My main goal of going to Woodinville was to  go to Chateau Ste. Michelle winery, as they make my favorite Dry Riesling. However, located almost directly across the street is Redhook Brewery and that seemed like too good an opportunity to miss. Well, I kind of did miss it as there was a big windstorm and a tree fell on the power line. The lights went out and weren’t coming back anytime soon, so I go to taste a few beers but didn’t get to experience the place. I was given two passes for free tours so I guess I will have to go back (not during a windstorm) to give the place another go. It is just about 40 minutes from my house so not a big deal.

I did get a chance to do a flight which contained all of their standard beers plus a couple of in-brewery only releases.

The flight, of course, started with Redhook ESB.  I know that many people only know this ESB but I find it a bit lacking in flavor and not quite true to style. It doesn’t have much nose and the taste is very weak to me.

The Pumpkin Porter was the second beer in the flight and a good representative of a porter that was not overwhelmed by the pumpkin flavors.  It had slight pumpkin spice on the nose and good tastes of coffee with just undertones of nutmeg and cinnamon. I will probably stick to Warlock, if I can find it around here, but this is still a good seasonal beer.

Long Hammer IPA is always a good go to IPA. It has very solid flavors that are not overwhelmingly bitter.

Wisecracker Wit did not have much nose and was very mildly herbal. The flavor was mostly of malt with a slight taste of grass at the end. I didn’t find this beer true to style or very well-balanced.

The Black Hook Porter on nitro was a good porter with a nose of coffee and a very good light coffee flavor. Along with the silky mouth feel from the nitro, this was an easy drinking porter.

The Raspberry Kolsch was another one of those fruit beers that was fruit with beer. It is very raspberry on the nose, letting you know that it is bound to have strong fruit flavors. It was raspberry in flavor but not as sweet as I expected. It was drinkable but still too fruity for my tastes.

Since I couldn’t stay and try anything else, I guess it is another trip to Redhook for me in the near future.