Our relationship with Redhook is like something out of a Lifetime movie of the month story. It abuses us, it degrades us, it demeans us, yet we keep coming back for more. You know. Because Redhook truly loves us, from somewhere deep inside.
Luckily this year's Late Harvest is a lot better than last year's: No longer is there a need for fantasies of escaping its clammy grip in search of something better, preferably from Stone or Deschutes. Maybe even Sierra Nevada. This is a more than acceptable ale, one that you definitely can enjoy while enjoying a fall barbecue.
Its copper color and semi-respectable head shows it off as a nice looking beer. One you want to be friends with. A smoky malt hits the nose not in a way we've seen Meredith Baxter been mistreated again and again, but in a gentle delicate way.
The mouthfeel is surprisingly creamy and definitely has a fairly nutty smokiness to it. It's highly drinkable beer, one you want to be friends with. Sure, it's not as flashy as, say, George Clooney, but it has this newer-era Tom Selleck thing going for it. Charming, yet kind of bad-ass.
Heck, I'd buy it again.