Wreck The Halls: Double IPA
Full Sail Brewing Company

Pours a dark golden orange with minimal head and has an aroma of malt and pine. For a DIPA it is quite bitter but no real bite. It tastes like a regular IPA except for darker malt flavor and the hop profile, which tastes like the 68 IBU's it has, which is unusual for a DIPA. The hop flavor is usually a little more subdued. Good beer and a bit different from your normal Winter Ales. Rated 12-26-2021

Pours a chill-hazed amber/scarlet with 2 fingers of tan head. Good head retention & stellar lacing

S: Fairly bready, toffee, a little pine & citrus once closer to room temperature

T: Follows the nose, dryness, plenty of pine & some cakeyness up front. More dryness, pine, a touch of grapefruit, a little toffee once this beer is warmed up. Finishes piney, a little dry with some grapefruit & cakey notes

MF: Medium body, restrained carbonation, nice balance

A great no nonsense DIPA that is true to the roots of this brewery, nice drinkability

i liked the old wreck the halls that was normal strength, sort of english and winter warmer-esque, but i like this one a lot too. tons of breweries recycling names these days, always liked this name, and it makes sense as a double ipa, getting wrecked, which is easy to do with these. nice deep copper amber tone to this and an airy couple inches of lasting head, good clarity too, deeply malty looking, which fits the season and is sort of a tip of the cap to the original. neat aroma here, bitter citrus, grapefruit pith specifically to me, but a lot of malt for balance, hints of maple, hazelnut, and pennies, its earthy, just sweet enough, long boiled it seems and well concentrated, and vigorously bitter, the style has gone the other way lately, so this feels like a throwback. the flavor follows, bitter the whole way, some pine resin and bright lemon to it, also a lot of minerals, oils, and an almost sticky richness to it, but its not too sweet on the grain side, rather nicely balanced, and pretty clean on the ferment. i dont mind a little exposed alcohol here, it really only comes out at temperature, and there are lots of layers to this, its nutty, its baked, its lightly spicy with the hops, very classically northwestern and high alpha, but with a cool fruitiness and almost candied citrus thing going on with the hops and grains together. enough carbonation to keep it moving, this never really gets to heavy. nice and sturdy and sort of festive to me even without being spiced. i miss the old one but i like the new one too!

Review 1715
Wreck the Halls: Double IPA
Full Sail
DIPA
Date: 10/12/2021
I have not consumed a Full Sail in a while; this one was given to me. It is still within the freshness date. Dark copper color, charts around SRM 10. The pour created a creamy and frothy off-white head with excellent retention. I used a tulip glass, one of the first I got from Stone Brewing many years ago. The temperature is hovering around 46 degrees and holding. The slow dissipation left some lacing on the glass. The appearance is above average; nice to see a rock-steady head. 4.5
The malt in the beer is the first aroma I detect; they are bready, sweet, and doughy. Nosing deeper in the glass, I recognize pine, grapefruit, floral, orange, a touch of pineapple, and a touch of herbal for the hops. I took a few more whiffs from the glass; I could not add anything else.
The hops are on show here, big bright pine, resin, grapefruit, herbal, floral, oranges, and a slight hint of tropical. I am unable to discern what the tropical flavors are. The malt backbone is massive and holds the hops profile in check, maybe a touch too much. The malts are bready, lightly toasted, sweet, and earthy. At the backend of the beer, I sense some pharmaceutical.
The mouthfeel is tannic and bitter. The body is heavy, has medium carbonation, and has a lasting finish.
I was expecting a beast to walk out of this beer. The West Coast hop profile is meaty, giving the beast something to feed on. Yet, the balance is out of kilter. I feel the malt backbone tempered the hops a bit; furthermore; making it sweeter trying to cover up the bitterness. When I want an aggressive WCDIPA, let me feel the onslaught of hops. A decent beer, I would drink again.

Poured from a 16 ounce can into a snifter.

Look- Deep amber, fine visible particulate sediment, hazy, tan frothy head, average head retention and lacing.

Smell- Citrus, piney, bready.

Taste- Citrus, sweet, pine resin, slightly bready.

Feel- Medium body, very mild astringent finish, high bitterness, average carbonation, moderately creamy.

Overall- This beer was citrus forward followed by pine with a mild sweet bread flavor. I was expecting a much more malty experience based on color.

Revisit: 12 Jan 2022
16 oz. Can
PKG: 10/12/21

Poured into a Tree House glass a very nice dark golden amber color, with some very nice carbonation, with a very nice thick/creamy two-finger off-white head, which also leaves a very nice medium size island and some very nice sticky lacing behind. The nose is pretty nice, hoppy, malty, with a pretty nice citrus complex (orange, tangerine, grapefruit, pineapple, mango, guava), with a pretty nice pineyness. The taste is very nice, hoppy, malty, with a very nice citrus complex (orange, tangerine, grapefruit, pineapple, mango, guava), with a pretty nice pineyness. Medium body, ABV is hidden very nicely, with a pretty nice dry/bitter finish. Overall, this is a very tasty beer. Nice to see it around again.

From the American IPA Listing
Revisit: 5 Dec 2020
16 oz. Can
PKG: 10/23/20
ABV: 8.5%

Been 3 years since. Now in a can.

Poured into a Tree House glass a very nice dark golden amber color, with some very nice carbonation, with a very nice thick/creamy two-finger off-white head, which also leaves a very nice medium size island and some pretty nice sticky lacing behind. The nose is very nice, hoppy, malty, with a very nice citrus complex (orange, tangerine, grapefruit, pineapple, mango), with a pretty nice pineyness. The taste is very nice, hoppy, malty, with a very nice citrus complex (orange, tangerine, grapefruit, pineapple, mango), with a pretty nice pineyness. Medium body, ABV is hidden very nicely, with a pretty nice dry/bitter finish. Overall, this is a very tasty brew. Nice to see it around again.

 

Not sure what year they made the change, but this is clearly a different beer than was made previously.
Kinda' old school hops with an earthy foundation with hints of fruit. Golden brown with some some reddish tints and very clear. Tannish off-white head with a good amount of lacing.
For the clear and thin look it has some full malty richness, not too much but it's evident even with all the hop flavors. (as noted the brewery website they view it as a cross between a DIPA and a winter warmer). They also note "copious" centennial hops, thus my old school reference, I guess. Nice hop flavors and bitterness is soft and balanced but lends some taste on the longish finish.
A little thin and lacks the sticky feeling I like in this style. But it's nothing abhorrent.
Solid and enjoyable, and typically a decent value.