Winterhook Robust Winter Ale (1985-2002)
Redhook Brewlab

Would guess I've drank around 1000 Redhooks in my time. This one, eh maybe a 12 pack.

Pours a brown color. 1/2" off white to light beige head. Mild nose of earth, tobacco, forest like hop nose.

Taste is like a more robust esb blended with a brown ale. Has a kick of that C hop bitterness giving that forest and grapefruit meets brown, red, amber malt feels. Definitely has the feel of a winter warmer meets old school bittering C hop of the pacnw. I don't even think we thought this was "robust" in the 90s. It was just more robust than your average beer on a shelf in '96. Light toasted caramel/toffee sweetness does actually take those C hops and land around a 45 ibu level and dare I say approaches true balance (unlike the mouthbreathers saying it about pliny).

This is the rare beer that might have actually benefited from the imperial craze. I mean, Samuel Smith's Winter Welcome suffers from being 6% and mild, this is even milder than that. Bulk it up to 7.5% and I bet some of the mouth feel/thin issues are for the better.

 

Vintage 1995

Pours light mahogany, clear, with an off-white humble head.
Lively carbonation settles to edging and center whisps of foam, revealing some minor lacework.
Aromatics are subdued and weak.
Dried malt, staleish caramel, toasted grains and wet cardboard.
The nose finishes with some leathery notes and dried cherrys.
Thin to medium body, watery with some residual slick malt.
Pallet is weak and limpy, some slight bitterness with hints of caramel and Munich malts.
Finishes thin, a bit sticky, and with some mild fruit underneath.
All in all, hasn't held up too bad, as this was never a particularly big beer, and oxidation is pretty minimal.

Dark red copper color, large head. Medium malts, medium hops. Roasted malts, robust/full flavor. Somewhat spicy. Finish is clean. Aftertaste is malty, very slight bitterness. Tastes better when slightly warmer, flavor has a smoother feel. Taste is a little thin? Need to re taste. Giving it the benefit of a doubt, but its not a very good beer.

Pours a brownish amber color with a thin off-white colored head that fades into a bubbly lace. Nose is malty with notes of caramel and fruit. Medium in body with lots of toasted malt flavor. Other flavors are hard to detect over the malt, but there are faint notes of semi-sweet chocolate, dark caramel, and raisin. Some mildly spicy hops and some alcohol notes come through in the finish. I wouldn’t call this much of a winter warmer, but it’s a decent beer, especially if you like malty brews.

I hope that this is my last winter brew of the year 2003(what a winter) with spring starting to make itself known. That being said this was a very good beer taht I wouldn't necissarily need to drink during the winter to enjoy. There was almost no head and very little lace on top of a fine copper liquid. The smell was not at all heavy or overbearing with a nice balance of sweetness. Taste was also sweet with very distinct notes of mango and mellon as well as some tart cherry flavors as well. Overall a beer that I would not mind buying more of winter or summer.

Poured kind of a amber color with frothy head that left a little lace around the glass.Real malty cakey smell,with am malted background in the taste pretty weak I guess though compared to alot of winter style beers.The body was not thick enough for me either.

Made on 09Oct02
Drank on 01Mar03

Tan-yellow head, deep amber body and spotty lacing.

Rich malty aroma

This is a really complex beer. Starts out with predominately multigrain dark bread taste, which changes into a more floral middle palate and ends with malted mild bitter finish.

Nothing exciting about the mouthfeel.

Bottle states that this is a robust winter ale, and I think that this is not a very accurate description, in that it is delicious it is s not robust.

served in 12 oz. brown bottle.
appearance is nice reddish amber color. not quite dark enough for a "Robust winter ale," but decent fluffy head that dissipates somewhat quickly. smell is malty. taste is good, but not strong enough for a winter ale. maltiness is very smooth and the flavor leaves a nice hoppy aftertaste.
the mouthfeel is just too thin. this beer needs to more body.
drinkability is high. there's no overpowering alcohol presence in it.
overall, this is a pretty good brown ale. the flavor is nice and balanced, just needs to be "bigger."

Drinking this beer on tap is much tastier than the bottled version, I can't quite put my finger on what is different but it seems a slight bit sweeter on tap. This beer has a nice aroma with hints of roasted barley and hops. The aroma and flavor that follows match nicely. This is a great easy drinking seasonal ale that even non-microbrew guests can enjoy.

My main problem with the brew is that it is billed as a robust winter ale which makes you expect a strong winter warmer but to this standard Winterhook comes up thin. While mild flavored beer with broad appeal is a hallmark of Redhook, this is by far their best beer. Don't expect a winter warmer but instead a nice amber ale with a touch of darker roasted malts.

Pours a light brown tea color with a 1 finger off-white head that shrinks down to a thin layer. The aroma reveals roasted malts, burnt toast, and alcohol. The taste reiterates the aroma along with a light twang and slightly dry hop on the tail. The mouthfeel is light to medium bodied that finishes light and thin. Not exactly the best well balanced beer and I did not expect that either with “Robust” as part of the name. The problem is that it is not robust either. It is a decent beer that knocks on good’s door but good doesn’t know if it should let it in. Thanks to Pegasus for the opportunity to review this beer! Cheers!

I guess the picture on the label is that of fearsome "Old Man Winter". Too bad. Somehow it seems inappropriate marketing for a "Robust Winter Ale" that lacks punch both in flavor and ABV. Not that it is altogether bad, just somewhat of a "winter session brew" (something I consider to be an oxymoron). Caramel malt dominates what little aroma there is. A light candy-like malt flavor is most evident on the palate, with some tea-like hops making a brief appearance for balance only. Some graininess and bit of metallic taste on the finish. Mouthfeel is too thin for a winter brew.

After a trip to the Redhook Brewery and sampling all their current offerings their Robust Winter Ale was the only one to really make an impression.

It pours to a rich redish/brown color with a delicate and fleeting head. The aroma is well rounded, nice smooth malt with a hint of hops, leaves a warm and inviting sensation in the nose.

To taste, it is all it promises to be. A medium body, eases itself into the mouth and warms you up. A light hop bitterness balances the sweetness of the malt. There is very little aftertaste, perhaps a touch of sweetness but that is about all.

All in all, a simple, well balanced slightly strong ale, very easy to drink and enjoy.

has a very sweet malty backbone but seems out of balance. some hops assert themselves, but only fleetingly. the nose is almost non-existant. in fact after i had a second one i decided that this stuff is not that good and lowered my scores even more. WAY too sweet. i won't bother going any further.

2002 re-review:
upon further review....there wasn't undisputable visual or flavorful evidence to overturn the ruling on the field. the ruling on the field stands, and winterhook will be charged with a timeout.

This beer poured a brownish red color into the glass. The head was white in color, semi thick but not real long lasting. About 1-2 inches that dissipated to a thin line after a minute. No lace seemed to be present at the end. The aroma was of malt, grain some fruit to make it sweet and a tad hops. The aroma was there, but had to be swirled to awaken the smells. The taste was semi-sweet malt, hints of caramel and fruit (pears or apples, might be hints of cherries present as well), some spices peak through along with the hops. There is a small aftertaste left over. Not what I am used to when it comes to a “winter” brew. Seemed to need something more, but not bad.

Dark copper to reddish amber in color. Nice fluffy white head. Some spotty lacing. Smell was sublte sweet malt, not much else to note. Taste was mostly maltly. Toasted toffe and some nutty flavors. I guess I expected more spices. Some hop bitterness initially. Flavors seem to fall apart as it sat in the glass. A little thin and watery finish for such a good looking dark beer. I kept waiting for something spectacular to happen, but never did. Not a bad tasting beer, but there are so many great flavorful winter seasonals, I think this one gets lost in the shuffle.

Pours with a nice amber color. The white head quickly fades to nothing leaving very little lace. A good malt taste with a small splash of spiceand a hint of caramel, overall the flavor was a bit week. I was expecting something a bit more flavorful. An average beer

Another beer that I haven't had in a couple of years. This beer pours dark amber in color with a small off white head. The smell is sweet with hints of raspberry or some other berry. The taste is similar but with a healthy dose of malt. Kind of one dimensional. The ending is a bit disappointing as a lot of the flavor doesn't seem to last. I have to say that I like this better than some Winter Seasonals but it doesn't top my list.

Winterhook Robust Winter Ale pours a very dark amber from a 12oz brown twist off cap glass bottle. Light cream head just made it to two fingers with firm dense foam that laces well.

Nose is a sweet malt with floral hops and palate is good sweet malt. The tettnang hops provide a nice mild bitter along with a pleasant floral aroma.

Winterhook is a nice arrangement of malted barley and hops for a tasty winter treat with the alcohol by volume at 6.11%.

Pours a sexy copper color with a light creamy head that lingers a little. Leaves a sexy lace behind. Malt taste is good with hints of spices with a woody taste. Hops are lacking but overall not to bad of a holiday strong ale.