It’s not often that we get to bring a guest on the WILK Friday BeerBuzz who literally brews from coast to coast. It’s also cool to feature beers from a brewery that dates back over thirty years; and even better when they all come together under one brewery name.
Today we chose to Redhook Brewing, a brewery that first got it’s start in Woodinville, WA in 1981 and then expanded with an east coast location in Portsmouth NH in 1996. I’ll admit Redhook Brewing has some very fond family memories for me as not only did I first experience a winter seasonal with Winterhook, but my late father-in-law was a huge fan of Longhammer IPA so I’ve enjoyed many a Redhook brew in my past and it was exciting to feature them today
Redhook Brewing makes some great beers, but their packaging and marketing deserve mention as well. Redhook labels featured a flavor indicator scale that lets you quickly and visually determine the flavor characteristics of your beer before you buy it. The labels also feature an irreverent tagline that differs from beer to beer that I really get a kick out of. One favorite of mine is the Wisecracker Wit (with ginger in the beer) which carries the tagline, “Made with Ginger but still digs Maryann". This irreverence carries into all of their marketing as you can see in the below ad in support of marriage equality. 
We were excited to speak to brewer Matt Licklider today and it was a lot of fun talking about how Redhook got it’s start 30 years ago. Matt clearly has some great insights on brewing and the various Redhook beers so it was cool to talk beer with him. It was also interesting to hear Matt’s take on the new Craft Brew Alliance that pairs Redhook with their sister breweries Widmer Brothers and Kona Brewing. This sounds like a great partnership that will bring us all more great beer that may not otherwise be available in our area.
Of course we sampled beer today, and Redhook was nice enough to send us some Audible Ale to try for ourselves. Audible Ale is a co-brew done with the Dan Patrick sports show, and it’s a beer that is brewed to be the ultimate craft beer for watching sports. This Pale Ale is 4.7% ABV and finishes crisp and clean, so I’d say it will work very well for a long day of sports as well as simply being a great Pale Ale. 
We were also lucky enough to get our hands on Redhook’s summer seasonal Wisecracker Wit. This beer is a traditional Belgian Wit that adds ginger to the equation, making it bright and fresh and very drinkable. I can see this being a great summer deck beer and a wonderful vacation beer. These are both tasty beers so be sure to get out and try them for yourself.
Thank you to Matt Licklider from Redhook Brewing, Nancy, John & Joe for yet another
fun Friday.
The Friday BeerBuzz…bringing good beers and good people together. As always you can check out the video on-line at the WILK Friday BeerBuzz page by clicking HERE.
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Fun talking to Matt Licklider from Redhook Brewing this morning, who we may have talked into renaming the Craft Brew Alliance the Justice League of America (Matt wants to be Aquaman!) and better yet, we put the 'Lovey Howell Lager' idea in his head. Or not. lol
ReplyDeleteThanks Matt, liked the 'ginger' Wisecracker Wit and the Audible Ale is a perfect gateway for those folks who have finally decided to wander off the domestic premium path into the world of flavorful beer.
So thanks to Matt for joining us, thanks always to Bill from MyBeerBuzz.com for all his hard work making the show happen each week, and thanks to you for listening!
Best,
John
webster@wilknewsradio.com
I think Longhammer IPA from Redhook was one of my first craft beers. I still love it. Cheers Matt!
ReplyDeleteRyan W
After the show I stopped up to check out some of the lines on the bottle you mentioned. Very funny. Of course I had to buy a case of Redhook to confirm your taste opinions. Eric
ReplyDeleteI live in the Seattle area. We love Redhook and it was cool to see them on the east coast on the radio. Cheers from home Matt Licklider.
ReplyDeleteChris
I heard about the Dan Patrick Audible Ale. Somehow I knew WILK would get it first.
ReplyDeleteJenna
I saw the mobile man cave and tried Audible Ale in New Orleans. It's a great beer. Thank you for having their brewmaster on.
ReplyDeleteJaared
I love their marketing. Beer should have a sense of humor. JT
ReplyDeleteCool show WILK. I love Redhook.
ReplyDeleteI bought a bunch of Longhammer after the show. I love it too. Justin
ReplyDeleteCan you buy Redhook Locally?!
ReplyDeleteMarcus
Marcus. Yes! Cases & bottles are in our markets already.
ReplyDeleteThank you. I didn't realize until the show today that Redhook was available in NEPA. I loved WInterhook when I lived in Seattle but didn't know I can buy it here. You made my day!
ReplyDeleteMarcus
Which did you like better of the two beers? Nel
ReplyDeleteI really liked the ginger flavors in the Wisecracker, but I think the Audible Ale was my favorite of the two.
ReplyDeleteSeems like if Audible Ale is so crushable it should be in cans too.
ReplyDeleteCases of Redhook in NEPA?
ReplyDeleteJT
JT....Yes. I've seen them myself at Plaza Beverage.
ReplyDeletewhat happened to the video?
ReplyDeleteHan
Han...we had a battery failure in the camera and a quick switch to our backup batteries so there was a 1 min gap in there. Sorry.
ReplyDeleteI really learned a lot of beer stuff today. I didn't know that Redhook was teamed up with Widmer & Kona. Now I have to try them too. I do love Redhook.
ReplyDeleteJess
The Craft Brew Alliance is a great arrangement for everyone involved Jess. I think it's a great story.
ReplyDeleteCount me in
ReplyDeleteThank you to Matt Licklider for joining us today to sample Redhook Audible Ale & Wise Cracker Wit. It was a lot of fun talking beer & super-hero's with Matt and be sure to get out and try some Redhook beer for yourself.
ReplyDelete