Session Named America's Best Premium Lager at the 2010 World Beer Awards

We are so stoked to announce that our stubbie little Session Premium Lager was named "America's Best Premium Lager" at the 2010 World Beer Awards. Following four rounds of judging, the winners were chosen by the international, highly respected judging panel. Judges blind-tasted beers from over five hundred entries in twenty-seven countries and the top winners were announced in July at the World Beer Awards ceremony at The Hurlingham Club is in south west London.

"To be recognized at the World Beer Awards for a second time is a great honor. With both Session and Session Black our brewers have hand crafted world class lagers. Balanced, elegant, and with a smoothness that belies their complexity, Session is really a brand that reaches beyond traditional expectations,” says Jamie Emmerson, our Executive Brewmaster.

Since its release in 2005, Session Premium lager has earned six gold medals and was named “The World’s Best Premium Lager, at the 2007 World Beer Awards. Session Premium Lager is a classic all malt continental pilsner, brewed with American and European hops for a wonderful noble hop aroma and two-row barley malt – with a touch of wheat malt – for a pleasant, refreshing finish.

Make your Stomach Happy and the Community, Too

Here’s another great reason to get on down to your local Burgerville. Our Brewmaster, Jamie Emmerson, has teamed up with Burgerville to create an Amber Ale Battered Albacore Tuna and Summer Slaw dish that's so good you'll want to order it by the case. And to top it off, a portion of the proceeds benefit Doernbecher Children's Hospital Foundation.

Locally-owned Burgerville restaurant is spotlighting not just a bounty of great fresh local ingredients, but also a bounty of wonderfully inspirational people that have a positive impact on their communities and the local food scene.  And our own Jamie Emmerson has been honored as Burgerville's newest Community Champion—and the restaurants will be serving up Jamie’s Ale battered Albacore Tuna and Summer Slaw dish which he help to create to celebrate local breweries. Buy this special dish at your local Burgerville between August 17th – September 27th and a portion of the proceeds will go to the Doernbecher Children’s Hospital Foundation.

To learn more about this special dish, its inspiration, Jamie Emmerson, the charity it’s supporting, and Burgerville’s featured sustainability partner, and why our corner of the country is such a special place to live visit: http://burgerville.com/bestofburgerville

Burgerville even made a video - be sure to check it out on Burgerville's channel on YouTube 

Three Ways to Celebrate Hop Harvest

Every August brings the gift of a new hop harvest and our brewers wait with thirsty expectation. Dependent on nature’s timing, we respond quickly to that eagerly awaited call from the hop farmer, gathering the fresh hops in our truck and speeding to the waiting brew kettle. The beers we brew are an annual celebration of hops—  Our fresh hopped beer!

As brewers we are always reliant on nature’s bounty, from the quality of the barley harvest to how the hops weathered through the Oregon summer. But no moment brings this relationship to sharper focus than our fresh hop beers. This year, we celebrate the season’s first hops with three different beers: Lupulin, 2 brews of ale each featuring a different hop variety, and Hopfenfrisch, a Pilsner lager, showcasing a third variety. All highlight the brewer’s art as well as nature’s gift.

When we brew with fresh hops, timing is everything. There’s such a small window of time to take advantage of these fresh hops. We need to get them into the brew kettle within hours of picking while their oils and resins are still at their peak. It takes five to seven times more hops to brew a fresh hop beer, and it’s absolutely worth it. The result is a subtle range of fresh hop flavors and aromas that you can only get brewing with fresh hops.

Each hop variety reaches peak maturity at a different time during harvest. For this year’s fresh hopped beers we brewed three different batches waiting each time for the right hops. To highlight the unique flavor of the different hop varieties, we brewed two ale batches using the same malts, but different hops. The beer’s balanced caramel character and malt body really let the hops shine brightly through on the palate. The First Gold hops have a pleasing herbal character with hints of citrusy lime. The Centennial hops add a round, fruity orange and grapefruit citrus flavor. In the lager version, Hopfenfrisch Pilsner lager, we used fresh harvested Mt. Rainier hops, a close cousin to Germany’s famous Hallertau Hop, which give the beer a soft and elegant floral hop perfume. This pale gold aromatic brew was left unfiltered to enhance its smooth body and honeyed malt flavors. All those Mt. Rainer hops give the beer with a long, clean bitter finish. All three hop varieties were locally grown at Annen's Brothers, BC Hop Farms, and Goschie Farms, which is a Salmon Safe certified hop grower.

Full Sail's Fresh Hop beers are a veritable hop lover’s delight.  The tiny lupulin glands inside the hop flowers, packed with sticky resins and essential oils, provide all that wonderful bitterness, flavor and aroma. These beers are all about hops;  wet hopped, kettle hopped, hop back hopped, and dry hopped in the fermenter with 150 pounds of hops per batch. That’s 7.5 pounds of hops per barrel!  Most products this fresh last only a short time. Please enjoy while you can.

Lupulin and Lupulin Hopfenfrisch are part of our rotating line up of Brewmaster Reserve beers. They will be available in limited quantities September to November on draught in pubs throughout the Pacific Northwest and at our Tasting Room and Pub in Hood River and at our Riverplace Brewery in Portland, Oregon. They will also be available at various fresh hop beer festivals throughout the Pacific Northwest including the Hood River Hops Festival the Yakima Fresh Hop Festival, both Saturday, October 2nd at the Oaks Park Fresh Hop Festival in Portland, Oregon, October 9th, and at Fresh Hop Festival in Eugene, Oregon, October 16.  
 

New Brewer’s Share Beer, Adam’s Malty Bomb, Helps Local Animal Shelter

As the hot summer winds down and the days get shorter, dreams of cold mountain air, skiing and snowboarding start to swirl in our heads. That can mean only one thing: it’s time to start praying for powder. To celebrate the upcoming wintery season, we will release a new beer our Brewer’s Share line up that is sure to entice the snow gods to bless the season with plenty of powdery snow. Brewed by Brewer Adam Bulson, “Adam’s Malty Bomb” is pray for powder porter that’s sure to make our mountain snowy white all season long.  

Porters are Adam’s favorite beer after a day on the snow, and he thought releasing his own version preseason would be a good omen for a great winter. Adam’s Malty Bomb is a robust porter with a big body and lots of dark, caramel/toffee flavor, yet it won’t weigh you down like heavy snow.  It’s hopped with just enough hops to balance out the malts, and finishes smooth with no sharp edges. Bomb’s away!  ABV 5.3% IBU 41.

You are invited to swing by and raise a toast with Adam and the Full Sail Crew to celebrate the release of Adam's new beer and to “Meet the Brewer and the Beer” at Full Sail at Riverplace in Portland, on Tuesday, September 7th from 5:00 to 6:30PM and at our Tasting Room and Pub in Hood River, on Thursday, September 9th, from 5:00 to 6:30PM. For more info call the Pub 541-386-2247 or Full Sail at Riverplace 503-222-5343.

With Adam’s brew comes a new feature of the Brewer’s Share series—each brewer will pick a local charity of his or her choice to receive a portion of the proceeds from the sales of their beer. Adam chose Hood River Adopt-a-Dog – Hukari Animal Shelter, so every keg of Adam’s Malty Bomb benefits local animals in need.  

The Brewer’s Share series is a line up of small batch draft beers where each Full Sailor takes a turn hand-crafting their own single batch recipe and a portion of the proceeds benefit a local charity of their choosing. Full Sail’s Brewer’s Share beers will only be available on tap at Full Sail’s Tasting Room and Pub in Hood River, Oregon, and at Full Sail’s Brewery at Riverplace, in Portland, Oregon. Growlers to go are available.  Full Sail will also offer Adam’s Malty Bomb at the Hood River Hopsfest on October 2nd. The next Brewer’s Share will be collaboration beer crafted by Full Sail’s Pub crew, and is expected in mid-November.

Wow, it's the 20th release of Old Boardhead Barleywine

Some beers are meant to be enjoyed right away and others reward your patience by evolving and improving with age. Our Old Boardhead Barleywine gives a good name to delayed gratification. While ready to drink now, Old Boardhead cellars exceptionally well. Our Brewmaster, Jamie Emmerson, suggests you store a few bottles in a dark, cool place and be patient. The newly designed label highlights the reserve year making it easier to keep track. Whether you wait or not, Old Boardhead is a deliciously rich brew with a spectacular depth and complexity of flavor. Deep and robust, it’s a luscious brew to sip in any weather.

We have been brewing “Old Boardhead” since 1990. It is a beer that celebrates the passage of time and amazingly enough it has been twenty years since our first annual release. Old Boardhead is part of our rotating selection of Brewmaster Reserve beers, and every few months, we come out with a different beer that showcases the art of brewing. We began the Brewmaster Reserve series back in 1998 to celebrate our independence and creativity.

Old Boardhead has been kegged and bottled in 22 oz bottles and is on its way to specialty beer stores and pubs throughout the Pacific Northwest. (ABV 9%  IBU 91)

The next beer in our Brewmaster Reserve lineup is Wreck the Halls that will be released in November. Click here for a full list of our Brewmaster Reserve beers.

We offer you Sanctuary in our Brewmaster Reserve Line up

Inspired by the great Belgian Trappist and Monastic beers, we have put our heart and soul into Sanctuary Dubbel, the newest beer in our Brewmaster Reserve line-up. For centuries, the Trappist monks of Belgium have earned their daily bread by making “liquid bread” or beer. In the early years, the monks brewed lower alcohol or “table beers” primarily for their brethren to drink with their meals. As their brewing tradition grew the abbeys began producing stronger dubbel (double) style ales to serve to their guests and eventually for sale. 

Sanctuary is a dubbel modeled after the abbey style beers of Belgium complete with a flavor profile that invites calm and quiet reflection. Contemplate the soothing rich malt aromas as they fill the nose, followed by the flavors of biscuit and roast that are softly rounded on the tongue by a rich sweet malt character. With a light blessing of hops, Sanctuary finishes with a Belgian yeast spice notes and a chewy finish.  ABV: 7% IBU: 20

Sanctuary is part of our rotating selection of Brewmaster Reserve beers. Every eight to ten weeks we come out with a different beer that show cases the brewer’s art.  We began the program back in 1998 as a way of celebrating our independence and creativity.

Sanctuary will be available in 22oz bottles and on draft in specialty beer stores and pubs from mid-August to November. We will also offering Sanctuary at the Great American Beer Festival® in Denver, Colorado this September. The next beer in our Brewmaster Reserve line up will be Wreck the Halls and will be released in November. Click here for a full list of our Brewmaster Reserve beers. 

Up and Coming Events

Oregon is a great place to live and make beer. Here at Full Sail, we have a deep sense of community and support hundreds of community organizations, events and charities. Check out some of the upcoming events that we are supporting:

Feast on the Farm
Date: September 12th
Location: Idiot's Grace Farm & Orchard in Mosier, OR
Save the date for this year's 3rd Annual Feast on the Farm! This annual harvest party is open to everyone and is a chance to support Gorge Grown, celebrate the region's farmers and food producers, and enjoy an entirely local menu, live music, local beer and wine, and lots of fun amidst a gorgeous cherry orchard.

 

Portland Institute for Contemporary Art (PICA) - Time Based Art (TBA:10)
Date: September 9 - 19th
Location: Portland, Oregon
TBA:10 - Eighth Annual Time-Based Art Festival
Portland Institute for Contemporary Art (PICA) is ready to launch their eighth annual Time-Based Art Festival (TBA) in Portland, Oregon for a ten-day happening of contemporary performance, dance, music, and new media, with an additional month of visual arts installations. This year's slate of artists will fill the city and fill up your hours with morning workshops, daytime installations, noontime lectures, afternoon salons, evening performances, outdoor happenings, and no shortage of late-night activity.
 

Great American Beer Festival
Date: September 16-18th 
Location: Denver, Colorado
We are stoked that we claimed a gold medal at the 2009 Great American Beer Festival Competition for Session Black Lager in the American dark lager category. The GABF is the largest national beer competition that recognizes the most outstanding beers produced in the US today. Be sure to swing by our booth in the Pacific Northwest Section - J33 to sample one or all of our 10 offerings.  Our line up of godlike nectar includes: Amber, Pale, IPA, LTD 03, Session, Session Black, Spotless, Sanctuary, Imperial Stout and Top Sail Bourbon Aged Imperial Porter (one of the last kegs from the brewmaster's stash).

The Echelon Gran Fondo
Date: September 26th
Location: Columbia River Gorge/Hood River, Oregon
Ride it, rip it, or just have a rage. From start to finish, prepare to be doused in cheering crowds and unusual entertainers. Sign up today as an individual or team, sponsor a participant, or just make a donation to this worthy cause. Benefits the OHSU Knight Cancer Institute and the Lance Armstrong Livestrong Foundation. The event start and finish takes place right across the street from our Brewery at 5th and Columbia in downtown Hood River.

Hood River Hops Fest
Date: October 2nd
Location: Between 5 & 7th on Columbia, Hood River, Oregon.
When it comes to flavor, it’s almost impossible to beat the big contribution of freshly harvested Northwest hops. Hops Fest has become a fall tradition. Pour from the pitchers of more than 20 Northwest craft brewers, anchor it in the middle of the nation’s only National Scenic Area, and you have the makings for the Seventh Annual Hood River Hops Fest. We'll be pouring Lupulin Fresh Hop Ale and our latest Brewer's Share beer, Adam's Malty Bomb Porter. The fest is right across the street from our brewery!

The Hood River Valley Harvest Festival
Date: October 15, 16, 17th
Location: Waterfront Events Site, Hood River, Oregon
A great event that takes place outdoors in large event tents on the Hood River Waterfront. A bounty of festivities, including: Freshly harvested fruits and vegetables from the world-class orchards and farms of the Hood River Valley; over 100 arts and crafts vendors along with all the traditional festival favorites; and a live entertainment tent with local wine and a Full Sail beer garden. 

Habitat for Humanity Oktoberfest
Date: October 21th
Location: Portland, Oregon
Raise your beer stein and celebrate Oktoberfest to help raise a roof for Habitat for Humanity Portland/Metro East. Traditional Alsace and German cuisine such as house-made boudin blanc and spaetzle along with beer from Full Sail Brewing and wine by Westrey Wine Co.

Click here for all our upcoming events

Get Your Beer Gear Here

Have half your outfit done in one swoop. Match our classic white Full Sail tee with a khaki or navy colored cap for the ultimate beer loving statement.

Perfectly paired for you or the Full Sail lover in your life. Our Full Sail tee and hat combo is on special for $25, saving you five green dollars. Our classic, never fail white Full Sail tee goes great with your choice of a khaki or navy Full Sail cap. (Wearing pants with this combo is highly recommended) Click here for beer gear.

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Cheers! The Full Sail Crew