sit right… other than those, though, the beer comes through in offering a decent rendition of a bock… probably won’t buy it again, though.

JBB6 Rating: Middle of the Road

Full Sail Prodigal Sun IPA

On a fine fall day in the not so distant past, I thought to open a bottle that glowed like the beautiful leaves on the trees around me… Full Sail Prodigal Sun IPA.  Part of their Brewmaster’s Reserve, I found this at Top Food about a month ago and have been waiting for the right time to open it up.

Their promotional material notes the following:

PRODIGAL SUN IPA

Available June to September. An aggressive IPA packed with a strong hop flavor and bitterness and a solid malt character. A pleasure to drink for hop lovers. Watch out for solar flares! Available in 22oz Bottles and Draught. ABV 6.2 % IBUs: 80

And my experience with it:

PRODIGAL SUN IPA

A particularly heady beer, it pours a festive color and shows you how excited it is about the season with its 2 inches of head.  The first smell brings you the obvious hops of an IPA… come to think of it, this beer proves that it is all IPA… not substitution.  Overall, the nose is clean, crisp, and a bit fruity.  This beer also tells you how excited it is with its taste.  Bitter hops assault you mouth in the beginning third of the drink, mellow out a bit through the middle, and then leave you right back with a bitter finale and finish.  It is one of those that gets you right on the roof of the mouth, which is interesting and a bit unique.

Through its excited nature, though, comes a beer that is a bit premature in everything it does… including the overall experience.  I was in love with this beer for about 2 minutes and 1/4 of the bottle and then it went flacid.  Middle of the Road for you, Prodigal Sun… catch you on the flip side.

JBB6 Rating: Middle of the Road