Redhook Winter Hook Winter Ale

I always look forward to this time of year, because it seems like the most interesting and flavorful beers are released during the fall and winter. Spring and summer are all about light mild beers, while the cooler months bring out the Oktoberfests, the spicy Winter ales, the Barleywines, and more. So I popped the top on Redhook's Winter ale with some anticipation. It poured a deep copper, nearly brown color with a small off-white head. It smelled of caramel and pine-scented hops. So far, nothing extraordinary. The first sip followed the same pattern. It was a pretty unremarkable ale, with the most prominent feature being the piney hops in the finish. As it warmed it became a little sweeter and more flavorful, but overall, it was just another ale. I was hoping for something more.

Strange Brew Tavern in Manchester, NH

A few weeks ago, my wife and I went on a vacation in New Hampshire, to celebrate our 27th anniversary. We spent a couple of nights in Manchester, and while there, met some friends of ours (two couples) who were also celebrating anniversaries that week. Since one of the couples was honoring their first year of marriage, they went all out and rented a limo for the night. We got to ride along in style, and we had our own official designated driver. After a great dinner at a local wine and fondue restaurant, we headed to downtown Manchester to a bar called "Strange Brew Tavern". My wife and I aren't much for the bar scene, but we decided to tag along. "Strange Brew" was very crowded that night, and had a live blues band performing. The blues band was very good, but the main attraction was the beer selection! They had over 65 different beers on tap - including local microbrews, such as Smuttynose, Woodstock Inn, and Ipswich - as well as imports from England, Germany, Quebec, and Belgium. Their list of bottled beers was even more extensive! Unfortunately, by the time we arrived, we had already had more beer than I normally drink in a week, so I limited myself to 1 beer - Stone Brewing's Smoked Porter. It was nice and roasty with enough smoke flavor to live up to its name. Shortly after finishing our beer, the limo had to be retired for the evening, so we headed back to the hotel. Since getting back home to Florida, my wife picked up a copy of Imbibe Magazine, and found "Strange Brew Tavern" listed as one of the top 100 places to drink beer in America. It's the only 1 on the list that I've been to, so I guess I better start working on the list! If you're ever in Manchester, check it out.

Lunch at the Portsmouth Brewery in NH

While on vacation, my wife and I took a trip over to the New Hampshire coast, to the town of Portsmouth. Portsmouth is the home of 3 different breweries - The Portsmouth Brewery, Smuttynose, and RedHook. I wanted to visit all 3, but time forced me to limit my visits to one. I selected the smallest one - the Portsmouth Brewery - figuring they had the smallest distribution range, and because I had heard that they had good food too. The rumor was true, as we soon found out. We started out with a sampler "sled" of the 10 brews they had on tap. Since this brewery is owned by Smuttynose, 4 of the brews were their creations. The picture shows the sampler, which was great. The closest one, which we drank before we remembered the camera, is Portsmouth's Dirty Blond Ale - a very creamy light ale that was really refreshing. It's followed up by their Octoberfest, a nice malty brew. Then came my favorite - Hop Harvest #2, which had lots of grapefruity American hops. The 4th beer was a Milk Stout, which was smooth and sweet - much better than my own pathetic attempt at brewing this style. We then tried a Pumpkin Ale, which was perfectly spiced. Bottle Rocket IPA followed the Pumpkin, and it was sweeter, and less hoppy than the Hop Harvest. The four Smuttynose varieties were all excellent as well - Old Brown Dog Brown Ale, Portsmouth Lager, Smutty Shoals Pale Ale, and Smutty Maibock.

The food portion of the meal was equally impressive. Since we had just had burgers at the Gilded Otter, we decided to go with something different - a Blackened Salmon sandwich for me, and a Veggie Sandwich for my wife. My salmon was perfect - moist and spicy, with Chipotle mayo. The centerpiece of my wife's sandwich was a huge grilled Portabella mushroom. She was as pleased with her sandwich as I was with mine. Both came with a big helping of spicy fries, which we shouldn't have eaten, but did anyway. Once again, I bought another pint glass for my collection.

You can't go wrong with lunch at the Portsmouth Brewery.

Stone Mill Organic Pale Ale - Certified Organic!

I'm not very impressed when I hear that a food item is "certified organic". For the most part, I can't tell the difference. So the exclamation point in the title of this post is a bit facetious. This beer is from the Green Valley Brewing Co., in Merrimack, NH. Coincidentally, Anheuser-Busch has a brewery in Merrimack as well. A little Google time found that there is indeed a connection, and that A-B felt that they needed a new name for their organic brew. Stone Mill Pale Ale is a very average pale ale. It has a little bit of malt sweetness, a little bit of hop flavor, and very little else to recommend it. I know that the brewers of Budweiser can do better than this, because I've had a couple of their other microbrew style beers, and they've been more interesting than this one. If you're looking for a basic, average, uninspiring pale ale, this is for you. I think I'd prefer a Sierra Nevada - even if it isn't "certified organic".