Brewery: Full Sail Brewing
Style: Winter Warmer
BeerAdvocate.com Rating: 86
RateBeer.com Rating: 3.54 (87th percentile)
Serving: 12oz Bottle
This brew comes to us from Full Sail Brewing Company in Hood River, Oregon. Wassail has been brewed annually since 1988 and because of Full Sails large distribution volume, this brew can be found in most supermarkets across the Pacific Northwest at the very least.
A deep mahogany color, Wassail is brewed with four different malts and a blend of Pacific Northwest hops, giving it a malty full body and a pleasantly hoppy finish that appeals to both hop and malt lovers alike. In other words, a Christmas miracle.
A miracle huh? Let’s find out!
Appearance - Looks like a standard brown ale. Only a very thin head appears and quickly dissipates. A tan lace is left throughout the entire pint.
Smell - Mildly hoppy with hues of malt coming through. Smells a lot like Deschutes’ Jubelale, only a little less malty.
Taste - Absolutely delicious. At first my palate was taken over by lots of hops. After a few seconds I was pleasantly surprised by hues of chocolate and coffee. The alcohol content of this brew isn’t nearly as apparent as other winter warmers. The mouthfeel is also much lighter.
Overall this is a very delicious beer. If you’re a fan of hoppier beers and want to try one of the new scary winter releases at your local market, give this one a shot. I know I’ll definitely be picking up a few more six packs before the season is over.
BONUS: Tour of the Full Sail Brewery
Recently I had the opportunity to tour the Full Sail brewery. Located right by the Columbia River in Hood River, Oregon, the Full Sail brewery is a must-see for anybody road tripping across northern Oregon.
The building itself hosts their primary brewing facility as well as a restaurant/bar area. I didn’t have the opportunity to try any food at the restaurant, so I’ll focus on the brewing facility.
My first reaction walking into the brewing facility was noticing how pristine everything looked. From what I’ve seen at other microbreweries, cleanliness usually isn’t a priority. Sure the tanks will be sterile and all, but I usually expect to be sprayed with something or walk through puddles. Not at Full Sail!
Aside from all of their fancy pants equipment, what impressed me the most is how sustainable they are. The brewery is powered by wind power, they try to purchase locally as much as possible, and they even absorb the cost of transporting mash waste to farms across Oregon so it can be used as livestock feed.
The main facility in Hood River is where they brew the more widely-distributed brews, so here is where beers like their Amber, IPA, Pale Ale, Rip Curl, etc. Their auxiliary brewery in Portland is where they brew the rest. What I didn’t know is that Full Sail also has a contract from Miller to brew Henry Weinhard’s. While they don’t brew all Henry’s ale, they do brew the Organic Pale Ale as well as the Hefeweizen and seasonals.
Where my tour guide lost points with me is after complaining about the process they had to go through to be USDA certified as an organic brewery, he used the opportunity to shoot down the entire organic brewing movement. You brew Henry’s for Miller and you’re lecturing me on the credibility of brewing techniques?
In an apparent attempt to buy back my love, we were all given a token good for a free Full Sail pint glass at the bar. To test my glass’ ability to hold liquid, I first had to sample a pint of Wreck the Halls before I left. Turns out my glass works just fine and with a pint of incredible beer in me it was time to head home.
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This is a brew that has intrigued me for the better part of a year. BeerAdvocate even did an entire article on it last summer, so why wouldn’t I try it? To be honest, $16.89 is quite a bit for a bottle of beer. Sure it’s Dogfish Head and yeah it’s in a champagne bottle, but it’s still a $16.89 beer. Was it worth it? Let’s find out.
Taste - Raspberries! They sure weren’t kidding with the raspberries. I really didn’t know what to expect, but this is delicious. Alcohol also hits you, but in a much more subtle way than I would have imagined. I assumed this was at about 10% ABV before I read up more and saw 18%. The alcohol is very sneaky until it warms up a bit. This brew is very one-dimensional in that it relies so heavily on raspberries, but that isn’t a bad thing.
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