Beverage World magazine has chosen Full Sail Brewing as “Craft Brewer of the Year.” The publication cites Full Sail for 26 years of “sustainable stewardship, quality, consistency and operational ingenuity.”
“It’s a great honor to receive this recognition from Beverage World,” Irene Firmat, Full Sail’s Founder and CEO, said for a press release. “When we founded Full Sail in 1987 there were only a handful of small breweries in the country and we were fortunate to be one of those early, pioneering brewers. We were inspired by the idea of bringing a fresh perspective to American beer culture by emphasizing complexity, creativity, and sophistication. We believe that one of life’s greatest joys is in celebrating moments big and small with friends, family, good food, and of course, good beer. The craft beer industry has grown and changed tremendously over these 26 years, as there are now over 3,000 breweries nationwide. Within this intensely competitive framework, we are thrilled that Full Sail has been named Craft Brewer of the Year. It is with a sense of pride and deep appreciation that we acknowledge this accolade from Beverage World.”
In the magazine, Firmat said, “Our idea of being sustainable is what our grandparents used to call being cheap.And that’s how we really like to talk about it because sometimes it can feel so esoteric, like ‘you can’t afford to do this, or that.’ But part of it for us is that because we’re an employee-owned company, things have to make financial sense. And all of the things we do from a sustainability point of view are sustainable not just for the environment, but financially as well. That’s where it gets interesting because you can engage a lot of people and not have it be, ‘I’m holier than thou’ or ‘I’m this green purist.’ No, it’s really good for business.”