It’s September, kids are back in school, and the cooler weather we’ve been having here lately all seem to be angling toward "Fall", so this evening I opened up the bottle of Late Harvest Autumn Ale I received from Redhook (press release).

This is definitely hearty enough to be an "Autumn Ale", and comes in at 5.9% alcohol.

Appearance: Amber-orange in color with a light tan head that looks nice.

Smell: Richly malty with caramel and a hint buttery, I think. Reminds me of an Oktoberfest, but that’s not surprising since that’s on my mind…

Taste: My nose didn’t lie—it’s rich and malty with roasted malt notes (no burnt/astringent) and a warming essence. Hops are earthy and spicy and a nice, underpowering complement to the malt backbone.

Mouthfeel: Nice, full-feeling—a chewy medium-bodied feel. A warming sensation in the aftertaste, and finishes clean.

Overall: I like it; it’s my favorite of the Redhooks. It definitely fits the bill for a Fall beer, with an Oktoberfest vibe going on. In fact, it reminds me of Widmer Okto, which I really like as well.

On BeerAdvocate, it scores an overall grade of B-. On RateBeer, it scores 3.04 out of 5 and is in their 46th percentile.