Winterhook
Redhook Brewlab

 

 

 

I got a can of this beer from a Holiday 24pck that I bought from my local Target store. It poured a clear amber with off white head that is not leaving any lace. The scent had subtle sweet malt with bitter finishing hop notes. The taste was nicely balanced and easy to drink with light caramel malt base with bitter hop finish. The mouthfeel was lighter in body with good carbonation. Overall it is a good beer.

 

 

12oz stubby bottle. I bought this at the time of the 'Redhook Brewlab' revival beers and bringing them to various college parties

This was dark brown, spicy smelling and tasting, not particularly memorable or tasty

 

Look: It pours brown with a tan head. Head retention is medium.

Smell: It is malty with a spicy and malt combination. It has a potato like note with a slight bit of mustiness.

Taste: It has malty flavors with a bit of chocolate and potato. There are some spices to is as well.

Feel: It has a medium body with moderate bitterness.

Overall, it has a odd combination of flavors, however, it is easy drinking.

12 oz. bottle of REDHOOK WINTERHOOK (Hoppy Brown Ale) from new 2019 fall hoppy hook mix 12 box on sale for $12, so of course. Cheaper than Budweiner sake...
Poured into mug, it's a dark, clear brown , with nice full 2-3 finger head that falls at. nice pace, and leaves lacing in the re-used mug.
There are some nice smells politely present, but I cannot really identify them
Taste-wise, it's pretty basic, and not really good enough to follow anything else like a good porter or stout, but it may be a good first/last/dinner beer on a cool evening. Nothing offensive, but not much in the malts or body of it. Fairly pleasant but nothing to really adhere to and describe . Dry and hoppy, so it is as advertised. May be better as a fall/summer beer.
The feel of the beer is nice, smooth, has enough body, and is well-carbonated.
Overall, it's a weak pedestrian dark beer with more booze than a usual brown. Low-brow holiday party beer maybe?
Should be good enough for a Thursday night game and some crappy snacks/snappy cracks, but it's honestly not that great.

 

 

 

The 2018 version is a hoppy dark lager. It’s malty on the nose and palate, but has a nice herbal hop bitterness as well. It’s crisp and clean and goes down way too easily.

 

 

 

12 oz in a tulip:
Look: Mahogany, looks like Ice tea. 1/2 finger head that was a foamy cream. Beautiful looking beer.
Smell: Delicious. chocolate, raspberry, hint of orange. Nutmeg, spices, slight fruity hop character.
Taste: fruity malty front that turns a fruity bitter. Finishes slightly more earthy bitterness but alternates with a dark fruit.
Feel: about average. Wish it was a bit thicker and syrupy.
Overall: solid winter beer.

 

 

12 oz 2016-17 bottle.
Pours with a dark mahogany body that has excellent clarity and is topped by a durable, foamy beige head. Soapy lacing.
Aroma mildly to moderately spicy.
Flavor: winter spices, moderate in strength, with earthy hops and faint dark bread. Moderately bitter.

Overall: a good hoppy dark ale with limited winter spices.

 

Reviewing this #30 way late but I lucked out because it is still so good. If it was going to be nasty because i let it age too long, I was just going to wait until WH #33 came out to review it.

Very pinkish copper-amber, semi-opaque. Head of fluffy, foamy, chunky, well-retaining golden tan. Decent lacing. Aromas of resin, leather, a little gingerbread, and just a pinch of dark or caramelized fruit. Palate definitely has a caramel and slight dark fruit backdrop, but the hops and spices all but overwhelm these, with a burst of dankness, leaf matter, a handful of nondescript winter spices, and extreme peppercorn well before retro-olfaction. Medium to nearly full in body, well-carbonated enough to not seem overly thick, soft suds at first, but prickles by the finish at a standard drinking pace. Mildly astringent.

 

 

Not too sure what to say about this one. It's very good and very warming as the type suggests. But I've never had anything like it so I can't compare it to much. Mildly spicy with aspects from both a darker beer and a maltier beer.

Surprisingly I liked this more than expected. Most winter ales are too sweet, spicy or malty. This is well balanced and not loaded with shit that doesn't belong in beer. It does finish a little bitter, but that's okay with me. I think the low ratings are the result of the reviewers expecting lots of nutmeg, allspice, cloves or some other ingredient that doesn't belong.

This is for the 32nd bottling of Winterhook, purchased in a 12-pack on 1/7/2017, poured into a pilsner glass.

Pours a darkish brown. Good malty smell. Initial sip is malty with some nutty undertones. This lasts for a solid 3-4 seconds, but then gives way to an overpoweringly bitter aftertaste. Finished two and then gave up on it. Can't drink anymore.

Not a good representation of the style, and not a good beer overall.

 

 

Pours cloudy brown with an off white head. Head and lacing present. The smell is toasted nutty.

The taste is pretty nice nutty with some malt up front. Where this goes wrong is the mid to aftertaste. Any nutty malt is overpowered by a very bitter smoky burnt taste on the back of my tongue. The off putting bitterness lingers and lingers. There are not enough malts to help balance this very bitter ale.

Burnt and bitter are not two qualities I look for in a winter ale. Not recommended.

 

 

 

 

Take note of the verbiage from the "Notes / Commercial Description" portion of this entry which reads: "The recipe changes slightly every winter because nobody likes getting the exact same Holiday present year after year." This means that you should be reviewing each and every iteration on an annual basis. As of today (W, 07 Dec 2016), #'s 1 - 31 are retired. This year's is their 32nd batch. I will enter my review for that one and every other one that I can find or live to procure here, but this is a master entry, with every year being unique, ala Anchor Christmas.

2016 (#32): Another Pop! of the cap to begin this review. I would like to think that every Pop! is one-of-a-kind, but it is hard to tell. I do know that every pour and its result is different each time. An initially heavy-handed pour started a pseudo-cascade which turned into two-plus fingers of dense, rocky, light-tan head with very good retention. Color was Coppery-Brown (SRM = > 17, < 22) with NE-quality clarity. The nose, while malty, had a very noticeable earthiness, kind of like drying/dried hay. Mouthfeel was medium. I allowed it to lazily roll around on my tongue to bring out a base, earthy bitterness. I was put on mind of a wet-hopped AIPA in terms of its earthy bitterness. I keep mentioning bitterness, but it was not overpowering or off-putting. I was just kind of surprised by it, especially in the style. I found it to be eminently drinkable, developing a toasty breadiness as it warmed. I have to admit to expecting an overly spiced ale with a relatively high ABV, but I was not at all disappointed not to get it. I also got a light nuttiness with it as it warmed. The takeaway may be to let it live up to its style and let it warm before settling in for a drink. Finish was semi-dry to dry. I really liked the earthiness of the hops & malts & now I anticipate the next iteration with bated breath.

 

12 oz

Pours clear but very dark brown, light tan film for a head.

Smells of caramel, walnut, and biscuit malt.

Biscuit malt with pecan and walnut over a dryly bitter woody hop finish.

Medium body on the fuller side, stinging carbonation on the tongue.

Very nice drinkable dark ale, nice nutty flavors. Worth trying, better than average seasonal.

 

2016 Edition, 12oz bottle, irish imperial pint

L - Clear, red-brown body. Persistent, one finger deep, barely off-white head. Great retention, thick lacing.
S - Spring water, mildly hoppy, slight hint of spice.
T - Any spice or malt present in the aroma is overpowered by hops. One note bitterness. Aftertaste is more of the same.
F - Excessively thin.
O - Looks good, smells like hoppy water, tastes like an average american ale. Drinkable but not memorable in any way. Definitely would not peg this as a seasonal or winter warmer in a blind trial.