Opinions on Redhook?

That is why "newbies" heavily using BA is not a good thing. Too much preoccupation with numbers and poo-pooing beers that aren't world class. I didn't use this site at all until I had been drinking craft for 4-5 years and probably didn't have a true world class beer until a year or two ago. You miss out on a lot if you only drink the "best"

 

Redhook ESB was my first go to beer back in the mid-90s. I still buy a couple six packs of it and Long Hammer every year. My preferences have changed over the years, but I have a sentimental spot for Redhook and it often is the best option to me at many chain restaurants. I bought a little stock in the pre-Widmer Bros. merger Redhook several years ago, and it has done well for me (if only on paper).

 

Even when it comes to craft standards like pale ales, Czech pilseners, witbiers, brown ales, etc. I can't think of a single time I would prefer a Redhook beer over the wide variety of options I have at my fingertips in Ohio.

 

Redhook is a great gateway beer . Nothing more nothing less.. Beats drinking a BMC product by a long shot.
ESB was a staple of mine back in like 95 , someone in fact mentioned the coffee beer they made. I had that and found it to be very nice indeed..Then.. Now , would it hold up to a BCBS Coffee of course not. Peoples palettes change, grow and evolve . I am sure there are boatloads of new craft drinkers quaffing plenty of Redhook right now.. I say welcome there is plenty of great beer for ALL !!

 

They've done some one-offs at the brewpub that have been good (Big Ballard, Saturnalia, there was one other good IPA I'm forgetting), but their standard line-up is very weak. I actually like a lot of the widmer beers, but even living in NH and working in the same office park as RH, I never drank their beers unless we had a company outing there. Even the brewpub itself had a very corporate feel and never felt like a place to hangout

 

I live in a relatively small area and the bars are pretty much stuck on Bud, Coors and PBR. So, every once in a while, they stretch their necks out and I'll find a Redhook on tap, usually ESB. That's about the only time I'll drink one from Redhook - when it's the lesser of two evils. If I have a craft beer option in the bars around here, I'll generally go for it regardless of what it is. If nothing else, at least I've tried something different. Like someone said, Redhook is fairly consistent, not bad but not great.

 

Would Pyramid be considered a lesser entity compared to Redhook? I know we're splitting frog's hair on this one...

 

Widmer is under the Redhook umbrella, and the Brrrbon, Raspberry Russian Imperial Stout, and Barrel Aged Old Embalmer are all excellent beers, as good as any "better" brewery out there IMO if not more so. True, Redhook has the more entry level lineup but I wouldn't pass up anything they do just because of that, or because of AB influence. I think it's stupid to dismiss an entire brewery based on ownership, but people have to hate something.

 

Redhook was the first brewery I ever visited, and while I agree with most of the comments in this thread that the beers they make don't really have that WOW factor, I don't believe that's what they are shooting for. I think they just want to put out solid beers, which I think they do and represent the style they say they are. ESB, Long Hammer and Blackhook Porter are just fine beers, not wow beers but fine beers that I would certainly drink on occasion.

 

I don't HATE Redhook. I just think they are a chicken shit outfit. Are there some hard to get, for us out in the provinces types, offerings that may be worth drinking? Maybe, but I sure ain't gonna bother to get any to find out.

 

Leine Big Eddy Series beers are quite good. Leine is definitely a step above Yuengling. Redhook is definitely in a step above both in terms of craft brewing.

 

I drank a Winterhook about a month ago and it was pretty good. It brings back college days memories when I drank Redhook ESB when I had money. Might try another ESB for old time sake.

 

If you haven't tried it and/or aren't willing to try it, your opinion doesn't hold water.

I'll have to give the BE series another try. The last time I tried one I wasn't terribly impressed.

 

Redhook makes a number of beers that I would call "case-worthy." In other words, a beer that 3-4 people can sit around and keep drinking until the case is gone. I'd recommend their ESB or Winterhook as particularly case-worthy brews.

 

i saw devo at their anniversary party in woodinville a couple years ago and it was an awesome show. so...there's that i guess. haven't had one of their beer since.

 

Great town in upstate NY, highly recommend a visit!

 

Weird I would gladdly have any beer from Saranac/Wolaver's/Widmer/Peak before a Red Hook beer. At least I have been impressed with something these companies have put out. Not one great beer from Red Hook.

 

Most of whats been stated here is CBA's strategy. Redhook is mainly to pull/appeal the macro light drinkers looking to experiment with more flavor, as well as Kona. Widmer is the next step above those when people want to get more into craft beer and the variety of styles offered.

 

On their page it says Widmer and Redhook merged. Reading a little more I see Kurt Widmer is the Chairman of the Board of CBA, so it looks like a Widmer is in charge.

 

I took the Redhook brewery tour, and while it was ok, it was very sterile and very corporate. It mostly consisted of standing in finished, drywalled rooms and looking through windows to see beer being made. This was one day after touring Smuttynose, where you were stepping over hoses and avoiding drains in the floor. To me, the Smuttynose tour was more real and genuine.

I view Redhook beers in much the same light. They are fine, and taste pretty good when they're the only acceptable thing on the tap list. Unfortunately for Redhook and fortunately for me, this doesn't happen very often where I live, and I'll usually go with something I enjoy more.

I don't think the A-B interest stake is a huge deal, but nonetheless, when faced with two beers similar in quality, one independent and one semi-corporate, I'll always go with the independent. For me to go with the semi-corporate would require a big jump in quality of the beer itself, and Redhook simply doesn't have what it takes in that regard.