| By Full Sail
Full Sail Brewing Company Celebrates its Employee Owners with Brewer’s Share Line-up
Hood River, Or – In 2008 Full Sail Brewing created their small batchBrewer’s Share series as an opportunity for each of their individual brewers to express their creations to be shared on tap exclusively in their pub. Since their crew came up with so many great beers, they decided to share a selection of them with beer lovers everywhere. The first beer in the series “Extra Special Barney” (ESB) developed by Brewing Supervisor, Barney Brennan will be released in 22oz. bottles and on draft in January.
“It’s rare to know who makes your beer. We’re proud to be the people behind so many award winning brews. As an independent and employee owned brewery, you know that we put our hearts and souls into every drop. With Brewer’s Share, we take it one step further and introduce our individual brewers by name and beer,” said Irene Firmat, Full Sail’s CEO and Founder.
According to Brennan, this beer is a departure from the big, hoppy, Northwest ales. This Extra Special Bitter, a traditional English style ale, is brewed with attention to balance, highlighting both malt and hops. Five different malt varieties give the beer its orange hue, and caramel complexities. An English hop variety grown here in the Yakima Valley, Challenger, was chosen to complement the fruity esters in the aroma. It is the only variety used, meant to showcase its beauty. The pint first offers the interaction of the aromas of malt and hop, then the medium body and caramel flavors finish with a slight bitterness. Drinkable and quenching with an invitation to return for another taste. 6.5% ABV, 35 IBU
Brennan’s ESB was inspired by two things; a perfect beer moment and an aromatic highlight of the hop selection in Yakima. As Barney puts it, “First inspiration for this beer came during hop selection in Yakima. We had no intentions of purchasing these Challengers, but after rubbing and smelling them we could not resist a small purchase for something “extra special.” We really respect the opportunity to have such a strong connection to our ingredients and the harvest, and deeply value the freedom to follow our inspirations. The rest of the brew revolved around a personal, great beer moment. I was sitting on the deck at the brewery overlooking the river in the sunshine – drinking this beautiful beer we had created, balanced, aromatic – already looking forward to the second pint. I wanted to share a little glimpse of Hood River brewing life and happiness. Hopefully this ESB will be involved in some special moments for others.”
The inspiration for the name “Brewer’s Share” came from that mysterious portion that vanishes from a barrel during aging that brewers refer to as the “angel’s share,” and that led to “Brewer’s Share,” an equally mysterious offering that appears during inspiration. Brewer’s Share can also mean a unit of ownership, as in stock. Consider this program to be an Initial Public Offering (IPO). Whenever you purchase a Brewer’s Share you get a unit of ownership – one share of the batch. As a shareholder you have the right to consume the beverage. In doing so you will also be investing in the public good – as each brewer not only chooses the recipe, they choose a local charity or organization that will benefit from each bottle sold – Which can bring an excellent return on ingestion (ROI).
Full Sail’s Brewer’s Share small batch offerings will be available in 22oz. bottles and on draft. The other beers in the 2012 line-up include Phil’s Existential Alt, Chris’s Summer Delight Berliner Weiss and Big Daddy J’s Malt Liquor. Full Sail will release one Brewer’s Share at a time and a new beer will be released for each season.
With each Brewer’s Share series beer, Full Sail picks a local charity or organization to receive a portion of the proceeds from the sale of the beer. Barney has chosen to support Columbia Gorge Arts in Education so every barrel of Extra Special Barney benefits this organization. “I have had so many great experiences in my life centered around the arts, I am excited for the future for my daughter and her friends. CGAIE helps kids make those discoveries,” added Brennan. The Columbia Gorge Arts in Education provides visual, literary, and performing arts to local K-12 students. Through artist residencies in schools, workshops, after school programs, community art projects and installations, programs for at-risk youth, and cultural performances, Columbia Gorge Arts in Education served 6,000 kids last year in the Mid-Columbia region. For more information please visit www.cgaie.org.
About Full Sail Brewing Company:
The independent and employee-owned Full Sail Brewery is perched on a bluff in Hood River, Oregon, overlooking the most epic wind and kite surfing spot in the world. At this very moment our specialists in the liquid refreshment arts are crafting barley and hops into your next beer. Among the company’s most popular brews are Full Sail Amber, IPA, Pale, LTD, Wassail, Session, Session Black, and Session Fest Premium lager. Founded in 1987, the Full Sail crew has been fermenting godlike nectar for 25 years. Committed to brewing great beer and sustainable practices their award winning brews are now available in 28 states. The Full Sail Tasting Room and Pub is open seven days a week. Swing by for apint, grab a bite, tour the brewery, or just soak up the view. http://www.fullsailbrewing.com ###
