Full Sail Wreck The Halls (Brewmaster Reserve 2007)

With the exception of Sierra Nevada's Celebration, I consider this my first "real" Holiday beer for the 2007 season. Sampled on Turkey Day, no less.

I've always had a soft spot in my heart for this beer, since it was the very first beer that I went out of my way to get via beer trade -- through my contacts on rec.crafts.brewing (around 2002), so before even my BA days. I've always wondered what the guy I traded with thought of his AleSmth Speedway Stout.

Anyway, flash forward to the here-and-now. This beer? Very nice, though perhaps a bit heavy handed in the malt dept. Sure, I'm a big fan of the concept that any good IPA or what-have-you needs to have a solid malt backbone -- no backing away from that.

But..., there is something to be said for keeping things on an even keel. This reminded me of 3F's Dreadnaught, or the "Imperial Red-ish" version of YuleSmith...., with perhaps less of a hop kick upside the head. The piney/grapefruity hops in this copper-esqe brew get the job done, but could really step it up a notch.

Seemed to unbalance even further towards the malt once this warmed up some. And, oddly enough, the already unremarkable carbonation seemed to calm down even further as this warmed.

Not a bad beer, by any means. But it's going to have some serious trouble keeping pace with the rest of the hoppy IPA'ish holiday beers hitting the store shelves soon....
//TB