Full Sail Wreck the Halls

@ Great Alaskan Barleywine Festival ’06. Good nose, flowery citrusy. Brownish orange color, good head and lacing. Bitter flavor. Citrusy, grapefruit/lemon, a little toffee in there, somewhere. Lite body, watery mouthfeel, bitter finish. Eh, nose was best part. Surprised to see the 6.5% ABV.

[Bottle] Good winter warmer brew. Pours a drak brown color with a thick molasses type finish in the pour. Like the aroma and the hops are sure present. Full Sail brewers must like hops. The balance was a tad off due to more hops but still a good winter beer. High in alochol so watch this beer when drinking, it can and will sneak up on you if your not careful.

22oz. bomber. Fairly clear copper color with a small beige head. Mild citrus hop aroma with some pine and toasted malts. Flavor is again mild, with an orange pith-like bitterness, countered by some sweet toasted malt. Easy drinking, enjoyable, but forgettable IPA.

Bottle

Pours a nice amber with a lasting head and clinging lace. Aroma is a bit of citrus with sour notes and just a bit of sweetness. Flavor is a sweet/sour hybrid of grapefruit, hops, and a touch of perfume in the finish. Palate is nice and slick. Not bad, but needs more assertion to live up to its claim of being a "ridiculously hoppy ale." Worth another try, definitely. Easy drinking.

Pours a deep, brilliantly clear, amber-tinged, copper color. It is topped by a frothy, three-finger thick, tan colored head. The aroma is redolent of hops; I get notes of pine, a bit of menthol and some definite notes of grapefruit. There is also some notes of something like plastic or wax, which is a bit too dominate of the finish.

The palate is a bit lighter than I was expecting; initially this is pretty nice though. The beer is not quite as hoppy as I was expecting either, it is nicely bitter throughout and notes of pine dominate the flavor profile. The pine is supported by orange-like notes of citrus. Interesting, this beer is just weak, which in an of itself is not necessarily bad, but there are not shining flavors and the beer seems to melt away to nothing. The beer is quite clean and I don’t notice any flavor flaws, but this beer is just plain lacking.

<font size=-4>Purchased via mail order: <a href=http://www.liquidsolutions.ws/main/>Liquid Solutions<font size=-1>

22-oz. bottle, 2005. Pours slightly cloudy dark copper with a small off-white frothy head, mostly diminishing. Fragrant floral pine hop aroma, medium roasted caramel malt. Heavily bitter, moderately acidic tart, citrus rind hop, resinous flavor, low sweetness and lingering bitterness. Medium bodied and fizzy, dry and spicy palate.

Draft. Amber/copper color with a small light beige head. Light fruity aroma. very light body and easy driniing. Fruity flavor with a bit of malt. Somewhat astringent. Blah.

13-Jan-06 (22 oz bottle: Obtained in trade with Larry Pitonka, thanks André!) 2005 Bottling. Trying it again this year to see if I like it any better. I don’t. Right off the bat, the sweetish, but grassy and hoppy nose isn’t especially appealing. Hops is very grassy tasting and bitter, but its brazen flavor is bordering on unpleasant for me, reminiscent of a poorly-made, bitter white wine that was fermented in stainless steel. Not much malt coming through, so the hops just dominates the flavor, which based on my opinion of the flavor of the hops is obviously an unfortunate development. Medium bodied, quite crisp on the palate, but also somewhat harsh. Only a little more than half an inch of off-white head caps this hazy, amber beer initially, but the haze disappears as the beer warms up. Plentiful carbonation rises with some haste toward the surface. Modest spotty lacing. This will be the last year I try this beer. I obviously just don’t care for the recipe, and it’s a struggle to continue drinking this beer after only finishing half the bottle. Too bad, such a great name is wasted on a mediocre and terribly unbalanced beer.

01-Feb-05 (22 oz bottle: Liquid Solutions in Tigard, OR) 2004 Bottling. So Wreck The Halls has to be one of the best beer names out there, and it makes you think the beer is not only outstanding, but possibly higher in alcohol. While this is a okay beer, the name is the best part. The flavor is mildly malty, fairly earthy and funky, moderately bitter, and minimally sweet. The funkiness seems so odd for this style beer, I have to think this isn’t a healthy bottle of beer. Nose is hoppy, with a mild sournesss. Bright amber in color. Off-white head pours to an average height, fades to a thin film and leaves some sporadic lace here and there. I look forward to retrying this beer in the future, and hopefully it will be better. (6, 3, 6, 3, 13 = 3.1)