Full Sail Wreck the Halls

Aroma is like smelling a handful of fresh hops. Color is a very hazy orange with good carbonation and a thin head. Taste is super hoppy and mildly bitter. Starting with a full body it goes down smooth with a tiny fuzziness. Finish starts with a little malt sweet taste that is overtaken by a bold hoppy/citrus and mild bitterness. In the after taste the citrus peaks and the bitters lingers on. This is a fabulous IPA. Its well balanced, super hoppy and although there is a lot of citrus it never overpowers the brew. One of the IPA’s I have ever had.

Appearance: Pours a hazy amber body with a thin, wispy, white head. Smell: Aroma of pale and caramel malts along with some citrusy hops and grandma’s bowl of wrapped spiced candy. Taste: More pale malts, as the caramel seems to have gone absent and with only a subdued sweetness. Spicy throughout. Resinous, citrus hop flavor with a moderate bitterness. Hoppy, lingering finish. Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied. Medium carbonation. Drinkability: Looked nice and smelled good, but it kinda lost me on the flavor.

22 oz bottle, via glkaiser. Pours a slightly hazy copper body under a nice frothy beige head that had better retention than I’ve ever seen on a Full Sail beer. Sparce visible carbonation. Piney resiny hops greet the nose with some biscuity toasted malt behind. The flavor is fairly hoppy without being overkill on the bitterness, though the bitterness does have good staying power on the finish. The malt is toasty and biscuity with a slight tinge of caramel on the finish. Mouthfeel is medium bodied with some resiny stickiness that is from both the hops and the malt. Pretty nice carbonation level, not their usual fizzy prickly feel. Overall, this maybe wasn’t the most assertive IPA, but if you’re into balanced examples this is decent.

I was a bit disappointed by this one. I figured it would be more balanced, but instead, I got a faint stale hop flavor. Still worth trying as maybe my bottle was totally fresh.

Bomber from BevMO in Encenitas, CA. Clear red dark amber with off-white head. Bitter pin/citrus aroma, slight bubblegum, caramel. Sharp bitterness in flavor, caramel, pine, medium sweet, some spice, resiny, slight grain. Meidum to full body, well carbonated. Okay.

Reddish amber color with a medium head. Aroma has a piney, earthy hop quality to it that is pretty appetizing. Flavor is a pretty typical and rather tasty full sail "English style" hop dominant brew with lots of earthy and some piney hop qualities. Malt and spices come through as well. Nice IPA, but no knockout.

Draft pint at Humpy’s. Rusty red with quite the gluey head. The aroma is big and piney, but none of it prepped me for the thickly resinous strength of this full-flavored monster. The overpowering thing here is something akin to juniper and a stinging sappy-like bitterness. Wow. (#3293, 1/17/2008)

22 oz. bottle, 2007. Pours a hazy orange amber with red hue and off-white head. Aroma consists of citrus and floral hops. Hop aroma is a little light for this style. Medium mouthfeel with flavors of hop, pine, and some citrus. Dry, bitter finish. Interestingly subtle and subdued for an IPA, but drinkable and well-balanced.