February 28, 2000 -- Employee-owned Full Sail Brewing of Hood River, Oregon, sent World of Beer a three-pack of their winter favourites: Full Sail Imperial Porter, Wassail Winter Ale and Old Boardhead Barleywine. So I set to work on them.

First up is the Wassail, not a spiced beer as the name might lead you to believe -- the traditional English wassail bowl being typically filled with a spiced ale -- but a "winter warmer" in the British style. This almost burgundy brew explodes with fruit in the nose, mixing note of peach and pear with exotics such as papaya and kiwi, plus hints of nutty hop. The body offers only a muted sweetness with glimmers of fruit up front, leading to a pleasantly balanced hop and malt middle showing notes of cocoa, cherry, roasted almond and ample evidence of the beer's 6.5% alcohol by volume. The finish is moderately burnt and quite dry, perhaps not as warming as it could be but satisfying nonetheless. Certainly a beer well worthy of the "winter warmer" designation, and one that I probably wouldn't turn my back on in June or September, either.

Ratcheting up the strength a notch, I turn to the Imperial Porter, a beer with a curious nomenclature. Is this in the Imperial stout style, I wonder, or more like an unusually big porter? Only one way to find out...

The ABV (alcohol by volume) reads 7% -- low for an Imperial stout but certainly strong for a porter. It is, as you might expect, jet black in colour, with pronounced notes of black licorice and more subtle mocha in the aroma. The start of the taste has a sneaking, plummy sweetness before a slightly oily, palate-coating mix of roast, dried fruit, espresso and earthiness. The finish is strong, bone-dry, bitter and very nicely warming. My verdict: A big-- very big! -- and satisfying porter.

Finally, it is barleywine time. Old Boardhead is a beer that I have tasted many a time in the past and also one which has on occasion disappointed, at other times impressed. This version, the literature informs me, was brewed on November 10, 1998, and bottled on October 7, 1999.

Much fruitier than the archetypal west coast barleywine, this deep copper-coloured brew has a sweet, perfumey nose that rather surprisingly lacks both the intensity and complexity of the Wassail. I get peach and apricot notes along with some caramel and sweet florals, but not much else. The body is likewise sweet, as befits a beer of 10.6% ABV, but also lacks the complexity I look for in a barleywine. Most assertive are the distinct fresh apricot notes, followed by some peachiness, a bit of hazelnut and a hint of butterscotch, but the depth and character I expect simply are not there. The finish is warming, lightly bitter and offers lingering apricot. A pleasant enough beer, to be sure, but not necessarily something I would turn to when the thermometer dips well below freezing and there is a roaring fire in the hearth.

Search The Real Beer Library For More Articles Related To: Full Sail Brewing

Feedback?

We're very interested in your news, notes, comments and questions, so please feel free to contact SBWoB by clicking on the link below. Or you can add your comments when you sign up for the World of Beer Update, a mid-month e-mail newsletter that brings even more of the world of beer to your computer.

Send Feedback To: beaumont@worldofbeer.com