Full Sail Wreck the Halls

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

Serve in Shaker, Tulip

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22 ounce bottle that poured a copper color with aromas f caramel, pine, and grapefruit. Flavor is the same, run of the mill IPA in my opinion, don’t know how this is a seasonal for Christmas time.

Poured into a tulip glass. Copper color with a half finger of head. Rich smell. Usual citrus: lemon and grapefruit; there’s another spicy note. Tastes malty and bitter, surprise! A heady brew, the malt (not sweet) and hops just tumble around. I like it but it’s confusing. Crisp texture, medium body, and moderate to high carbonation. "Wreck the Halls" fits. It’s a big, bold fun mess.

Strong floral hop flavor. Interesting sierra/brown color, nice creamy head. Somewhat citric, slight bitterness

Has a cloudy bronze color, hoppy aroma. Taste is piney hops up front, some citrus, a small amount of malt balance. Overall a pretty good beer.

Pours hazy and deep gold in colour with a thick frothy white head that laces the glass. Aroma of earthy and pine hops is there but subdued. Taste is smooth with only a very slight bitterness. The aftertaste that follows up is almost sweet.

Another disappointing beer from full sail. +++ Sampled from a 22 oz brown bottle this beer poured a dark caramel color with a trace tan head that faded quickly and left no lacing. The aroma was a bit skunky with sweetish caramel. The flavor was bitter and tangy with notes of citrus, pine and a hint of skunk. Medium length dryish finish with lingering caramel and floral hops. Medium body. Eh.

THOUGHTS: Rather British even with the American hops. Not very Christmasy and not very special. Decent, but not great. Nice balance though. It did get better as it warmed a bit and grew on me a little, but I still don’t think it was very special. Lots of hop flavor without tons of bitterness. TECHNICAL: Bottle. Poured a dark, orangey amber with a small, off-white head that mostly diminished and left good lacing. The aroma was a little weak for all the dry hoping. There was light grain, toasted malt and caramel; moderate grapefruit and orange hops; lighter pine and resin hops; hints of musty yeast; and tea. The initial flavor was light to mod sweet and lightly bitter; while the finish was moderately sweet and mot to heavily bitter with a fairly long duration. There was caramel malt, pale malt, a little nutty and toasted malts, heavy citrus hops, citrus rind, orange, grapefruit, a little lemon, some pine and resin hops, metallic hops and hints of musty yeast. The medium body was rather dry with fizzy carbonation and a metallic and dry finish.

My Bottom Line :
Orange-y, citrusy hops float within bready, lightly caramelized cereals in this effervescent IPA.

Further Personal Perceptions :
-A healthy head of foam laces atop the hazy amber.
-Hops provide a nicely earthy and resinous bitter finish; lengthy but not brash.
-The mouthfeel is made supple by the active carbonation and the soft residual sugars.
-I don’t see what the hybridization is all about here. It tastes like yet another run-of-the-mill (but good) American IPA. No distinctive features.

Bottle.

Bottle. Pours a hazy orangish brown with light white head that leaves nice lacing. Aroma of piny hops and sweet malts. Flavor is powered by grapefruit hops and a some malts. Sweet at first, but with a bitter aftertaste. I like it, but just a bit too bitter for me.

Refreshing aroma, bready, hops, fruit. One dimensional in the mouth, just straight hops, tastes like a generic IPA to me, lacks any holiday element; disappointing.