Full Sail Wreck the Halls

Brewed by Full Sail Brewing Company
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Hood River, Oregon USA

Bright middle of the road amber colour. A bit of apricot and hints of leafy hops alongside slightly toasty malts in the aroma. There’s a surprisingly bold mint note as well. The palate is certainly hoppier than the aroma hinted, with moderate bitterness and earthy, foresty accents (and lots of mint, still). Balancing malts have a slightly toasty accent. Alcohol comes in late, with a dull thud rather than hot or peppery, which I might have enjoyed. OK, so it’s not a masterpiece, but it’s a competent hoppy ale that is aimed squarely at Full Sail’s existing audience.

Thick amber haze, thin head. Spicy hop, caramel, butter and a hint of cherry in the aroma. Decent enough hop flavor balanced by some toasty malt and bitterness. Has some astringency. A bit thin in body. Gets more interesting as it warms, with some apple and oak notes.

2004 Bottle courtesy of Wohlfs. Pours dark copper with nice white head that fades to film. The hops have died out in this, which isn’t too bad, as this is starting to take on BW character. Big sweet caramel malt aroma, with a little citrus in background. Sort of reminds me of Bigfoot in a way. Flavor has a little more citrus hop left in it, but very well balanced at this point. This is the second "aged" IPA, I’ve had like this and really enjoy them.

I bought this beer on a whim. Opened and sniffed the newly opened beer to gauge its aroma. Very floral in smell, Not sure what hops they used but it wasnt the typical citrusy, grassy hops. Poured it into my glass and saw a beautiful copperish/strawish beer with a thin white head. I smelled it again to make sure the bottle wasnt washed in flowers, nope! Its still floral. I closed my eyes and sipped slowly. Beautifully done, the floral aroma comes across great in the flavor. Only downfall was the malts seemed to be lacking.

A lighty amber beer with a small white head. The aroma is lovely hoppy. The flavor is sweet and very hoppy but also with notes of alcohol, grass, and oil, leading to a dry finish.

2004 - 22 oz bottle. Pours a hazy copper-orange with a medium sized fine off-white (almost orangey) head that recedes to a thin skimming that leaves some nice lacing. The second pour has a lot of cloudy yeast sediment.

Its aroma is spicy, piney hops and some musty leather. Some fruitiness (orange) comes out as well.

The flavor is crisp spicy, fruity (orange) malts leading to a musty reserved hop finish. As the beer warms, a lot more hop bitterness appears. There is a kind of acidic medicinal twang to it. The mouthfeel is thin to medium. The carbonation seems a bit low. The mouthfeel has a kind of sharp harshness (maybe from the acidity/medicnal qualities).

Overall, a mediocre IPA - it is not offensive, but nothing special either. A bit too sweet and fruity for me - the orange kind of pervades throughout. The musty yeast is a bit much as well.

Although I did like this, I was expecting more from Full Sail. Nice amber color under a frothy off-white head. The aroma was pleasant grapefruit/hops mingled with pine, dried fruit, sweet caramel malt. Full bodied, creamy feel in the mouth. The flavor was a nice blend of citrus/hops, Christmas fruit cake. Sort of.

Intriguing hop pine aroma, very christmasy, a big sweet malt first taste, with a slight hop bitterness in the aftertaste. Taste gets a little uneven and thin as it goes along. Hops take over with a touch of sourness, started better then it finished