Full Sail Session Black Lager

Yet another West Coast brewery has invaded the Northeast! Run for the hills!

I think we’re going to like this “newcomer”, however. Full Sail, out of Hood River, Oregon, has been brewing for over twenty years, and made its mark up and down the left coast with their flagship IPA.

Fairly recently, they decided what the country truly needed was a “throwback” lager: simple, no-nonsense, easy-to-drink tasty beer, with a price to match. The normal Session Lager came first and was an immediate hit, not in small part due to the retro stubby bottle design and logo. Does it really matter that the bottle is only 11 ounces? Except that it’s kept out of states with arcane laws that restrict beer sales to specific bottle sizes, it’s not much of a drawback. The beer itself is the perfect lawnmower beer: low-ish in alcohol, thin-bodied, and immediately thirst-quenching.

The Session Black arrived shortly thereafter, and makes use of darker, roasty malts, but is still lagered in the hopes of keeping a clean, crisp finish without any fruity notes. The Session Black, like the regular Session, is a bit high in alcohol at 5.4% to be a true “session” beer — you’d rather a beer you’re planning to drink a lot of over the course of the day be lower than that so you don’t fall over very quickly, after all — but it’s the spirit in which the beers are brewed — but the spirit is there: it’s easy to relax your brain and not think about all the wondrous complexities in each bottle.

The Session Black pours a dark brown, as you can see, and nearly clear, picking up ruby highlights when held up to a lamp. Barely any head is kicked up during the pour, aside from a thin beige skim, but it’s plenty carbonated all the same.

The aroma is dominated by roasted barley, with a little mild coffee and even a little tobacco tucked away. The slightest bit of sourness pokes through sometimes as well. This sourness goes away in the taste, however, which isn’t as rough as I’d expect from the roasted grains. It’s more like an oatmeal stout in its smoothness — not “smooth” like the marketing-speak used in commercials about beer with little flavor — and richness, just a solid malty sweetness with twinges of hop bitterness around the edges. It’s a bit oily and slick on the tongue, too, which I guess adds to that “smooth” perception. It finishes clean if not particularly crisp, but like all well-made lagers there’s no fruitiness to speak of and I gladly go back for another taste till my glass is empty. Overall just a solid example of schwarzbier/black lager, as good as any I’ve come across.

I purchased this twelve-pack in Binghamton for $14.49, plus deposit and tax. I would venture it’s probably another dollar or two at Whole Foods, which should be stocking this now. I know on the West coast, $10-$11 is the norm, but as usual, everything in New York costs more, even upstate.

If you can’t find the Session Black, there are other ones you can seek out. Sam Adams makes a Black Lager, a version from Sprecher (out of Wisconsin) often shows up in our stores, and there’s the famous Kostritzer Schwarzbier that’s usually in any decent beer section. I think the Full Sail version is better, but that’s my personal preference.

A final note:

What could be more fun than a rousing game of bottlecap roshambo? When you’ve finished the twelve-pack, you’ll have plenty of playing pieces, and you can play against your friends without having to think about hand gestures. It’s the beer that keeps giving.