Session

Full Sail Brewing Co.
Hood River, OR

Founded in 1987, for ten years Full Sail has been owned entirely by its 47 employees. This new year-round beer evokes the American lagers of the pre-Prohibition era.

ABV: 5.1
ABW: 4.1
Color: 4.65
Bitterness: 18
Original gravity: 1046

The 11 ounce bottle is what Australians would call a “stubby” and the beer has much in common with mainstream lagers Down Under. It has a pale straw color with a pronounced sweet corn aroma and only the faintest hint of hops. The bittersweet palate is driven by the continuing corn character, but the finish is drier than the palate with light hops balancing the rich malt. To Brits, a session beer means a low strength one, a refresher without a great deal of character. At 5.1 per cent volume, this beer packs more of a punch but is still shy on flavor.
- Roger Protz

Pure yellow on the pour, the aroma is rather neutral but I pick up some herbal, hay-like hop notes and the naked graininess of two-row malt. I expected some corn or cereal character, but found none. It is medium-light in the body, with a bit of residual malt and sweetness in the flavor. Hopwise, it is along the lines of a Munich helles perhaps, without the distinct noble character. Crisp in the finish and thirst-quenching, this beer would serve as a wonderful non-adjunct “lawnmower” or summer session beer. Nothing at all wrong with that, as that niche is wholly bereft of micros. A fresh roasted cob of corn slathered in butter would be perfect with this brew.
- K. Florian Klemp

Roger Protz
Roger Protz is the author of Complete Guide to World Beer and 300 Beers to Try Before You Die. He is a respected beer authority and editor of the CAMRA Good Beer Guide.

K. Florian Klemp
K. Florian Klemp is an award-winning homebrewer and general hobbyist who thinks there is no more sublime marriage than that of art and science.

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