Haven’t I had Full Sail E.S.B. before? Yes, I think that I have. In fact, I know I have. But the beer under consideration tonight, Full Sail E.S.B., is not that beer. Sound confusing? It is, I grant you. See, Full Sail has brewed an Extra Special Bitter (E.S.B.) in the past. The beer I’m drinking tonight is an Extra Special Bitter, and it has the initials E.S.B. proudly emblazoned on the label.

In this case, however, those initials stand for Extra Special Barney. That’s a play on the fact that, while this beer is in the ESB style, it was brewed by Barney Brennan. See? It all makes sense now. Actually, Full Sail Extra Special Barney is part of this Hood River, Oregon based brewer’s specialty series called the Brewer’s Share.

The label is made to look like a share of stock, and indeed tells you that you have purchased one (1) brewer’s share in their IPO (initial pub offering). OK, enough with the acronyms already. How is the beer? To start with, it’s good to note that Barney Brennan concocted a mix of five different malts along with Challenger hops to make his ESB. The end result is a beer with 35 IBUs and 6.5% alcohol by volume.

I paid a reasonable $6.99 for my bottle at Total Wine, and part of the proceeds from that sale go to Barney’s favorite charity, Columbia Gorge Arts in Education.

Full Sail Extra Special Barney pours to a rich amber color with a thick creamy head formation and an appetizing fruit and caramel nose. Taking a sip, the beer has a firm chewy caramel malt body, and that’s really the most prominent feature of the brew. Some fruity apple peeks through, and a gentle herbal grassy English hop bitterness shows up at the last.

Overall, Full Sail ESB has a very nice mouth feel to it, and is a pleasant and drinkable ale. Nice job, Barney. What will you brew up next?

Home