Between the frozen glaciers of Mt. Hood and the swift current of the Columbia River lies the quaint town, population 5000, of Hood River.  I had been informed, before my recent trip to Oregon, that the area of the country contains a surprising amount of good breweries, so I decided to see for myself.

I came across Full Sail, which is named after the multitude of wind surfers and kite surfers on the Columbia River, one balmy afternoon and decided I could use some good drink and good grub.  The entrance of the brew-pub gives a view of the giant vats they use to ferment their various droughts.  Upon entering the main room, which has stunning views of the Columbia River and its surrounding foothills, my party and I made the decision to sit outside on the porch.  I fear that we were in error, as in the state of Oregon you can smoke in the outside portion of a restaurant and many were taking advantage of this fact.  In addition, the ventilation from the kitchen was quite near the deck and so the various smells, all good mind you, could be a bit distracting and overpowering at times.  Full Sail does command a decent view; however, any house a little further up the hill has a much better view, take that as you will. 

Our waitress arrived to give us menus and explain a little bit about the brewery.  The menu was a gourmet version of your general pub fair.  I chose to have the calamari for an appetizer and then a good ol’ American style burger for my full meal.  To my surprise the burger came with a choice of salad, fries, or soup.  When the waitress informed me that the soup of the day was shrimp and sausage gumbo I immediately forgot that fries and salad even existed and insisted that my burger be accompanied by a delicious bowl of the spicy concoction. 

I was incredibly impressed with the prices of their beer.  All pints were $2 or $3, depending on weather it was a limited edition brew or not.  They also offered a sampler of 7 beers, each in its own 4oz. glass, for $6.  I figured this would be the way to go as I wanted to try as much as possible. 

They beer came out, predictably, before the food and the waitress kindly explained a little bit about each elixir.  Overall I would say that the beer was good.  Notice I did not say great, put I also did not say fair.  In general it was what you would expect from any micro-brewery, but nothing truly outstanding.  My host in Oregon, who was eating with me, informed me the best beer at Full Sail, called Wreck The Halls, was not on the menu that day.  This gives me an excuse to return to the west coast at some point and have a pint of the “one that got away.”