Beer Man is a weekly profile of beers from across the country and around the world.
This week: Summerhook Golden Rye Ale
Redhook Brewery, Seattle
This week features a couple of beers that fit into what are referred to as "session beers" because of their lighter character and flavors, and lower alcohol content.
They share a common pine flavor but with differing background flavors and aromas.
Summerhook Golden Rye Ale is from the Redhook Brewery, which has headquarters in Seattle, and breweries in Woodinville, Wash.; Portland, Ore.; Portsmouth, N.H.; and Memphis, Tenn.
It does a good job of featuring rye, with its spicy character coming through in the aroma and flavor. The golden body was topped off with a decent white head and has medium carbonation.
The malt character of the 4.7% ABV ale was more noticeable in the aroma, however, as the piney and bitter hops dominated the flavor. The hops were not intense, but it doesn’t take much to have an influence with a lower-alcohol beer.
Redhook has wide distribution in the U.S.; its Beer Finder link is at http://redhook.com/find-beer.
Surly Brewing Co. (Minneapolis, surlybrewing.com, 4.5% ABV) gets into the citra hop revolution with its Xtra-Citra Pale Ale. Citra hops are a relatively new variety that deliver tropical fruit characteristics and many breweries are experimenting with them.
Xtra-Citra had strong flavors and aromas of melon and orange, with grain and slight pine and grapefruit in the background aromas. The grapefruit is stronger in the flavor as, like with Summerhook, the pine took over. It had the background bitterness and slight harshness of the American pale ale style, somewhat tempered by light malts that were soft in the mouthfeel.
Surly distributes in Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin; its Beer Finder link is at the top of its home page.
Both of these beers strike a middle ground for beer drinkers — the hops may not be intense enough for the hardcore hopheads out there, while those who don’t like pine might be turned off. For those willing to experiment, however, the pine presence is light enough in these beers to allow other flavors to come through.
Many beers are available only regionally. Check the brewer's website, which often contains information on product availability by mail. Contact Todd Haefer at beerman@postcrescent.com. To read previous Beer Man columns, click here.
