Full Sail Brewing Celebrates American Craft Beer Week (May 12-18) with
Brewer's Share ESB Brewery Invites you to "Meet the Brewer and the Beer"

This year Full Sail celebrates 21 years of doing what they love, brewing beer. "To kick off our 21st birthday celebrations, we're proud to announce a new line up of small batch draft beers called 'Brewer's Share'. As brewers we know the best way to celebrate is to brew a special beer - but we came up with so many creative ideas, so many brewers, so many beers, that we could not stop at just one. Instead we are giving all of our brewers a chance to brew their own beer with our Brewer's Share series," said Irene Firmat, Full Sail's Founder and CEO. The first beer in the series is "Extra Special Barney" (ESB) and was developed by Full Sail's lead brewer, Barney Brennan. The brewery will launch this special beer during American Craft Beer Week, (May 12-18) an event that is celebrated annually and highlights the industry and culture of craft beer.

"At Full Sail we believe it is always good to know who makes your beer. That is why we are so proud of being employee owned. Making the commitment to our customers that everywhere in the process you have an owner's passionate involvement. Now we would like to take that belief one step further and to introduce our individual brewers by name and beer," continued Firmat.

Full Sail invites you to "Meet the Brewer and the Beer" at their Riverplace Brewery in Portland on Monday, May 12 at 5:00pm or at the Full Sail Tasting Room and Pub on Thursday May 15 at 5:00pm. "This is a great way to give our customers a chance to meet the brewer who crafted the beer and gives the brewers a chance to show off their mad brewing skills," added Jamie Emmerson, Full Sail's Executive Brewmaster. So come celebrate 21 years of brewing history and American Craft Beer Week with Full Sail and raise a pint or two of Brewer's Share ESB with brewer Barney Brennan.

When asked where the inspiration came from for the name "Brewer's Share", Barney Brennan, replied, "There is that mysterious portion that vanishes from a barrel during aging that brewer's refer to as the 'angel's share', that led me to 'Brewer's Share', an equally mysterious offering that appears during inspiration." According to Brennan, his ESB was inspired by two things; a perfect beer moment and the aromatic highlight of the 2007 hop selection in Yakima, a US Challenger hop. "Sitting on the deck at the brewery overlooking the river in the sunshine - drinking a perfectly balanced bitter - already looking forward to the second pint. It was one of those great beer moments. Hopefully, my ESB will make one of those moments for someone else with its five different specialty malts and this one very special hop. We made it entirely with US Challenger hops including a pound per barrel dry hop because we wanted to share the aromatic experience we had at the Hop Rub in Yakima with our customers," added Brennan.

Full Sail's Brewer's Share beers will only be available on tap at Full Sail's Tasting Room and Pub in Hood River, Oregon, and at Full Sail's Brewery at Riverplace, in Portland, Oregon. Each Full Sail brewer will take a turn hand-crafting a small single batch recipe of their choosing. The brewery will present a single Brewer's Share at a time. A new beer will be released approximately every six weeks. "The brewer's have been keeping their Brewer's Share recipes close to the vest, each new recipe will be announced only upon its release," added Emmerson. The next Brewer's Share will be crafted by Full Sail brewer, Gregorio Lizama, and is expected in early July.

The independent and employee-owned Full Sail brewery is perched on a bluff in Hood River, Oregon, overlooking the most epic wind and kite surfing spot in the world. At this very moment 47 specialists in the liquid refreshment arts are crafting barley and hops into your next beer. The Full Sail crew has been fermenting godlike nectar since 1987. Their award winning brews are now available in nineteen states. The Full Sail Tasting Room and Pub is open seven days a week. Swing by for a pint, grab a bite, tour the brewery, or just soak up the view.

For more information about American Craft Beer Week and a list of brewery celebrations by state please visit: www.americancraftbeerweek.org and for more information on Full Sail Brewing Company please visit: www.fullsailbrewing.com