Frosty Goodness

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  Frosty 10:24 am on March 13, 2010 Permalink | Reply  

  Holy Bourbon Batman! Full Sail Top Sail Porter 

  I’ve had a few bourbon barrel beers in my time. Usually, the brewer has the courtesy to pour out the bourbon before making the beer in it. That doesn’t appear to be the case here, cause one sip of this and you’ll be “WOW, Bourbon!”. Whether that produces a smile or a cringe is up to your particular tastes. For me, it was an instant ‘alcohol shiver’. This bourbon flavor in this stuff is strong. Real strong.

  Now don’t get the wrong impression here. I’m not saying its bad, because it certainly isn’t. I had two bottles of the stuff myself. This may even be the beer that you can get your “I only drink real alcohol” snob buddies to drink. I just wanted to make sure and give you all a heads up about what to expect, and to give you an idea of how much your breath will smell like a boozy hobo when you’re done. Salud!

   

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  skylark 9:45 pm on September 2, 2009 Permalink | Reply  

  Anniversary Beer: Full Sail Grand Son of Spot Cask Conditioned IPA +More 

  Tonight is my 14th wedding anniversary. Is it saying something that I am blogging about beer at 10PM? Maybe. But maybe I have just had such an incredible evening so far that it is perfectly fine for my wife and I to sit on the couch with our Macs in our laps and browse the web. I’m hoping the latter is true because if it is isn’t I am missing something BIG.

  

  The view from our table at Harborside

  Amy and I headed down to Harborside’s McKormick & Schmick’s. The city was unbelievable and the weather was spectacular. We each had the Dungeoness Crab Stuffed Alaskan Salmon with Brie. To drink, I had a Harborside exclusive Full Sail Grand Son of Spot Cask Conditioned IPA. Perfect with the salmon an amazing evening. Just the right amount of hoppiness , a complex first sip and a crisp finish.

  I mixed it up with a Fish Tail Organic Cask Conditioned IPA (kind of a theme here). The waitress seemed to give me a “he’s not going to like this” look  when I ordered it. After the first sip I knew why. It was probably a good IPA, but not after the Full Sail. Somehow it just didn’t measure up. Maybe the lack of fertilizer or genetic engineering in the hops? Whatever it was, it just seemed to fall flat. The waitress must have read my mind, or seen the same thing before, because she asked me what I thought and immediately offered to take it back and exchange it for another Grand Son. I gratefully accepted the offer.

  A little New York Cheesecake with raspberry and a nice stroll on the boardwalk finished things off… well, the night is still young.

   
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  Frosty 10:30 pm on July 15, 2009 Permalink | Reply  

  July Rundown: Ninkasi Summer, Session Black, McGowen Wit 

  Sorry for the delay all. I was busy getting bitten by mosquitos (some call it camping), and not drinking beer. Then when I decided to drink again, I had a fridge full of Haymaker, Mothership Wit and Stumptown Tart to get through. For those worried about my liver, yes, I did spread it out over a few days. Luckily I did manage to sneak in a few extra new beers here and there. Most were good. Some not. Such as…

  Ninkasi Radiant Summer Ale

  

  I have decided that the Ninkasi Brewery is one that I just don’t “get”. The thing is, they seem to have this unhealthy obsession with hops. With the exception of their respectable Oatmeal Stout, every beer I’ve tasted of theirs has been a cheek smashing hop fandango. Without much effort you can imagine what their Summer seasonal was like then. First sip. Decent, if a little hoppy. The problem was those other sips. I started by thinking to myself, eh, 4 rating maybe 3. But with every sip, the score went down. Until finally the rest was undrinkable. Not to mention the face that SwillJockeys wife made when she tried it. Remember those “bitter beer face” commercials? Yeah that.
  

  Full Sail Session Black Lager

  I have decided that I just have an affection for “Black” beers. Note the distinction from Porters, Browns and Stouts. Those are awesome too, but there is something special about a 1554, Lompoc Strong Draft or Session Black that just makes them awesome. Perhaps its the manliness of having your beer be more daunting than the wiener with the IPA next to you. Maybe it’s the fact that even though you can’t see through it, its still got that easy drinking feel. Whatever it is, I dig, and Full Sail’s new Session Black is full of it. Its a crisp dark lager, that balances machismo with easy drinking for a nice summer pick. Although I didn’t get to drink it from one of those impy little bottles (a big mention in the Full Sail marketing material), I can report that the draft didn’t disappoint. To use the vernacular of the cool kids, with LTD03 and Session Black, Full Sail is “the hotness” this summer.(do people still say that?)
  

  Chris McGowen Wheat White Wit

  We like Chris McGowen. Why? Well apart from him being a nice guy, he’s one of the stable of local Favorite Amatuer Brewmasters that routinely supply me with tasty concoctions. His latest edition is one I affectionately call Wheat White Wit. Cause although to beer snobs there’s a distinction, when I asked Chris what he made, those three words all made it into the descriptive response. But hey, whose counting? Its free beer! Super duper cloudy (Chris spilled grain in the beer..doh!), it was a nice easy drinking wheat/white/wit beer. Perfect for a summer BBQ. If you can get your hands on some, I highly recommend taking his advice and mowing the lawn while chugging it down. There’s something about controlling a 3ooo rpm spinning blade of death and alcohol that just go together.
  

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    Jon 12:50 pm on July 25, 2009 Permalink

    I just chugged my bottle of Chris’s wheat beer after a visit to the gym. The beer is very dry, and extremely refreshing. Delicious!

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  Frosty 12:00 pm on June 24, 2009 Permalink | Reply  

  Full Sail LTD 03 – Welcome to the Cooler. 

  Any beer that labels itself “pilsner” scares me a little. I mean, I went college…I’ve been to bars on nights filled with military guys on leave. Even though nasty domestic beers are the farthest thing from a true pilsner, I can’t help but have visions of the old Coors cans my Grandpa used to put his cigarette butts into. Presumably to make it to taste better.

  With their third offering in the LTD series, Full Sail has done their best to rescue me from years of therapy required from my previous pilsner experiences. I feel like a giant weight has been lifted off my liver, and I can once again drink a pilsner and not have to wear a wifebeater or listen to Larry the Cable Guy.

  This stuff is great. Super light, super smooth. Its crisp on the first sip, and knows to back off just in time for you to say “ahhh”.

  And what’s more, it has earned a coveted spot alongside Bridgeport Haymaker in the official Frosty Goodness July 4th Beer Cooler. A true honor. Congratulations, and thank you Full Sail. May nary a cigarette butt ever cross your bottle.

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    Ivana Goodbeer 12:34 pm on June 24, 2009 Permalink

    This was very yummy. It has a little less flavor than Haymaker, but I only noticed that because I took a sip of Haymaker before sipping this beer. I’m with Frosty on this.. it deserves a good rating for a light and refreshing beer.

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  Frosty 9:50 pm on June 20, 2009 Permalink | Reply  

  Oregon Brews and BBQs 

  Anyone who remembers SwillJockey’s post from last year’s Brewfest will remember how much fun we had with the crushing horde of humanity there (It wasn’t fun!). I thought for sure that my days at beer fests were over. Luckily, thanks to the miracle of the internet and a timely mention by my buddy Mister Q,  I was able to discover a mini-me version of Brewfest over in McMinnville aptly named Brews & BBQs. With a name like that, how could you go wrong?

  Smaller (WAY) smaller, but still fun, the B&Bs (I shortened it cause I’m lazy) was a fun little excursion with the combined brood of Mister Q and our own Frosties.  Despite not getting to drink too much (what do you mean kids don’t like to wait around while daddy gets drunk?), there were a few memorable sips worth noting.

  Block 15 – Aboriginale
  
  I’d never heard of these guys, but they made some of the really good beer at the B&Bs. Aboriginale, seemed to be one of the more popular ones (as the pourer made sure to tell me), but in truth was a bit too hoppy for my taste. It actually reminded me of the HUB review a ways back. Despite not getting any more than the obligatory one token sip, Mister Q went back for a full glass, so I’ll give this the “not for me, but what the heck” – 3.

  Block 15 – Honey Wit
  
  It’s summer! (I’m ignoring the fact it just rained on us). All you people who like IPA’s are just wrong. A tasty, sweet wheat ale is what summer is all about. For the Missus, this even deserved a mug and a half (Love ya hon!). Bottle worthy.

  Cascade Brewing Razzberry Wheat
  
  Everybody knows of that one grandma or mom who has that guest bathroom full of those funny smelling shaped soaps. Have you ever wondered what those taste like? How about what they taste like as a beer? I don’t wonder anymore. Raspberry, with a glycerin chaser.

  Full Sail Keelhauler
  
  Winner!! I have been hesitating to buy this at the local beer pusher for fear that “Scottish Ale” meant headbutting you and kicking you while you’re down. But now I just feel ashamed for doubting my kilt wearing brethren. This stuff was great. Light on painful hoppy-ness, balanced and worthy malts, and a pinch of greased Scotsman. If its not Scottish, its crap!

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    Ivana Goodbeer 4:25 pm on June 24, 2009 Permalink

    I really liked the Honey Wit. It is worth a trip to Corvallis just to visit Block 15. Good stuff!

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  skylark 8:53 pm on June 27, 2007 Permalink | Reply  

  Packaging Suckah: Full Sail Ltd. Brew 

  Turns out I am a complete suckah-fish for good packaging. Case in point: Full Sail’s Limited Brew. Full Sail’s packaging is top-notch. Each brew is visually distinctive but shares a common brand. The magic happens when you look closer. Witty banter is sprinkled about the packaging in the voice of a stoner outdoorsy type with long hair, tie-dye, and the faint sent of petchuli. He says the word “dude” A LOT. But he loves brewin’ good beer so its cool. He’s “livin’ the dream.”

  Light-bodied with a somewhat burnt-chocolate finish seems like an oxymoron, but I swear its there. The “Dude” says it is an import-style lager but I’m not buying it. I guess if you’re talking about some lambic, or tripel, this might qualify as a distant cousin but its definitely not your typical “euro-bud” trash (Becks, Heineken, etc).

  So, long story short: I dig it… um, dude. I think I’m going to set out to see if good packaging equals good beer. Sounds like a good combo of my two favorite things: good beer and good design. In the end, we’ll see which one deserves the top spot.

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    Frosty 8:14 am on July 8, 2007 Permalink

    I went to the Full Sail Brewery over the weekend, and tried a sampler. As is standard for much of Full Sail’s lineup, LTD has got a bit of cheek smash. Of course I’m biased in not liking hoppy beer all that much. I’d give it a 3.

    They have an on tap beer at the brewery called “Vesuvius Belgian Ale” which is super awesome though. But do they bottle that? Of course not…