Redhook Long Hammer IPA

Brewed by Redhook Brewery
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Woodinville, Washington USA

Orange, with a white head. Aroma of, uh, beer, I guess. Flavor of beer, as well. It’s beer. If you can’t tell, it struggles to hold my interest...

A fairly straightforward hoppy aroma with traces of honey, dandelion and citrus. Invitingly amber and gold appearance...let’s enough light through to look refreshing, but has enough color to indicate substance. The head was pleasing, nicely dense and very white. A thin but notable layer remains on top even after the main one has burned away. The flavor was disappointingly skunky and sharp. It smooths out a bit after a few sips, but I find it a tad aggressive. Probably best with a perfectly paired food. The finish is as you might expect: hoppy, fairly dry and clingy.

On draft at Hemingway’s. Appearance of honey/amber with tight lacing even on my frosted glass. Not much aroma to speak of, some slight floral hops. Flavors provide a crisp and clean hops presence, lite fruits, subtle caramel malts, crackers, oats, bread. Lively carbonation and medium body--slightly thin for the taste. Very easy to drink, though. I enjoyed this beer; it actually enhanced the disappointingly bland food that I ordered. After a sip of this, I could taste the rosemary on my roast pork, Finally!

Some IPAs strike a perfect balance between the malt and the hops. This one, unfortunately did not. Some heavy bitter pine/citrus aromas were accompanied by a thin mouth feel and a nasty bitter back end.

Pouts amber with a haze and a large white head. Smells of citrus, some earthy hints, caramel. Tastes earthy with some peppery splashes and citrussy touches on the finish. Mouthfeel is watery.

Bottle. Pours a hazy golden color with a fizzy white head that disappears quickly and leaves some lacing in the glass. Aroma is very nice with pine, northern lights, and a hint of citrus dancing around in the smell. Taste is clean and lightly bitter with a reasonable amount of malt playing nicely with the bitter flavors of the hops. This beer is a nice change of pace for an I.P.A.... it uses the pine flavors and bitterness to create a refreshing summer style I.P.A. that won’t leave you begging for a glass of water after you are done with it because your mouth is so sticky you can’t talk.

Faint aroma of hops and pine, and pours pale gold with little head. Flavor isn’t bad, but bitterness isn’t up to par with other IPAs. Goes down easy.

A translucent light copper beer with a modest head that doesn’t last, a bit of sediment in the pout. Aroma is quite malty for an IPA, although cascade hops are there in the background. The flavor also does not scream hops to me like it should, malt is what stands out. Is a fair bit of hop bitterness in the finish, not enough for an IPA though.