Friday Beer Review - Redhook Sunrye Summer Ale

Brewery Name and Location: Redhook - Woodinville, WA
Name of Brew: Sunrye Summer Ale
Style of Brew: Pale Ale
ABV: 4.7%

I’m generally a big fan of Redhook beers (Blonde, ESB, Hammerhead) but the Sunrye Summer Ale just didn’t do it for me. It’s not an undrinkable beer it’s just not what I expected to get from a beer with the Redhook name on it. The beer poured a very pale yellow with almost no head and hardly any aroma. I couldn’t smell any hops for the life of me. The beer is light and crisp in the mouth but doesn’t have any stand out taste characteristics. Redhook describes the beer as:

Light and refreshing. Somewhere between a classic lager beer and a Redhook blonde.

That’s a pretty apt description if by “lager beer” they are specifically referring to Bud Light. Sure the Sunrye packs more punch in the ABV department than a Bud Light but it’s also going to punch you in the wallet department. When you are talking almost $9.00 a sixer after tax you might as well slap down a couple extra bucks and get the half rack of Bud Light.

Sunrye is a perfectly passable beer to bring to the backyard BBQ if you want to look a little classier than your true macro-brew colors but if you’re after a beer with a lot of flavor and character there are definitely better summer beers out there.

Redhook Brewery