By KIRBY NEUMANN-REA
News Editor
September 28, 2007

Twenty years since it began brewing, the employee-owners of Full Sail Brewery are, like the bottle caps say, “stoked to brew.”

On Sept. 27, 1987, Full Sail started bottling beers.

“I grew up with this company,” said Greg Knutson, who started as a bottler at $5 an hour, worked for a number of years as a brewer, and has been human resources manager since 1994.

“It’s great to have been here at the start — I think I’m hire number two or three — and to be part of such a great success story,” Knutson said.

How has the beer changed in that time, Brewmaster Jim Kelter was asked.

“It hasn’t,” he quickly responded.

“The Amber is the same beer today as it was the first day it was made,” said Kelter, an 18-year employee.

It is the 20-year mainstay Amber that accompanies the main course in the Brewmasters Dinners that Full Sail introduced Thursday.

At 4 p.m. that afternoon, a crowd formed at the door of the recently refurbished pub. Within an hour, the four-course Brewer’s Dinner was sold out. (They continue Thursday, 4-8 p.m., at $20 per person; the dinner can be ordered along with any other menu item.)

Executive Brewmaster Jamie Emmerson and Chef Ron Penrose crafted a menu that starts with crab cakes and seasonal Lupulin ale, moves to corn chowder and LTD 2, then to the Amber ale and stuffed pork chops.

“Rich and full-bodied with a balance of caramel and Cascade hops, Amber is the perfect match with this course,” Emmerson and Penrose write in the menu notes that go with the Brewer’s dinner. “The bacon, hazelnuts, and local apples of the stuffing, along with the sweetness of the Pale Ale wort and sherry reduction, enhance the delicate caramel and herbal hop flavors of Amber ale. These flavors complement the richness of this pork chop locally sourced from Mountain Shadow.”

The dinner finishes with 20th anniversary Doppelbock and marionberry cobbler and ice cream.

The brewer’s dinner is designed to integrate Full Sail’s ales with food dishes made, for the most part, from locally produced ingredients.

“For us exploring beer flavors and food combinations has been a long-held passion,” said Irene Firmat, co-founder and CEO of Full Sail Brewing Company.

“So we can’t think of a better way to celebrate our 20th anniversary than by launching our new Brewmaster’s Dinner at the pub.” Recent pub and kitchen renovations and the hiring of Penrose in May were key ingredients to Full Sail’s ability to put together the Brewmaster’s dinners in its Hood River pub.

Firmat sees the 20th anniversary as an opportunity to take stock of the company’s successes.

“I am proud of Full Sail’s achievements in 20 years. We’re tremendously proud of our excellent beers, and we’re very humbled and grateful for the wondrous environment that makes it all possible,” Firmat said.

Firmat said the employees at Full Sail do their best to be stewards of their environment and are dedicated to operating the brewery in the most socially and environmentally sustaining manner possible.

She said the employees have taken steps to operate the brewhouse and offices in a sustainable manner every day.

Some of the company’s sustainability measures include:

• Using energy-efficient lighting and air compressors, and compressing the work week into four productive days, which helps reduce water and energy consumption by 20 percent.

• Reducing its consumption to a mere 3.45 gallons, compared to breweries’ average of 6 to 8 gallons of water for every gallon of beer produced; the brewery operates its own on-site wastewater treatment facility.

• Using local farms to supply the other essential ingredients for award-winning brews: 85 percent of hops and 95 percent of barley come straight from Northwest farms.

• Using 100 percent recycled paperboard on all its packaging — everything from office paper to glass to stretch wrap to wooden pallets is recycled.