HopHead Brew Blog

Tonight I am doing this just a little different, no sip by sip taste test, I am just going to tell you how it was, in my opinion that is, never forget, I am not opinionated, I am just always right! Anyway, lets talk about the beer.

When I opened this beer, and poured it, it somehow reminded me of a Budbrewski! It was a bit “fizzy”, in other words, not much body and even less of a head, and that went away rather quickly. It was just a bit richer in color, but not much. At this point, I still haven’t smelled any hops, “and this is an IPA?”, I’m thinking. For the price, I’ll take a Budbrewski!

Once in the glass, I started sniffing pretty hard, and yes, it has hops in it, but I can’t smell it. The next step is to taste it, well, somewhat cautiously I take a sip, it didn’t taste bad, in fact, I didn’t taste much at all! So, I took a big gulp, and another. Hmm, it’s not bad as you drink it, not very hoppy, but not bad. Then after a second or two, I notice this sour aftertaste, not sour like lemons or limes, but sour like, well, something went bad, or had vinegar it it! Others, I would guess, call that “Dry”, sorry, dry wine, isn’t soured, this was.

Well, I wasn’t expecting all that, I had read on many other sites like ratebeer.com that this got a 2.9/5.0 average, I would probably say that is close, but I didn’t give it that high of a rating, maybe a 2.0.

The brewery, Red Hook, says it like this “Longhammer IPA is the beer you find yourself reaching for again and again” , I would have to agree, I did the same, all the way through the six pack, I looked for more flavor, for more hops! I had hoped for a little more kick, but it was about like a Bud Light with extra hops, this one doesn’t go on my shopping list.

Now you know how I’ll vote on the poll!

Iknow that some want a less “hoppy” beer, and Red Hook says that this is a 38.5 IBU IPA, honest I guess, but, again according to BeerSmith, an American IPA starts at 40 IBU’s, I guess they got close.

I say this, if you too are a Hophead, this just isn’t the one! I’ll take that Snake Dog over this one! I did find this, maybe that explains it?

Redhook Ale
As part of an equity investment in the Redhook
Ale Brewery in Seattle, Anheuser-Busch wholesalers have distributed
Redhook’s superior microbrewery products since 1994 in select U.S.
markets. Brands include Redhook Extra Special Bitter (ESB) Ale, Ballard
Bitter Ale, Blackhook Porter and Wheathook Ale, among others.

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