Sunday Night Suds - Redhook 8-4-1 Expedition

This week's Sunday Night Suds looks at Redhook's 8-4-1 Expedition.

Yes, 8-4-1 Expedition sounds more like a football play then a beer, but don't let the name fool you. This a complex, robust beer which if it was not so expensive would be worth trying more than once.

Since I started with the price, lets get it out of the way first. I picked it up at Beverage World in Peekskill for the low, low, price of $8.99 which is about the same price as a six pack of standard Redhook. Expensive for beer? Absolutely. But it is 22oz and you would pay that amount for a .375 bottle of wine that you liked.

So where does the name Expedition 8-4-1 come from? The Redhook website explains that eight Redhook brewers were divided up into four teams of two to create the beer. To my mind they should have called it 4-2-1, but it tastes so good that I can't quibble on the name.

The BA gurus have labeled the Expedition 8-4-1 an American Strong Ale, but while the brew has a high alcohol content (9.5% abv) that hardly tells the story.

The beer poured a rich brown with a little bit of foam. The first taste gave me a little flavor of the honey which was infused into the brew, but the beer was not overly sweet. Subsequent sips gave me a little of the wood aged flavor they were looking for, but again it was not overwhelming. Mrs KB who is not usually one for the darker ales liked the beer, although she found it a little sweet (that might just be her personality, then again, they do add honey, brown sugar and candy sugar to the brew).

Redhook Expedition 8-4-1 is under the kashruth supervision of the Orthodox Union. For the experts' take on the Expedition, please click here http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/18134/55982.

As always, please remember to drink responsibly and to never waste good beer unless there is no designated driver.

If you've tried this beer or any others which have been reviewed on the kosher beers site, please feel free to post your comments (anonymous comments are acceptable).

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