Wreck The Halls - Full Sail Brewery & Tasting Room & Pub

RoyalT

Ohio

4.1/5  rDev +8.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Appearance – Orangish-brown in color, more brown than orange, with a decent head. It also has some sediment floating around even though the bottle has been sitting upright in my fridge for at least two weeks.

Smell – The nice, easy combination of pine and citrus hops is balanced well with some lightly-toasted malt. The malt actually is very noticeable.

Taste – This is the first time that I have ever had an IPA that is heavy on the piney flavor and so well balanced with malt. It is a very interesting combination indeed. This one is Even Steven, 50/50, hop and malt, and tastes great.

Mouthfeel – Medium-bodied and kind of dry with a slightly sweet caramel malt finish.

Drinkability – This was a very unique offering by Full Sail. I personally enjoyed it but others may find the malt a little too much (or unexpected) from an IPA.

Update – I grabbed this ’05 vintage on the day it was released to the stores, and man of man does this have a hop bite. The aroma is straight pine resin stank, and it carried it’s way through the taste like Godzilla stomping out Tokyo. Forget the balance from 2003, this is a hop bomb.

Serving type: bottle

11-30-2003 00:57:48 | More by RoyalT

Elemental

Oregon

4.3/5  rDev +13.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Nice deep copper color with a light head. The aroma is hoppy fruity and slightly spicy. The taste is a wonderful balace of maltiness and bitterness. Its Nice a bitter with a hint of spiciness to round out the beer. Its slightly nutty but very full bodied. A great beer for the for the holiday season.

Serving type: bottle

11-15-2003 04:12:29 | More by Elemental

beerguy101

California

4.22/5  rDev +11.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5

Deep copper color. Medium head. Aroma is juicy hops and some malt. A full-bodied IPA. Malts are slightly sweet and a touch nutty. But it's the big juicy NW hops that dominate this beer. Hops are grapefruity and juicy, without being too bitter. Very well balanced. Nice and smooth. This stuff beats their regular IPA to death. An excellent example of a Pacific NW IPA. Mouthfeel is full and round. Finish is clean and dry. Aftertaste is slightly bitter.

Serving type: bottle

08-16-2003 02:51:26 | More by beerguy101

tavernjef

Minnesota

4.6/5  rDev +21.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

Color is a hazy pale orangy light brown of peach skin, one finger high head thats yellowy cream colored, tight frothy spongy foam, settles slowly to a nice skim and ring with lace in oily spots and strings. Smell is lightly peachy, dry sense of pinewood, slightly juicy and oily green of all kinds of hops with a very slight caramel malt backing. Taste hits of hoppy bittering dryness immediately, pineyness, bright, green, and fresh, a touch of peachyness, nice and clean, smooth in places where the balancing of caramel malts in the background are barely detectable. Excellent bittering dryness into and through to the finish. Feel is medium body, solid bittering middle and smooths, thins into a drying tingly, slight piney finish that lingers with good quaility. One excellent IPA.

Thanks to weefisheads for the bottle.

Serving type: bottle

07-01-2003 06:25:00 | More by tavernjef

kbub6f

New York

4.22/5  rDev +11.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

"Reserve 2002", bought online, ground shipping (unrefrigerated), a couple of weeks in my fridge, reviewed 45F-75F.

The medium-large head is creamy-dense and vanilla-ice-cream-colored, leaving thick, sticky lacing. Nice. The beer is a coppery brownish-orange and is almost clear.

Tons of hops dominate the nose: some grapefruit, a little tobacco. But there's also some creamy caramel in there. The sweetish caramel shows up in the hoppy front and turns creamy, malty and sweeter (but not too sweet) in the middle. The hops remain strong throughout, but take a solo in the finish, shouldering out any competing tastes. The aftertaste is bitter-fresh, with some nice fresh grains making an appearance. This is an excellent, deep beer. The hops are over-the-top, but the malt holds its own, especially in the middle, especially at temperature.

Serving type: bottle

05-05-2003 12:23:42 | More by kbub6f

NeroFiddled

Pennsylvania

4.2/5  rDev +10.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Wow! What a festive beer! Rich, malty and hoppy with just enough alcohol... ... ...perfect for enjoying during the holiday shopping season!!!!
It pours a hazy copper with crimson highlights and a short but creamy ivory head that holds fairly well at the offset, but drops to a thin collar and lacy surface covering once things get started. The nose expresses bright piney and gently citrusy hops (orange, grapefruit) over a sweety caramelish (and lightly maple syrupy) malt. The full body is accentuated by its very fine and natural carbonation from bottle conditioning, leaving it creamy and smooth across the palate. Its rich, sweetish toasted caramel malt is dripping with piney/spruce-like/grapefruity hops. Well balanced with a firm bitterness that never oversteps it bounds. It finishes clean and dry - surprisingly refreshing for a beer of its size! Very nice and well worth searching out.

Serving type: bottle

04-30-2003 20:40:35 | More by NeroFiddled

marc77

California

4.25/5  rDev +12.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Slightly hazy copper hue. Topped by a bumpy, pitted off white head with decent retention. Frothy lace remains. Juicy, classic northwest dry hopped nose consisting of a pine and ripe tangerine combination. Subdued light caramel malt presence given depth by lightly toasted grain. Bready sweetness at first yields to assertive, but clean, rounded hop bitterness. Sappy, resinous, yet integrated hop flavor mirrors that in the aroma, albeit with comparatively diminished pine notes. Mellow, dry biscuit emerges mid palate and complements the citrus lending a suggestion of bittersweet marmalade. Medium bodied, with an agreeably smooth mouthfeel partially from the well calculated attenuation. Finishes with lingering clean hop bitterness with a brief resurgent snap of sweetness. Although assertively hopped, Wreck the Halls possesses a sturdy malt foundation and is thus very well balanced. Fresh, crisp and quaffable. Could be a new classic.

Serving type: bottle

03-30-2003 00:57:45 | More by marc77

Gusler

Arizona

4.28/5  rDev +12.9%
look: 3 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

The beer pours a burnished copper color, the head masterful in size, spumous in texture, the color a winsome light tan, as the head evanesces, the lace left behind a fine covering upon the glass. The aroma of hops quite evident, sweet malt and a bit of citrus twang also noted, a real sniffable beer, with the start sweet and thickly malt, the top full in its feel to the palate. Finish has a perky acidic bite, the hops bountiful and spicy, quite dry aftertaste that is also long lasting. A quite decent drinking IPA, not overwhelming, just about right in my humble opinion.

Serving type: bottle

03-25-2003 15:40:18 | More by Gusler

Reidrover

Oregon

4.53/5  rDev +19.5%
look: 5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

WOW oh wow what a beer! Even before i poured this brew from the bottle the head was rising up over the top! and it had not been shaken. This is a seasonal beer I think well it says "Reserve 2002" on the label.
The appearance of the beer is truelly great..hazelnut brown with just the righ murkiness..nice one 2 finger head ..that dissapated quick to form a rich lace down the glass..I oove the look of this beer.
Smell what can i say if you love hops ( and I do) the smell is dreamy..very strong..a bit of dark chocolate and liquorice too.
Taste is really quite bitter HOORAY but not so bad that it masks all the malt..
Lovelly in the mouth, just the correct carbonation
Overall an extremelly drinkable IPA..strong though I recommend this one.
Hope Reserve 2003 is a s good : )

Serving type: bottle

02-19-2003 19:59:30 | More by Reidrover

49degrees

British Columbia (Canada)

4.35/5  rDev +14.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Another highly enjoyable bitter beer from the west coast of the United States, quickly becoming one of the most respected hoppy beer regions in the world. Full Sail of Bend, Oregon presents bitter beer fans with a super addition to the hoppy seasonal favorites dubbed Wreck The Halls.

Like the Stone and Lagunitas IPAs, this one has similar characteristics without going over the top. I'm quickly finding myself steering towards hoppier beers all the time (Stone's Ruination and Arrogant Bastard, Dog Fish Head 90 Min IPA and now Full Sail's Wreck The Halls).

A little harsher in texture compared with Lagunitas IPA, but not overly so harsh that its going to shock your senses.

Pours a deep copper color with a nice large off white tightly packed foamy head. Head slowly minimizes to a solid surface coating with extensive glass lacing during the drink.

Aroma is highlighted by extensive earth tones, pine and some mossy undertones. A much richer bitter ale compared to most, but not overwhelming, this making for a very enjoyable and very drinkable beer.

[ STATS:>> SERVING: 650ml bottle / ABV: 6.5% / PRICE: $3.69 USD ]

Serving type: bottle

02-07-2003 17:37:27 | More by 49degrees

comat0se

Colorado

4.3/5  rDev +13.5%
look: 5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

On tap at Falling Rock Taphouse

Nice copper color with an everlasting off-white head which leaves nice sticky lace on the glass. Citrusy hop aroma. Taste begins with an aggressive piney hop flavor, leading you to believe that it's going to be a strongly bitter IPA. But then, the beer takes a left turn and an underlying strong sweetness appears. This sweetness is a bit different, almost sugary. The hops and sweetness battle it out for awhile and at the end the hops pulls forward by a nose with a mildly bitter finish. Mouthfeel is solidly medium with the carbonation adding to the creamy mouthfeel. I'd like to try this one in bottles to see how it compares.

Serving type: on-tap

01-20-2003 00:13:10 | More by comat0se

jreitman

California

4.53/5  rDev +19.5%
look: 5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Had this on tap at the Taphouse. This is probably the only beer I have ever seen sporting a turtleneck. The head was just amazing forming a thick collar that followed the beer down the glass. Amer in color with some very intense Saaz hop aroma. Sweet malt backbone layes below a pretty intense hop bite. Citrus flavors were relatively low with mostly piney contributions from th ehops. Bitterness was not overwhelming and was kept well in check. A very finely crafted brew.

Serving type: on-tap

12-14-2002 21:59:30 | More by jreitman

Bighuge

Minnesota

4.45/5  rDev +17.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Clear copper in color. Thin beige film coats the surface while a thick collar surrounds it. Lacing shows nice drooping patterns. Aroma is what I imagine a hop garden to smell like. Beautiful. Piney, floral, sprucy, herbal, oily. Very nice. First thing noted on the palate is the stinging bitterness. Nicely done. After that, other hop nuances let you know they're around: Oily. Pungent. Sprucy. Citric. Resiny. And to a lesser degree, Rind and Pine like qualites. The malt backbone is adequate, but could use maybe just a bit more support. It's seems to be a caramel malt base. The lingering bitterness is a treasure. The body of this beer seems to be closer to medium than to medium-full. A slightly thirst quenching dry aspect makes this brew highly drinkable. (The great taste doesn't hurt the drinkability either.)

This almost brings to an end my mini-run of 5 "top notch" West Coast IPAs. I've yet to be let down, and I doubt the last one I try will "Ruin" this streak.

Serving type: bottle

11-22-2002 20:30:30 | More by Bighuge

dolem98

Idaho

4.03/5  rDev +6.3%
look: 4 | smell: 5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Reserve 2002.

This is the first time I'd ever seen this, it was at a Nature's Store. I'm guessing on the availability, since they already have a Winter Seasonal (Wassail), I put limited edition.

Amber in color, with a quite foamy 1 cm head that stays while drinking.

Heavily aroma hopped, but not as much bitter hopping as I would expect for an IPA. (I am the one who pigeon-holed this beer to an IPA, however). Strong scent of pine sap with citrusy notes.

Mild-Medium bitterness in the taste, as well as a creamy malt-taste. Quite interesting. Not much sweetness. Mouthfeel is creamy as well, with a tangy note of citrus hops.

This is definitely an interesting beer. I'd love to see what others think of it. I would recommend highly to people who love the aroma of hops, but were scared of super-bitter beers.

Serving type: bottle

11-19-2002 15:57:59 | More by dolem98