Great Lakes/Red Hook Take Turns

I have two more Octoberfest/Autumn style brews to review for you guys today! To be honest… I’m kind of getting tired of Octoberfest and it’s not even October yet. I might need to change this shit up and start reviewing other types of beer so I don’t lose my fucking mind.

Today I’ve got the Oktoberfest from the Great Lakes Brewing Company and the Late Harvest Autumn Ale from the Red Hook Ale Brewery.

I’m going to crack open the Great Lakes beer first because, quite frankly, it comes from one of my absolute favorite brewery’s. I love disgustingly hoppy, malty beer and that is one thing that Great Lakes is known for. From the Burning River Pale Ale (6% ABV very hoppy American Pale Ale) to the Commodore Perry IPA (7.5% ABV a great fruity tasting IPA), the hops in these brews make a frighteningly good adult beverage.

GL describe the Oktoberfest as:

An amber lager with rich malt flavor balanced by fragrant noble hops and they go on to say Our Oktoberfest is the noble brother of the Vienna lager…As if wearing “lederhosen” and getting your “oompah” on didn’t make you noble enough.

The brew has that great medium coppery color that I’ve been getting used to over these past few weeks and, after the pour, I was greeted with a fantastic aroma of malt and strong hops. This 6.5% ABV Oktoberfest has a sweet-but-not-too-sweet taste to it, with the malt and earthy hops being very dominant, even in the aftertaste. Hints of caramel, honey and spice also show up in the taste (along with a noticeable amount of alcohol), but this is one fall beer that isn’t dominated by spiciness. Like most beers out of the Cleveland brewery, this is a beer that I could drink all day; sip after sip it truly is enjoyable.

The Red Hook brewery, which run with a “Liquid Goodness Since 1982” motto, brings us the 5.9% ABV Late Harvest Autumn Ale. Red Hook, who brew out of Seattle, offer such sought after beers as the Copperhook Copper Ale (5.8%ABV with strong noble hop and caramel flavors) and the Belgian Tripel (10.2% ABV with fruity/spicy flavors throughout). The beer in question today however, is the brewery’s take on autumn ale, and it sure is good.

Red Hook explains that:

As the fall days grow shorter, beer drinkers naturally start their migration toward more robust, full-bodied brews. Late Harvest is an easy-drinking, yet flavorful brew that features a deep chestnut color and unique, roasted malt aroma and flavor. Late Harvest’s rich flavor is the result of using four different malts, yet the robust profile remains balanced and sophisticated, thanks to our two distinctive hop additions.

Brewed with Willamette, Saaz and Chinook hops, this great medium-orange/amber colored ale has a noticeably sweet malt taste with hints of citrus and hops. The first taste is great and it’s accompanied by a strong bite aftertaste. The smell is different than any other fall beer I’ve tried so far- kind of a fruity, roasted smell that was pretty good.

Overall I thought this was a good beer, but it was somehow a bit bland. Despite the fact that it was "liquid goodness" I must admit that I expected a deeper flavor for an autumn ale and it just didn’t do the trick in my book.

Great Lakes 8/10
Red Hook 6/10