Full Sail Brewing Sold To Sazerac / BuzzBallz – Immediate Closure
Story by:
Bil Corcoran
Full Sail Brewing Sale
The Full Sail Brewing sale to Sazerac / BuzzBallz marks a major change for one of Oregon’s best-known craft breweries. The transaction brings the brewery’s beer brands, including Full Sail and Session, under new ownership while raising questions about the future of its Hood River taproom and the people who built the business.
The immediate taproom closure is the part of this story that hits closest to home for local beer drinkers. A brewery can change hands, but a taproom is more than a place to buy beer. It is where customers meet the people behind the brand, where visitors experience the brewery firsthand, and where a local business becomes part of a community.
This article examines the sale, the companies involved, the Full Sail and Session brands, and what the closure means for Hood River and the wider craft beer industry.
Quick facts: Full Sail Brewing sale
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Brewery | Full Sail Brewing Company |
| Founded | 1987 |
| Location | Hood River, Oregon |
| New owner | Sazerac Company |
| Associated brand | BuzzBallz |
| Taproom closure | November 2, 2026 |
| Brands included | Full Sail and Session |
| Previous owner | Encore Consumer Capital |
| Brewery’s founding owners | Irene Firmat and Jamie Emmerson |
| Sale price | Not publicly confirmed |
| Reason for taproom closure | No official explanation confirmed |
The immediate closure of the Full Sail Brewing taproom was reported on November 3, 2026, following its final day of operation on November 2. This comment comes from Full Sail shift brewer Bart Prouty:
It with great sadness that I inform everyone here that Full Sail Brewing Company is no more.
On November 2nd, 2026 we were acquired by Sazerac and the Full Sail and Session brands officially died.I am the weekend brewing lead and was off on Monday. I got a message in the morning that the pub was closed and all restaurant staff was let go with one week of severance pay. I rushed down to the brewery to find out what the hell was going on. When I arrived, Sazerac was holding a meeting for the production staff. Even our brewmaster found out at this meeting.
We will continue our contracts making RTDs and other products while bringing on new ones. Beer will only be brewed for our existing contracts but who knows if the contracts will be renewed. We are now a 100% contract production facility.
Next year would’ve been 40 years that Full Sail has been making beer in Hood River. We just put in a 15 bbl pub/pilot system a little over a year ago and were able to finally start getting creative with new beers again. That is over.
To say that I am upset is an understatement.
A lot of breweries in the Columbia River Gorge have roots in Full Sail. Double Mountain, Everybody’s, pFriem, Kings and Daughters, Ferment, Solera… all opened by former Full Sail Brewers.
In this town, Full Sail wasn’t just the place to get a good burger and a beer. It was where your dad worked for 20 years. It was where you went to dinner before the homecoming dance. It was the place your sister learned to drive a forklift. It’s where you got a job bussing tables or working the packaging line when you came home from college for summer break. It’s where I met my wife. It was the company that put food boxes together for the neighbors when their house burned down just before Christmas. It was a pillar of the community.
I know that the craft beer industry has been changing for some time. We roll with the punches. We adapt with the hope that beer will come back around. Keeping the Full Sail and Session brands alive gave us that small hope. It seems that flicker of hope is now extinguished. Full Sail is no more.
For now, the production staff will keep our jobs and keep making beverages. My heart goes out to the community.
More importantly, my heart goes out to the pub staff. My friends and colleagues with whom we shared thanksgiving dinners with. With those we gave gifts to when their children were born. With those we cried with when their parents died. We were a family. No, we are family.
I want to thank the owners and staff of Kings and Daughters Brewing for giving former Full Sail employees a place to gather on Monday to grieve and fellowship together.
It’s been a long day. I’m tired. Raise a glass to the memory of Full Sail. Cheers.
Who owns Full Sail Brewing now?
Full Sail Brewing is now reported to be part of Sazerac, the privately held spirits company that owns BuzzBallz, Buffalo Trace Bourbon, Fireball Cinnamon Whisky, and numerous other beverage brands.
Sazerac is a family-owned company headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky. The company has built a large portfolio through acquisitions, including the purchase of BuzzBallz in 2024. Sazerac+1
The reported acquisition of Full Sail represents a significant change for a brewery that has been part of Oregon’s craft beer industry since 1987.
Full Sail began as Hood River Brewing Company, founded by Irene Firmat and Jamie Emmerson. The brewery eventually became known as Full Sail Brewing after the popularity of its Full Sail Amber Ale.
In 1999, the brewery became employee-owned through an employee stock ownership plan. That arrangement lasted until 2015, when employees voted to sell the company to Oregon Craft Brewers Co., an investment group formed by private equity firm Encore Consumer Capital.
The new Sazerac ownership marks another major transition in the brewery’s history.
Sazerac is not a traditional craft brewery owner
Sazerac’s business is built around a large portfolio of beverage brands, with a particular emphasis on spirits and ready-to-drink cocktails.
The company acquired BuzzBallz in 2024, bringing the popular ready-to-drink cocktail business into its portfolio. BuzzBallz was founded by Merrilee Kick, who remained involved with the company following the acquisition. PR Newswire+1
Sazerac’s acquisition of Full Sail adds a different kind of beverage business to that portfolio.
Full Sail is an established Oregon brewery with a long history, a recognizable regional identity, and a beer portfolio that includes Full Sail Amber Ale and Session Lager.
The question now is whether Sazerac intends to maintain that identity or use the acquisition primarily to expand its existing beverage business.
Why did the Full Sail taproom close immediately?
Why did the Full Sail taproom close immediately?The immediate closure of the Full Sail Brewing taproom is the most troubling part of the sale for local beer drinkers and brewery employees.
There has been no publicly confirmed explanation from Sazerac or Full Sail establishing why the taproom closed immediately after the sale.
That distinction matters.
It is reasonable to ask whether the closure was connected to the acquisition, whether the new owners intend to restructure the business, or whether the taproom had been operating at a loss. But without a statement from the companies, those remain possibilities rather than established facts.
The closure also does not automatically mean the brewery itself has stopped producing beer.
A taproom and a production brewery serve different purposes. The taproom provides a place for customers to drink beer, eat, meet friends, and experience the brewery. The production facility makes the beer that is distributed to stores, bars, and restaurants.
A company can close a taproom while continuing to manufacture and distribute its beer.
That is why the immediate closure raises questions about the future of Full Sail’s smaller-batch beers, experimental releases, and the people who worked in the brew pub, rather than proving that all Full Sail beer production has ended.
The human cost of the closure
The employees who worked in the Full Sail taproom are among the people most directly affected by the decision.
For a brewery that has been part of Hood River for nearly four decades, the loss of the taproom is more than a change in business operations.
It means losing a gathering place.
It means losing the people who served customers, poured beers, prepared food, and helped introduce visitors to Full Sail’s brewing history.
And it means that a brewery that once built its reputation around a local brew pub is now facing a future in which that part of the business has disappeared.
Full Sail and Session are included in the sale
One of the most important details in the Full Sail Brewing sale is that the Full Sail and Session brands are included in the transaction.
These are not minor labels buried in a larger portfolio. They are two of the brewery’s most recognizable names, and both have played an important role in Full Sail’s history.
Full Sail Amber Ale helped establish the brewery’s identity in the late 1980s, while Session Lager became one of its best-known beers after its introduction in 2005.
The Session brand has also expanded beyond its original lager. The brewery has produced additional Session beers, including a black lager, a Japanese rice lager, and a West Coast lager.
That history makes the inclusion of Full Sail and Session in the sale particularly significant.
Full Sail Amber Ale
Full Sail Amber Ale was one of the beers that helped turn the brewery into a recognizable name in Oregon.
The beer helped establish Full Sail’s identity during a period when craft brewing was still developing into a major part of the American beer market.
Amber ale offered a different experience from the mass-market lagers that dominated grocery store shelves. It brought more malt character, a deeper color, and a fuller flavor without becoming as heavy as some of the stronger craft beers that followed.
The beer also became closely associated with the brewery’s original identity.
Full Sail’s name itself grew out of the popularity of Full Sail Amber Ale, making the brand a particularly important part of the company’s history.
Session Lager
Session Lager became another defining beer for Full Sail.
The beer was introduced in 2005 and was designed around the idea of a refreshing lager that could be enjoyed over an extended period without the higher alcohol content associated with many craft beers.
Session helped establish a broader category of lower-alcohol craft beer, and the brand eventually expanded into additional styles.
For Full Sail, Session was more than a single beer. It became a platform for different lager releases and a way to reach drinkers who wanted a flavorful beer that remained relatively light.
The Session brand’s continued presence in the market could be one of the most important parts of the brewery’s future under Sazerac.
What happened to Full Sail Brewing?
Full Sail Brewing’s history reflects many of the major changes that have shaped the American craft beer industry.
The brewery opened in Hood River in 1987, during a period when small independent breweries were beginning to challenge the dominance of national beer brands.
Full Sail grew alongside that movement, building a reputation for its amber ale and later expanding into other styles.
In 1999, the company became employee-owned, giving its workers a direct stake in the business. That arrangement was unusual for a brewery of its size and helped establish Full Sail as an important part of Hood River’s local business community.
The employee-owned structure continued until 2015, when employees voted to sell the brewery to an investment group formed by Encore Consumer Capital.
The brewery’s later years were marked by a shift toward larger-scale production and a more focused beer portfolio.
That strategy helped Full Sail remain an established name in the market, but it also meant that some of the smaller experimental beers that once made the brewery interesting became less prominent.
The closure of the taproom raises questions about whether those smaller releases will continue.
What the sale means for Hood River
Hood River has a strong connection to outdoor recreation, tourism, and the craft beer industry.
Full Sail has been part of that identity for decades, attracting visitors who wanted to enjoy a beer while taking in the scenery of the Columbia River Gorge.
The taproom provided a place for customers to experience the brewery directly, rather than simply purchasing its beer from a store.
That connection is now changing.
The immediate closure means that visitors can no longer count on the Full Sail Brew Pub as a destination. It also removes a gathering place for local residents and people who have followed the brewery since its early years.
The economic impact is difficult to measure without additional information, but the closure clearly affects the employees who worked there and the customers who used the taproom.
There is also a broader question about what happens when a longtime local brewery becomes part of a much larger beverage company.
A national or international owner may have access to more distribution, greater financial resources, and a larger marketing operation. Those advantages can help a beer brand reach more customers.
But a brewery’s local identity is not always easy to preserve.
Full Sail’s history was built in Hood River, and the taproom was one of the places where that history was visible.
The loss of the pub does not erase that history, but it changes how people will experience the brewery going forward.
The future of Full Sail and Session beer
The biggest question for beer drinkers is what happens next.
Will Sazerac continue brewing Full Sail Amber Ale and Session Lager? Will the beers remain available in their existing markets? Will the company expand distribution or introduce new products?
Those questions have not been answered publicly in the reporting available so far.
The inclusion of Full Sail and Session in the sale means that the brands are part of the transaction, but it does not guarantee that every existing beer will continue to be produced.
The new owner could decide to focus on the most successful products, introduce new variations, or make changes to the brewery’s distribution strategy.
It is also possible that Sazerac sees value in preserving Full Sail’s established identity while using its broader beverage business to expand the brands.
For now, the future of the beer brands remains separate from the immediate closure of the taproom.
What about the smaller experimental beers?
One of the most interesting parts of Full Sail’s recent history has been its smaller-batch brewing.
The brewery has produced limited releases such as Wassail, Wreck the Halls, Top Sail Imperial Porter, Slipknot IPA, and various fresh-hop beers. These releases gave the brewery an opportunity to experiment with styles that were not part of its core lineup.
Without the taproom, those beers may be harder to showcase.
That does not mean they are guaranteed to disappear, but the closure removes an important place where customers could discover them.
For craft beer fans, the loss of those smaller releases would be disappointing because they offered a different side of Full Sail than the beers most commonly found in stores.
Full Sail Brewing sale: A turning point for an Oregon craft beer pioneer
The sale of Full Sail Brewing to Sazerac / BuzzBallz marks another major transition for a brewery that has been part of Oregon’s craft beer industry since 1987.
The company that began in Hood River as a small brewery built around Full Sail Amber Ale became employee-owned, was sold to private equity, and has now moved into the portfolio of a large family-owned beverage company.
The immediate closure of the taproom is the most visible sign of that change.
For the employees who lost their jobs, the closure is a sudden and painful end to their time at the brewery. For local residents and longtime customers, it means losing a familiar place to gather and enjoy Full Sail beer.
For the Full Sail and Session brands, the sale creates uncertainty about what comes next.
The beer brands are included in the transaction, but their future production, distribution, and identity under Sazerac remain questions that deserve answers.
Full Sail helped shape Oregon’s craft beer industry, and its history is worth remembering as the brewery enters this new chapter.
Discussion: What do you think about the Full Sail Brewing sale?
Do you think Sazerac will continue producing Full Sail Amber Ale and Session Lager under their existing names?
Was the immediate taproom closure the right business decision, or should the new owners have kept the Hood River brew pub open?
And what does this sale say about the future of independent craft breweries as more established brands become part of larger beverage companies?
Share your thoughts in the comments.
Frequently asked questions
Who owns Full Sail Brewing now?
Full Sail Brewing is reported to have been acquired by Sazerac, the privately held beverage company that also owns BuzzBallz, Buffalo Trace Bourbon, and numerous other brands.
Why did Full Sail Brewing close its taproom?
The Full Sail Brew Pub in Hood River closed on November 2, 2026, following the brewery’s change in ownership. The exact reason for the immediate closure has not been publicly confirmed.
Are Full Sail and Session included in the sale?
Yes. Full Sail and Session are included in the reported transaction, making their future under Sazerac an important part of the story.
Will Full Sail Amber Ale and Session Lager continue to be brewed?
That has not been confirmed publicly. The inclusion of the brands in the sale does not guarantee that every existing beer will continue to be produced.
Is Full Sail Brewing going out of business?
The taproom has closed, but that does not necessarily mean the brewery’s production and distribution operations have ended. The future of the beer brands remains uncertain.
Who founded Full Sail Brewing?
Full Sail Brewing was founded in Hood River, Oregon, in 1987 by Irene Firmat and Jamie Emmerson. The brewery initially operated as Hood River Brewing Company before becoming Full Sail Brewing.
Who owned Full Sail Brewing before Sazerac?
Full Sail became employee-owned in 1999 and was sold in 2015 to Oregon Craft Brewers Co., an investment group formed by Encore Consumer Capital.
Related mybeerbuzz.com articles
Full Sail Brewing’s sale to Sazerac / BuzzBallz is another major development in the changing craft beer industry. The brewery’s history, including its employee-owned years and the rise of Session Lager, offers important context for understanding the latest news. For readers interested in other brewery changes and industry developments, explore more craft beer news and brewery coverage on mybeerbuzz.com, including stories about brewery acquisitions, taproom closures, and the future of independent beer brands.
Make the related-links block more specificTighten the promotional closing
Related news from mybeerbuzz.com:
Full Sail Brewing‘s sale to Sazerac / BuzzBallz is another major development in the changing craft beer industry. The brewery’s history, including its employee-owned years and the rise of Session Lager, offers important context for understanding the latest news. For readers interested in other brewery changes and industry developments, explore more craft beer news and brewery coverage on mybeerbuzz.com, including stories about brewery acquisitions, taproom closures, and the future of independent beer brands.
zzubreebym
Comments 0
No Readers' Pick yet.