Copper Hook Spring Ale, Redhook Brewery, Portsmouth, NH

Based on past experience, I usually avoid Redhook Brewery products, as I find myself disliking them. But a good copper ale is one of my favorite things, and I decided to give the Redhook Copper Hook a try. My mistake...

The color is a very nice copper/amber, but the aroma and taste are awash with caramel maltiness, almost like they tried to make a beer to replicate a Sugar Daddy. There is a touch of hop bitterness to combat the sweet caramel flavor, but not nearly enough. The caramel hit is especially jarring in the first sip, but that might be expectation vs. reality.

The beer is easy to drink, if you can stomach the sweetness, with an ABV of 5.8%.

I'm curious to see if the west coast version of this beer (which is served year-round) is different than the east coast version (which is a spring seasonal). For the record, I'm drinking the east coast seasonal version.

Rating = 1.5

I guess this one reaffirms my personal feelings on Redhook...