Full Sail Brewing - Pilsner Room at McCormick and Schmick's
January 22nd, 2010

Full Sail brews a fair sampling of their beer in the Portland facility right next to the Pilsner Room. This month we stopped in for a visit. I called in advance and the General Manager, Alison, was more than happy to take a reservation for our group. This was nice because we had several friends join our group and for a Thursday night the place was pretty full. Matt, John and Patrick were all first timers.

Atmosphere - This is a great place. The space has an open feeling and there are lots of windows so you can easily see the Willamette river and the activity on the waterfront. Our waitress, Lee, was very attentive and willing to accommodate all the rounds of sampling. With 8 guys we skipped the formal taster trays and just poured out of pints.

Food - Scott and I had the Hawaiian Marlin. Yum! I think Scott cleaned his plate in about 2 minutes. I was not far behind. Steve had a Cajun Chicken roll and said it was great. Rob tried the steelhead and thought it was okay. They have a great happy hour menu too. Since we were there for a while we caught the late part of happy hour and sampled a little more food. I would highly recommend the BBQ pulled pork sliders.

Now for the Beer -
Colesch - This is considered an American Style Kolsch. Steve thought it was good after a 3 hour drive. It is a little sweet and fruity.
Vesuvious - They call this a Belgian Style Golden. This beer has the strong Belgian aroma. Steve claims it is from the "bad side" of Belgium and Rob thought it had lots of body but prefered the sniff over the drink. This one did not go over too well with our group.
Pale Ale - This ale didn't go over too well either. Steve thought it was boring and I thought is was leaning too close to the mass produced American Lager flavor.
IPA - This one was considered by our group to be "mellow", "boring", "subdued" and even "timid". While drinkable it doesn't stand out in a crowd of IPAs.
Wreck the Halls - They call this the Winter IPA. This is closer to what you expect in a real IPA with a hint of holiday flavor. A big step up from their regular IPA.
LTD #3 Amber - Smooth.
Session Lager - This is an American Lager. Reminiscent of the old "Blue Bore" (Henry's). Steve thought is was like "kissing your sister". I'm not sure what to make of that comment...his sister did visit a couple weeks ago....hmmm.
Session Dark - This beer has way more going for it over the lager. Rob has some in his fridge but the rest of the group was pleasantly surprised.
Wassail Winter Ale - An okay winter ale. Rob thought he picked up on a flavor of Pine. I'm not sure how often he chews on Pine trees but I'll go with it. :)
Holiday Blend - Hands down the best beer of the night. The bourbon just blends perfect...I wonder if they know about this in Kentucky? Steve wasn't too crazy about this one but it ranked #1 with the rest.
Cask Amber - very mellow, drinkable but no blog quotes.

Official Ranking - (#1, #2, #3)
Steve - Wreck the Halls, Session Dark & Colesch.
Rob - Holiday Blend, Session Dark & Cask Amber.
Scott - Holiday Blend, Session Dark & Session Lager.
Todd - Holiday Blend, Wreck the Halls & Session Dark.

Another fun evening out sampling beer.
Cheers,
Todd