Redhook Winterhook

Brewed by Redhook Brewery
Style: English Strong Ale
Woodinville, Washington USA

From a bottle poured a nice amber/brown color with a fair amount of head. Nice rich hoppy flavor with a good finish.

Had this one on draught at Scotland Yard in St. Charles, Illinois. Clear, deep copper color with a thick, orangy-tan head, wonderful nutty and hoppy aroma, a bit of clove and allspice; sweet, piney hops, balanced with nutty maltiness. Mild and bitter finish. Really good, but pricey.

Draft at the Woodinville brewpub. Crystal clear toffeeish amber with scant gray head. Musty, sweaty, bready nose. Medium body, very little carb. Mild. Roasty, toasty brown bread on the mid-palate, and sour in an almost rye-like way. Are they using a central keg line back there or something? Not much finish. Company says it "tastes like watered-down whiskey."

In typical Red Hook fashion, nothing on the label of this beer or its six-pack, which I thankfully did not have to buy, tells anything about what this beer is supposed to be. They just figure that the Bud distributors will throw it into the supermarkets, and Joe Schmoe who doesn’t know any better, but knows enough to want better than Buttwiper, will buy it because it says winter, so it must be a winter micro brew. Reddish copper color. Absolutely deviod of aroma or flavor, not to mention character of any kind. I hope my drain won’t be offended.

This is a good looking beer. The taste is not overpowering, but a strong, malty flavor definitely comes out. I don’t know what kind of hops they used but I would prefer something different.

not a bad beer, but for an english strong ale, there’s just not enough to taste. it’s rather piney tasting but there’s a nice cascade hop smell and it’s a pretty beer to look at. bottle from mollie stones palo alto, ca

Bottle. Copper and translucent. Not much in the realm of aroma. Faint hop aroma, maybe. The malt and hop flavor is light, what a let down. This one should not be a winter beer. It is neither rich nor hearty. The alcohol is too low and this beer does not deliver the winter goods.

10/9/07 From September ’05 bottle. Aroma is complex, with dark dried fruit (primarily raisins), alcohol, earthy hops and quite portlike overall. Appearance is a deep red with a good off-white head. Flavor is sweet, dark fruity malt forward with same graininess and faint resiny hop flora. Mouthfeel is fairly grainy with a medium/high carb feel. Overall, this is definitely the best Winterhook I’ve had. The recipe jumps around each year, but I think that this ’05 aged to the point that the carb texture drops would be one of the excellent winter warmers; I wish I’d saved my other bottles longer.

10/15/07 On draught. Aroma is c-hop forward followed by light caramel. Appearance is hazy gold with a medium off white head. Flavor is sweet malt forward with moderate bittering and good hop citrus. Mouthfeel is medium-high bodied with a medium-high carb bite, good graininess, and leaves a dry feeling on the tongue; slightly warm. While this does have very good balance, I find I do miss the winter warmer flavor.