Full Sail Brewing Company is a

craft brewery Craft beer is beer manufactured by craft breweries, which typically produce smaller amounts of beer than larger "macro" breweries and are often independently owned. Such breweries are generally perceived and marketed as emphasising enthusiasm, ne ...

in Hood River,

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Founded in 1987, Full Sail was the first commercially successful craft brewery to bottle beer in the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (PNW; ) is a geographic region in Western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though no official boundary exists, the most common ...

for retail sale, and one of Oregon's early microbreweries. The first beer packaged was Full Sail Golden Ale, followed in 1988 by Full Sail Imperial Porter, Full Sail Amber Ale, and Wassail Winter Ale.

History

The first year's total production of 287 barrels was brewed by four employees, followed by 2,200 barrels the next year. In 2007, Full Sail brewed more than 120,000 barrels. Based upon beer sales volume, Full Sail is the ninth largest craft brewery in the United States, the second largest craft brewer in Oregon, and the seventeenth largest brewery in the United States. Full Sail became

employee-owned Employee stock ownership, or employee share ownership, is where a company's employees own shares in that company (or in the parent company of a group of companies). US employees typically acquire shares through a share option plan. In the UK, Emp ...

in July 1999 through an

employee stock ownership plan Employee stock ownership, or employee share ownership, is where a company's employees own shares in that company (or in the parent company of a group of companies). US employees typically acquire shares through a share option plan. In the UK, Emp ...

with the 47 employees. In March 2015, the employees voted to sell to Oregon Craft Brewers Co., an investment group formed by

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

-based

private equity Private equity (PE) is stock in a private company that does not offer stock to the general public; instead it is offered to specialized investment funds and limited partnerships that take an active role in the management and structuring of the co ...

firm Encore Consumer Capital. Their rebranding was led by a Portland-based design and strategy firm calle
Sandstrom
In 2022, Full Sail brought on head brewmaster Andrew Lamont, formally the brewmaster at Old Town Brewing in Portland. In 2024, Full Sail hired Garrett Meier as the VP of Brewery Operations. Garrett brings a wealth of experience from his tenure at Anheuser-Busch. At Anheuser-Busch, Garrett held several key roles where he significantly contributed to operational efficiencies and innovation in brewing processes. His leadership in brewery operations and his extensive background in the beer industry are expected to greatly benefit Full Sail Brewing Company as it continues to expand and innovate in the craft beer market.

Products and locations

In May 2005, Full Sail introduced Session Premium Lager, a tribute to pre-

Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic b ...

beers and bottled in a stubby bottle. In 2007, Full Sail introduced a line of limited edition lager beers, called LTD#1 and LTD#2. LTD#3, a pilsner, debuted in May 2009. In July 2009 Full Sail added a new beer to their session line releasing Session Black Lager, also in the stubby 11 oz bottle. The brewery is known for its quality microbrewed beers, most notably its trademark Amber Ale. Full Sail is located in the

Columbia River Gorge The Columbia River Gorge is a canyon of the Columbia River in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. Up to deep, the canyon stretches for over as the river winds westward through the Cascade Range, forming the boundary between the state ...

in the city of

Hood River, Oregon Hood River is a city in and the county seat of Hood River County, Oregon, United States. It is a port on the Columbia River, and is named for the nearby Hood River. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 8,313. It is the only city in O ...

. The Full Sail brewery, pub, and tasting room are all located at the same site in downtown Hood River. Brewery tours are available daily, free of charge. In July 2003, Full Sail began contract brewing three beers for

SABMiller SABMiller plc was an Anglo–South African multinational brewing and beverage company headquartered in Woking, England on the outskirts of London until 10 October 2016 when it was acquired by AB InBev for US$107-billion. It was the world's sec ...

under the almost 150-year-old

Henry Weinhard's Blitz-Weinhard was a brand of beer first brewed in 1856 in Portland, Oregon. The brewery was owned by the brewer Henry Weinhard of the Weinhard family, who also made a line of soft drinks which survives to this day. The Blitz-Weinhard brand wa ...

brand: Henry Weinhard's Hefeweizen, Northwest Trail Blonde Lager, and Amber Light. SABMiller had purchased the brands from Stroh's in 1999, and for a few years had moved their production to its

Tumwater, Washington Tumwater is a city in Thurston County, Washington, United States. The population was 25,350 at the 2020 census. The city is situated near where the Deschutes River enters Budd Inlet, the southernmost point of Puget Sound; it also borders the s ...

brewery until it closed in 2003. There is also a smaller Full Sail brewhouse in

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

which serves as their research and development center and is where the small batch Brewmaster Reserve and Brewer's Share beers are concocted. An arrival route into

Portland International Airport Portland International Airport is a joint civil–military airport and the largest airport in the U.S. state of Oregon, accounting for 90% of the state's passenger air travel and more than 95% of its air cargo. It is within Portland's city li ...

, the TMBRS (Timbers) has successive waypoints named FFULL, SSAIL, MYCRO, BBREW, and PUBBB (Full Sail microbrew pub).

Awards

The Full Sail brewery has earned many honors for its beers, some of which include: *Twelve gold medals for Amber Ale at the

World Beer Championships The world is the totality of entities, the whole of reality, or everything that exists. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the world as unique, while others talk of a "plu ...

*Four gold medals and six silver medals for Pale Ale at the

*Five gold medals for India Pale Ale at the

*Three gold medals for LTD 01 at the

*Session Premier Lager named World's Best Premium Lager at the World Beer Awards *Session Black Lager was awarded a Gold Medal at the 2009 Great American Beer Festival *Session Black Lager was awarded a Gold Medal at the 2010

World Beer Cup The World Beer Cup is an international beer competition organized by the Brewers Association, a trade group A trade association, also known as an industry trade group, business association, sector association or industry body, is an organizatio ...

References

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External links

Full Sail Brewing Company
official website Employee-owned companies of the United States Beer brewing companies based in Oregon Columbia River Gorge Companies based in Hood River, Oregon 1987 establishments in Oregon American companies established in 1987 Food and drink companies established in 1987