Winter's Hook

Just an opinion I wanted to share with whoever cares to let it in. Tonight I stood in front of the beer cooler at Whole Foods for close to ten minutes trying to decide which one to take home. It was kind of funny because my intention was to go over there and just grab some Rolling Rock but was quickly distracted by all the various winter brews that were on the shelf. I’m a big fan of the seasonal beers, favoring the summer ones but have only occasionally enjoyed the winter and spring ones.I was in Whole Foods picking up a bottle of Nino Franco "Rustico" for my parents Christmas gift basket when I went over for the Rolling Rock. The problem was, I only saw one six pack sitting alone on the side, on top of the baby kegs -and not even in the cooler. O.K. so I obviously didn’t want that one, but pondered the thought for five minutes too long. Why weren’t there any on the shelves? I glanced around the area for a stock associate to help me, but there were strangely none to be found. It seemed to me that the Rolling Rock simply lost its shelf space due to the abundance of winter brews and holiday ales. Not right but whatever. The cooler was packed. Maybe a winter beer is what I’m meant to have tonight; after all it was pretty cold out, a bit blustery and it is holiday time, so why not. But just like my coffee or wine, I don’t like beer with cinnamon or any kind of spice in it and that’s typically what makes the winter brews…well, winter like. No thanks. So I had a rough time deciding which one to buy. While I was looking for something new, with an interesting label and reasonable price tag,I noticed the Red Hook ales. Their summer brew, Sunrye is always in my refrigerator during the summer months so I wondered about the Winterhook brew. I didn’t grab it right away because I was a little weary that it may have nutmeg or something in it and didn’t want to be disappointed. I continued to check out my other options, but nothing grabbed me- they were all either too expensive or obnoxious looking. So I finally decided on the Red Hook Winterhook ale and within an hour later couldn’t believe I just discovered it now. This stuff was fantastic-just right. As far as my taste buds could tell there were no overbearing spices and it was extremely drinkable. It’s nice to have something with a little substance to it when it’s freezing outside- warms the belly.After checking out the web site I’ve learned that the Winterhhook ale is the seasonal companion to Sunrye. And they recommend drinking it with holiday dinners, especially "turkey and trimmings". Perfect, but believe me, pretzels work just as well.