The air is crisp, the leaves are falling. The frost covered grass makes a satisfying crunch beneath my feet. Autumn has arrived in Oregon, and with the change of seasons comes the change of seasonal brews. Now one might assume, and understandably so, that this transition would signal the arrival of harvest ales, pumpkin porters and the like. But, alas, those brews are already wrapping up their tour of duty. For fall has become the season of the winter beer, a fact that pains me in the same way as seeing Halloween costumes and Christmas stockings occupying consecutive end caps in August.

That said, it does take quite a bit of the sting out of the ever-earlier arrival of winter warmers when the first one you crack open is as lovely as this year’s Winterhook. Out of the bottle, the beer gushes caramel and warm bread crust. Shy of a full-on maltgasm, but easily sends the needle past melanoidalicious on the trusty ol’ malt-o-meter (patent pending). The light dash of roasted malt adds a nutty dryness to the finish that invokes memories of my favorite English browns. The whole package is wrapped (<- forced Christmas pun) in just enough spicy hops to support in all the right places, yet stay out of the way and let the malt shine. Hmm…looks like another transition has occurred, beer review to bra advert. Moving on…

I have to second Jeff’s remark that Winterhook is not only one of Redhook’s recent bests, but one the year’s best seasonals as well - neck and neck with my perennial favorites Jubelale and Wassail. I can also attest to his musing that, at a modest 6%, it may be hard to stop at one. I made short work of a pair while waiting for the wort of my Irish Stout to reach a boil. Not sure if it was the Winterhook or the leg-scorching, high-output propane burner, but I stayed quite comfortable despite the cool weather.

Cheers!
Kevin