So I’m a porter fan, can you tell?

With the onset of a porter brewing up in my fermenter, I decided it would be a good time to give a new porter a try as well. I haven’t brought a porter home in a while actually, just had them at the bars. Anyway, I used the Beer Mapping Project to find a different beer store in Portland. The way alcohol is dealt with here is much different than Fargo. The Fred Meyer, a Wal Mart like store, sells wine and beer. If you want booze, you have to go to a booze store. You can also just go to a wine store, so I figured, there has to be just a beer store. Low and behold, I found one. While there I found the Southern Oregon Brewing Pin-up Porter. Knowing I was brewing up a porter, I said, what the heck.

Overall, I liked the beer. You can hear more in the video, but it was surprisingly easy to drink. Very much sessionable. The porter characters that I really like, chocolate, caramel, vanilla, malt were there, but very, very minute compared to the roasted, smoky flavors that I got. This porter might be really good with like a BBQ sandwich or something.

I enjoy knowing that Southern Oregon Brewing is just another brew house I’m going to have to visit in the coming months. I’m wondering if I should just do a road trip and hit all the pubs outside of Portland in like a 4 week span. A thirty days, thirty pubs sort of thing? Hmm…That could be an excellent time…

Anyway, enjoy the video and I do recommend picking up a Southern Oregon Brewing, Pin Up Porter if you ever get a chance.

Please excuse the fact that I don’t have a picture of the beer. I drank it before I snapped a photo of it. Sue me! LOL

This weeks beer tasting is a brew that I got a while back when I was doing all the Redhook Brewery Highlight stuff. Redhook sent me this brew and I just was never able to get around to the tasting. I apologize for that, but I’m also glad I let it age for a little bit. When I had this brew back in May, it was a bit strong on the alcoholic side, but after a few months sitting around it seems to have mellowed out quite nicely.

I really enjoyed this beer. The story behind it is pretty fun. Eight brewers, working in 4 teams to create 1 beer was kind of a neat idea. I think the brewers probably enjoyed it to. So often big breweries stick to their recipes and hardly deviate from it, which I imagine would be a pretty boring job at that point. This project instilled some new creativity into Redhook and it turned out a nice tasting beer as well. I haven’t had a big beer in a while that wasn’t filled with hops, so this was a nice change. The chocolate, roasty, vanilla, cherry flavors that I get from the beer are a nice balance to the still evident alcoholic note that I receive from the beer. Watch the video for a more detailed description. I apologize for the tangents that I seemed to go on…

Happy Holidays!

Lompoc C-Note

I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to help a local brew pub bottle some of their beer. We didn’t get paid, well, not in money. In fact, any bottle that was going to end up in the trash was given to us as samples. I pretty much think that’s not only a brilliant idea marketing wise, but also just down right nice. Here is a beer I may not have ever tried unless I got it for free in this exact fashion. It just isn’t widely distributed.

Anyway, check out the video to find out more.

As we continue down the line of Redhook beers we run into this surprise beer, Copper Hook. I say surprise because I really had no idea what to expect in this beer. I don’t know what a “copper ale” was other than an idea of the color. Based on that, I had not tried it up until today. I have to be honest, it surprised me. It was crisp, clean, light, tasty and had a perfect subtle balance of character. This is definitely going on my list of go to beers if I just don’t know what to get. Newcastle used to be that beer for me, now I think I’ll do a little Redhook Copper Hook for a while.

Review of Redhook Copper Hook

Packaging

There isn’t much to say about Redhook’s marketing and product packaging. It is always solid and consistent and this one is no different. They don’t tell you much. It has a name, a little design, where it was brewed and how much alcohol content. I wish there was more, but there isn’t.

Appearance

A burnt straw look with a bit of haze to it. A nice fuffy off white head that laces down the side as it goes.

Smell

A subtle balance of hops and malt. I get a little bit of spice and biscuit as well. The real highlight here is that not one thing over powers the other. I guess you could say it is very mediocre or very well balanced. The hop aroma that I get is definitely a little floral.

Taste

Redhook Copper Hook is very balanced. Nothing jumps out and nothing kicks me in the face. Its dry and crisp, which I personally really like. It kind of tastes like a very mild pale ale with a hint of spice/earth to it.

Mouthfeel

Medium bodied and smooth. Not much more to say about it than that.

Drinkability

In my opinion, its high. I could really see myself making a night out of this. I’ve never drank a beer that is so high in alcohol but so subtle in flavor. For as smooth as it is I would think I’d taste the alcohol, but I don’t get that at all. This is also a beer I may introduce to friends that are testing the craft beer waters. Its really easy to drink and not over powering, so in my book, that is the perfect combo for an all nighter and an introductory beer.

What do you think? Have you had Copper Hook by Redhook? I’d love to hear your opinion.

As we continue on the journey of Redhook beers we are introduced to an IPA that tastes like no other IPA that I have yet to try. Is that good or bad? Good for me, bad for all of the hop heads. I’ve been in search of an IPA that has a more dry taste. I’m not a big fan of all the big IPA’s that have a lot of residual maltiness. I feel the maltiness, mixed with a load of hops just doesn’t work for me. When I talked with Kim Brusco in the Redhook Interview I did with him, he mentioned that their beers are often attenuated to the fullest. For those who don’t know, attenuation is basically a measurement of converted sugars to alcohol, the more attenuation, the more dry the beer. Anyway, Redhook Long Hammer is what I’ve been searching for.

Review of Redhook Long Hammer

Packaging

Not going to say much here other than I like the color combination. Redhook, like always, does a great job keeping their brand consistent and looking appealing. I wonder where the name “Long Hammer” came from. Oh, I can’t forget to mention, this brew has 6.5% ABV. You wouldn’t guess it though.

Appearance

A deep straw color with a slight haze. This is a lot lighter than the IPA’s I’m accustomed to seeing which are usually more amber or copper. A nice fluffy, thick head that sticks to the sides on the way down.

Smell

Very subtle hop and malt character, at least, to what I would expect out of an IPA. Usually these flavors are big and bold, but they are somewhat subdued in this beer. I get a little citrus and bisquit in this brew, but it is definitely not knocking my socks off hoppy smelling.

Taste

Pretty darn smooth. The best way I can think to describe it is to say something a long the lines of, this beer is like a “light” IPA. It’s smooth, crisp and goes down easy. It is dry like I predicted and has more of a hop bitter taste than the hop citrus/floral taste I’ve come to expect with IPA’s. The malt is minimal and overall the beer is lacking any big flavors, which can be a nice change on a hot summer day.

Mouthfeel

Pretty run of the mill medium bodied. The one thing I appreciate the most is that it doesn’t stick to my teeth. In the past an IPA with big malt and hop character seems to stick to my teeth, kind of like holding a mouth full of soda until you can’t stand it anymore.

Drinkability

I’d say its pretty high. They go down quick and smooth. Be careful though, at 6.5% ABV this could surely kick you in the butt without you even knowing it. So I suppose its good and bad that its so easy to drink. On one hand you want more because your tastes aren’t satisfied and on the other the ABV will sneak up on you and beat you down!

Overall

Solid choice. If you know someone who wants to try drinking IPA’s this would be a great starter IPA to possibly move onto something bigger. Redhook puts out a solid beer of good quality every time. You won’t go telling all your friends how awesome it is, but you will definitely be happy with the solid choice for the price.

Have you tried Long Hammer? What do you think? I think this is Doug MacNair’s favorite.

Today we finally start off the Redhook Brew Reviews! We’ve got a few of them to do and I figured what better time than during the middle of July to drink a Redhook Rope Swing Summer Pilsner. This is actually the first pilsner that Redhook as ever produced and I believe it is brewed in a traditional Czech Style using 100% Czech Saaz hops. Rope Swing by Redhook isn’t a very complex beer, but it sure does go down easy and refresh on those hot, sunny summer days.

Review of Redhook Rope Swing

Packaging

Redhook has always been a great marketing entity and one of the reasons this is true is because they are always consistent with their look. You can look from one bottle of Redhook to another and pretty much know that your looking at a Redhook beer. It is no different with the Rope Swing. None of their packaging is drop dead amazing, but it is consistently solid in color, shape, imagery and design. I think the Rope Swing name is clever with the little summer past time swing on the front of the bottle. However, there is no other information on the bottle other than the name and where it was brewed.

Appearance

Bright straw colored with a nice, foamy white head. There is minimal lacing as it goes down the side of the glass.

Smell

Very discrete malt/hop mix. It isn’t over powering at all. I get just a hint of spice from the Saaz hops. It’s brewed to be easy going and the smell assures me that it succeeds in that category.

Taste

Very refreshing. The bitterness from the hops balances out a smooth, light malt flavor. I can definitely tell this is a pilsner as I can taste that distinct lager yeast in there. I get a touch of an earthy trait and that spice I smelt. It is not big on flavor, but has a very good quenching quality.

Mouthfeel

Very light with a bit of carbonation that dances on the tongue.

Drinkability

Easy. There isn’t much else to say. This beer could be dangerous at 5.3% ABV and it being able to go down that easy. If its cold, it is even more refreshing, but as it warms it still holds a good taste to a point where it just turns into a warm beer and you gotta pour it or shoot it.

Overall

If you want to try something a little lighter for the hot summer days at the BBQ’s and such, this is definitely a good option. I think its a solid, refreshing craft beer that has more flavor than your light lagers, but could definitely peak a light lager drinkers interest if presented correctly.

Let me know if you try it! I’d love to hear what you think of Redhook’s Rope Swing.