Full Sail Limited Edition Lager (LTD 03)

Brewed by Full Sail Brewing Company
Style: Pilsener
Hood River, Oregon USA

clear gold under a medium sized puffy white head. aroma of ripe pear and red apples. pear theme continues on to the flavor. dry and clean finish with soft carbonation. i’m a big fan of these LTD lagers. keep em’ coming.

Nice and right to the point pilsener. Sampled at the brewery in Hood River, OR. Nice balance of malt and hops.

101609 Bottle Date; Sampled August 2009
A vigorous pour into my 25cl tulip glass produces a four-finger thick, pale tan colored head that leaves a touch of lacing as it slowly subsides. The beer is a rich gold hue that shows a brilliantly clear, bright gold color with just a touch of red-copper to it when held up to the light. The aroma smells of sweet grain, perhaps even a touch of wholesome corn, grassy grain notes, and a touch of honey’d malt character up front. The finish picks up a hint of grassy herbal character, maybe a hint of lemon zest and a cracker-like grain note. This is quite malt focused for a Pilsner, at least the types that I really enjoy; this seems like a bit more of Helles, at least from the aroma.

A light menthol bitterness picks up a touch of herbal notes and then finishes with a light, but structured bitterness in the finish. Again the hop character is quite a bit lighter in the flavor than I was expecting. Pretty dry malt character, though there is just enough malt sweetness to balance and meld with the hop character. A touch of toffee character comes through at times, but this is exceedingly subtle. There is some grassy grain notes as well as a touch of cracker-like grain flavor here. A herbal hop note becomes a bit more expressive as the beer warms up; it even picks up a touch of lemon zest character, but it is still not quite to the level that I would prefer. As the beer warms up more I begin to like it less again.

This seems much more of Helles, and not really all that great of one. This is certainly refreshing, and even tasty in its own way, but I was expecting a bit more from this brew. I am actually quite supprised that this is rated at 35 IBUs, there is definitely a bitterness here, it just seems much softer than something even like Sierra Nevada Pale Ale achieves with its 32 IBUs. Not bad, but there are a lot more interesting Pilsners out there.

A very nice pilsener, this was extremely clean and smooth, some spicy hop bitterness and some clean toasted cereal maltiness. Smooth and easy way to kill a 6 pack in no time.

12 oz bottle served in pilsner glass. Pale golden color with a thick white, pillowy head that never completely fades. Heavy carbonation. Crisp citrus aroma accompanied with what I call “characteristic lager aroma”, as I don’t have a better description. Some creaminess in the mouthfeel, but watery overall. Sweet, peppery flavors up front, with a crisp hop aftertaste and a lingering bitterness. I think Full Sail achieved what they were going for – a pilsner. Nothing complex, and I wish it was a bit more full-bodied, but there’s really nothing wrong with this beer.

I am not sure why I got this, and really I wasn’t impressed. As a far as a description goes this is what I wrote "meh, meh, meh".

Bottle. Head is initially small, fizzy/frothy, white, fully diminishing. Body is medium to dark yellow. Aroma is lightly malty (toasted grain, cereal), lightly to moderately hoppy (flowers), with light notes of soap and DMS. Flavor is moderately sweet, lightly acidic, lightly bitter. Finish is lightly to moderately sweet, lightly acidic, moderately bitter, slightly unclean. Medium body, watery texture, lively carbonation. A little dirty (in both nose and aftertaste) and too sweet. Meh.

Bottle. Pours clear dark gold with a thick and lacy white head. Mostly bread in the aroma. Medium body and full carbonation. Lightly sweet taste of honey on bread, with a crisp and earthy hop finish.