was founded, like Microsoft, in 1981 in a garage in Washington State. Starbucks Coffee Company cofounder Gordon Bowker recruited marketing analyst Paul Shipman, who was then working for Chateau Ste. Michelle, a Woodinville, Washington, winery. The two started Redhook Ale Brewery inside a transmission shop in Seattle. At the time, almost nobody in America was starting breweries. In 1980 eight craft brewers were registered in the United States, and they were largely ignored by industry experts. With few successful examples to emulate, it took the pair some time to find the right market. Their initial offering of a spicy Belgian ale left Seattle patrons confused. To them, the beer apparently tasted like bananas. Redhook sold fewer than 1,000 barrels in its first year. By 1984, however, after having had some success with their Blackhook porter the previous year, the pair crafted a beer called Ballard bitter (now Ballard bitter IPA). As people sought out this IPA in bars around Seattle, it became clear that the Redhook Ale Brewery had more than just a cult following; the microbrew revolution was gaining traction.

With the success of the Ballard bitter, the brewery soon moved out of the garage and into a 26,000 ft2 historic Seattle Electric Railway building located in the local neighborhood of Fremont. It was in 1987, in this new facility, that they created their flagship beer, Redhook ESB, in the tradition of an English-style extra special bitter. See extra special bitter (esb). This beer is crisp and biscuity, showing caramel and fruit flavors, which become more pronounced as the beer warms in the glass.

In 1988, with the ESB gaining popularity, a more sophisticated brewery became a necessity and Redhook expanded and updated the Fremont facility. In 1994, it opened a second brewery in Woodinville, Washington, and in 1996 a third brewery in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Through a venture called Craft Brewers Alliance, Redhook Ale Brewery is now licensed to brew and sell the successful Widmer Hefeweizen, owns a stake in both the Goose Island Beer Company and the Kona Brewing Company, and has had an advantageous distribution alliance with Anheuser-Busch since 1994. In turn, Anheuser-Busch InBev owns more than 35% of Craft Brewers Alliance, who are estimated to produce more than 400,000 hl (340,867 US bbl) of beer per year.