Posted By kkozlen on Jul 20, 2010 | 1 comment

It’s my last night in Hood River, and very, very early tomorrow morning I head to Portland to brew at Full Sail’s Riverplace location.  So, before I left Hood River, I thought I’d step right behind my hotel and enjoy a Full Sail Session Black Lager while the sun set over the Columbia River Gorge.  This is a beautiful place that I’ll always remember and I couldn’t think of a better place to do this review.

As you can see, it comes in a stubby 11oz bottle that is a twist off.  When I poured it into my tiny hotel room glass, it had a deep brown/light black color.  There wasn’t much carbonation, only a small ring around the top of the glass.  The aroma was chocolaty and slightly caramelly.

When I took a drink, it had a very light body.  At first I noticed a slightly dark caramel flavor, followed by a chocolately roastiness.  There was a bit of roasty nuttiness in the finish, which was fairly dry.  The roasty flavor lasted for a bit in my mouth.  It had an interesting bitterness that I couldn’t tell if it was from the hops or the roasted malts.

If I had to pair this with a food, I think I’d put it with some BBQ, maybe a pulled pork sandwich at a picnic or party.  Overall, it is a lighter beer with some flavor to it, good for a hot summer evening, when you’re looking for something a little light to wind down from the day, but with still with complex flavors.