This is another brewery that has a special place in my heart.
Full Sail Brewing Company is a local, employee-owned company in the Columbia River Gorge. Founded in 1987, it is one of the oldest microbreweries in Oregon. And the first in the Northwest to have commercial bottling success.
The brewery itself is is located in charming town of Hood River, Oregon, just an hour from Portland. They bought the abandoned Diamond Fruit Cannery and transformed it into a place to pursue their dreams. The first beer they produced was a golden ale. As business began to boom, they added more beers, including a porter, an amber, and a winter ale. They continued to grow and now feature two core beers, a few seasonal, special releases, and session lagers.
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| Photo courtesy of my boyfriend |
Not only do you need to try the beer, but you need to visit the brewery as well. The Columbia River Gorge is one of the most spectacular sights in the world. It is located right along the Interstate 84, making it very hard to miss. You get an amazing view of the river and the surrounding landscape. The pub offers Pacific Northwest inspired food prepared with local ingredients. I usually get the Hummus Plate (just minus the feta). The Brewery offers tours everyday on the hour from 1-4 PM. The staff member are very nice and very knowledgeable. And, you get a free beer glass at the end!
Here are my two favorites beers:
Full Sail Amber Ale: I love the chocolate malt in this beer. It has a unique taste---sweet and malty, but somehow a little spice too. It was very groundbreaking at the time-- just like the Oregonian spirit. This is one of the flagship brews and has won numerous awards.
LTD 03:This is a seasonal beer, only available from June to September (which is usually when I visit home anyways). Full Sail calls it a pale-golden, I was argue it is more on the golden side. I do agree that it is a "thirst quencher", especially after a long, hot day. The hoppy/floral combination is what draws me to it.
You can find Full Sail Beers almost anywhere nowadays. If I can find them in a literal shack of a store on the Kohala Coast of the Big Island, you should have no trouble at all.
The reason (besides the awesome beer) this company has a special place in my heart is because it was the place my sweetheart and I discovered our mutual love for beer. He was in Hood River doing an internship with one of our geology professors. The first day he was there, I asked how he liked Full Sail. He answered, "How do you know where I am?" I responded ,"You would be crazy not to be there!" Later he invited me to come join them for the day since I only lived an hour away. After a long and tortuous day of hiking to find a hidden fault, we were exhausted and thirsty. He suggest we get beer from Full Sail and I knew right then that I wanted to date this boy.
What I like the most about Full Sail is that it uses all local ingredients and is committed to being an active member of the local community. These are people who truly enjoy beer and want to make a good product. As the bottle caps say, they really are just "stoked to brew."
Sources:
Full Sail Brewery Tour
http://www.fullsailbrewing.com/full-sail-story.cfm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Full_Sail_Brewing_Company
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