Ladies and gentleman, life is good. Don’t believe me? Then you weren’t at the Full Sail Beer Tasting at the Pub last Friday. This was the Pub’s second annual beer tasting with this brewery, and Lloyd Hammel, a representative of Full Sail Brewery, was kind enough to fly up here to host the event.
            The event started off a little late, mostly due to the vast majority of guests arriving late. This worked out nicely, however, as I had my run of the snack tray. Once things got settled, the first beer was brought out: Session Lager. If you’re into light lagers, look for this beer in a short bottle and red label similar to Red Stripe. A similarity that prompted a short lecture from Hammel. The Pale Ale and India Pale Ale had an unusual relationship. The Pale seemed stronger and dry. Zody, my partner in crime for the night, took note that the IPA taste lingered for some minutes after the drinking. The Amber was unremarkable but went well with beer nuts… or was it the Wassail that did well with nuts? I should have taken better notes.
            There were many people taking notes that night. The event organizers were good enough to give away papers giving details on particular brews and even a list of the beers for people to write comments and take said notes. This wasn’t just pretension: between each tasting, Hammel had a raffle drawing giving away Full Sail paraphernalia. The lucky person would win a prize of his or her choosing only after answering a question from the crowd concerning information learned at the beer tasting. This was one of the more fun aspects of the night, as it allowed the crowd to participation in a larger degree when they tried to out-due each other with tough or obscure questions. The people who attended are sure to remember the incident when one winner corrected a questioner on the answer to a Time’s Man of the Year question.
            Not satisfied with just the knowledge freely given in Hammel’s very thorough speeches, some people asked additional questions concerning the Full Sail brews. You have got to be proud of the student body when people ask beer and brewing questions that stump the number five employee of Full Sail.
            The crowd became louder as the night progressed. On more than one occasion Hammel had to get our attention like a grade school teacher. By the time the Wassail was passed out (a winter seasonal beer associated with the holiday season) the noise had developed into a buzz of merriment. One aesthetically pleasing feature of the Wassail was it’s chocolate malt colored head. Of the five beers so far mentioned, the Wassail is my favorite.
            But by far, the most interesting beer of the night was the Vesuvius Reserve. Named after the famous volcano that buried the Roman city of Pompeii, this beer is aptly named. A very lightly colored beer, the first drink took me completely by surprise with its very strong taste. When trying to identify it, it hints at berry, but it’s not. It teases as lager, but it’s not. In a fashion, this beer is a tease. You like it, but you don’t know why. The fact that there are only ten cases of Vesuvius left in Alaska is a testament to its charm.
            The last two beers to be sampled were the Sun of Spot IPA and the Boardhead Barley Wine. The Sun of Spot struck me as an amalgamation of the previously mentioned Pale Ale and IPA. By the time the Barley Wine came along, I’m afraid my pallet was a little too dulled to evaluate it and even it’s 9% alcohol content went unnoticed. After all was done, the guests were free to have the beer that went unused in the initial tasting, and the band Means to an End starting playing soon after.
            Tickets for beer and wine tastings range from ten to twenty dollars. For those who missed the fun this time, there are four beer tastings and two wine tastings scheduled for later this semester. All but one of the six takes place in November, so keep an eye out for these fun events.