Review: Redhook Sunrye Summer Ale

Truly, making your own six pack is the best way to sample a wide variety of beers. Though I have enjoyed several of the Redhook Brewery seasonal ales in the past, I grabbed the Sunrye because of some comments that came my way through Twitter. Everyone seemed to favor this beer as a great summer choice, and with the temperatures being in the 90s today, I wanted to see what the fuss was about. These past few weeks have spawned the release of many great summer ales, so please leave comments with your thoughts on the Sunrye or other seasonals. Now, on to the review!

The main goal of these summer beers is almost always meant to be a light, refreshing drink to take your mind off the humid weather. Redhook takes it a step further to assert that Sunrye was “practically made for trips to the lake and open-flame cookouts.” We’re testing that theory tonight with chicken on the grill and spritzes of water – kind of like having a lake, right? I’m all for the craft alternative to a macrobrew on the summer evenings, but does Redhook deliver? With an IBU rating of 16, and ABV of 4.70%, Redhook recognizes the beer as being somewhere between your average lager and their own Blonde-style. Listeners of our podcast know by now that I’m not the greatest fan of macro-lagers, and that it takes great flavor to win me over.

Appearance

It poured with no head. Really, it has subsided by the time I had put the bottle on the counter. There’s no lacing either. I suspect this beer was never meant to be seen within a glass and relegated to live life in its colorful bottle. The beer is a golden straw in color, with little columns of bubbles percolating to the top. After the pour it was like having miniature tornadoes of carbonation swirling throughout the glass. When we first started this project, Shawn and I focused a lot of attention on wheat beers (the seasonal at the time) and I have yet to really fall for the style. The pale yellow liquid in my glass looks far too much like these wheat beers of past.

Aroma

The Sunrye doesn’t exhibit any aroma characteristics that make it remarkable. If you’re looking for a light beer with no smell, you might have a winner here. It’s a little sweet, and that’s just fine, as for a summer beer you don’t want anything exorbitant in aromatics – you’re looking for refreshment. Even though there isn’t much to say for the smell, there isn’t much to say against.

Taste

If the aroma is meant to draw you in, then the taste should be the hook that prevents you from letting the glass even touch the tabletop without being empty. The Sunrye is meant to be that summer evening drink, but it’s not a sipper. You won’t be savoring the flavors; you’ll only be moving on to your next beer. The flavor is like malted corn, with maybe some lime. It delivers on the “crisp and clean” you might expect of a summer ale, with little to no aftertaste.

Overall Evaluation

For me, this review comes down to what you are looking for in your beer. In terms of a summer ale, if you want clean, crisp and refreshing, then you might have a winner in the Redhook Sunrye. It won’t drive you to find more beers of this style, as I find that they tend to all be about the same. The aroma and taste are intriguing for the first couple sips, but fall mostly flat afterwards. In terms of mass market appeal, I bet this would do quite well, but don’t buy it looking for anything complex. 3/5.

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