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                                                                   EXHIBIT 10.27


                              EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENT


      THIS EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENT ("Agreement") is entered into effective the
15th day of December, 1997, between Employer, Redhook Ale Brewery, Incorporated
("Employer") and David J. Mickelson ("Employee").

      1.    Explanatory Statement

            a.    Employer is engaged in the business of brewing, packaging,
marketing, and distributing alcoholic malt beverages and other beverages.

            b.    Employee has specialized expertise in the business of brewing,
packaging, marketing, and distributing alcoholic malt beverages, and other
beverages and is the current Executive Vice President and Chief Operating
Officer of Employer.

            c.    Employee accepts continued employment with Employer and agrees
to render the services for Employer on the terms and conditions set forth in
this Agreement.

      2.    Term of Employment. The term of this Agreement commences on January
1, 1998 and, subject to the further provisions of this Agreement, ends on
December 31, 1999.

      3.    Employment. Employer employs Employee as Executive Vice President
and Chief Operating Officer, and Employee agrees to render services for and on
behalf of Employer under the direction and supervision of the Chief Executive
Officer. The Chairman of the Board of Directors or the Board of Directors may
assign other executive duties to Employee. Employee shall provide these services
professionally and competently and shall devote substantially all of Employee's
business time to his services hereunder.

      4.    Compensation. Employer will pay Employee as compensation for
services rendered under this Agreement as follows:

            a.    a minimum base salary of One Hundred, Twenty Thousand Dollars
($120,000) per year in accordance with Employer's normal payroll policies;

            b.    a performance bonus in an amount to be determined by the
Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors, conditioned on Employer's

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reaching or exceeding year-end performance goals as those goals are specified in
Employer's annual business plan, in addition to consideration of other
achievements during the year.

            c.    The Board of Directors in its sole discretion may review
Employee's compensation for upward adjustment.

      5.    Vacations and Fringe Benefits.

            a.    Employer shall provide Employee the same vacation, retirement,
and other fringe benefits provided other executive employees of Employer.

            b.    Employer may furnish Employee an automobile, which may be used
by Employee for personal and business use and shall pay the ordinary and
reasonable expenses associated with operation of the automobile; however,
Employee shall account to Employer for the personal use of the automobile which
in turn shall be reported by Employer as income to Employee in accordance with
the regulations of the Internal Revenue Service. If at any time the rules
regarding personal use of business automobiles are changed by the Internal
Revenue Service, this Agreement shall be modified to assure compliance in a
manner that is as favorable to Employee as permitted by such rules. If Employer
does not provide an automobile for Employee, Employee will receive a monthly car
allowance in an amount to be determined by the Compensation Committee.

      6.    Termination of Employment.

            a.    Employer may at its option terminate the employment of
Employee with no further obligation to compensate Employee through written
notice to Employee for any of the following reasons:

                  (1)   Employee materially breaches any of the provisions of
      this Agreement and fails to cure the breach within thirty (30) days after
      receiving specific written notice of the breach; or

                  (2)   Employee is unable for any reason other than death or
      disability to perform the material duties of the position for longer than
      one hundred and eighty (180) consecutive days; or

                  (3)   Employee has engaged in conduct which in the event he
      were to remain employed by Employer would substantially and


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      adversely impair the interests of Employer; or

                  (4)   Employee repeatedly refuses to obey lawful directions of
      Employer's Chief Executive Officer or Board of Directors.

            b.    Employer may at its option terminate the employment of
Employee through written notice to Employee for any other reason; however, in
the event of such termination:

                  (1)   Employer shall continue to pay Employee for a minimum of
      one (1) additional year the compensation, other than the annual
      performance bonus, then in effect on the date that notice of termination
      is received;

                  (2)   Employee shall be entitled to receive the compensation
      referred to in Section 6.b.(1) for a period not to exceed two (2) years
      from the date that notice of termination is received, to the extent that
      Employee has not commenced employment (1) in a similarly compensated
      position; or (2) with a business that brews, packages, markets or
      distributes alcoholic malt beverages in any state of the United States or
      in any foreign country where Employer brewed, packaged, marketed or
      distributed alcoholic malt beverages during the term of this Agreement;

                  (3)   All outstanding unvested options/shares granted to the
      Employee that are scheduled to vest within one (1) year from the date that
      notice of termination is received under this Section 6.b., will continue
      to vest according to that schedule and all other unvested options/shares
      will be canceled;

                  (4)   If Employee violates Sections 7 or 8 of this Agreement,
      Employer's obligation to continue to pay Employee's compensation, as
      described in this Section 6.b., shall immediately terminate, and the
      Employer will have no further obligation to Employee pursuant to this
      Agreement, provided that the cessation of the Employee's compensation
      under this Section 6.b.(4) shall not limit Employer's rights to pursue
      other remedies at law or in equity.

            c.    Employee may at his option terminate his employment with
Employer under this Agreement through written notice to Employer for the
following reasons:

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                  (1)   Employer materially breaches any of the provisions of
      this Agreement and fails to cure the breach within thirty (30) days after
      receiving specific written notice of the breach and action required to
      cure the breach;

                  (2)   Employer is declared bankrupt or a receiver is appointed
      for longer than 180 days;

                  (3)   Employer liquidates or otherwise ceases business
      operations;


            d.    In the event that Employee elects to terminate his employment
under Section 6.c.(1):

                  (1)   Employer shall continue to pay Employee for a minimum of
      one (1) additional year the compensation, other than the annual
      performance bonus, then in effect on the date that notice of termination
      is received;

                  (2)   Employee shall be entitled to receive the compensation
      referred to in Section 6.d.(1) for a period not to exceed two (2) years
      from the date that notice of termination is received, to the extent that
      Employee has not commenced employment (1) in a similarly compensated
      position; or (2) with a business that brews, packages, markets or
      distributes alcoholic malt beverages in any state of the United States or
      in any foreign country where Employer brewed, packaged, marketed or
      distributed alcoholic malt beverages during the term of this Agreement;

                  (3)   All outstanding unvested options/shares granted to the
      Employee that are scheduled to vest within one (1) year from the date that
      notice of termination is received under this Section 6.d., will continue
      to vest according to that schedule and all other unvested options/shares
      will be canceled;

                  (4)   If Employee violates Sections 7 or 8 of this Agreement,
      Employer's obligation to continue to pay Employee's compensation, as
      described in this Section 6.d., shall immediately terminate, and the
      Employer will have no further obligation to Employee pursuant to this
      Agreement, provided that the cessation of Employee's compensation under
      this Section 6.d.(4) shall not limit Employer's rights

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      to pursue other remedies at law or in equity.

            e.    Employee's termination of employment for any other reason
shall constitute a material breach of this Agreement, and shall terminate
Employer's obligations under this Agreement, without limiting Employer's rights
to pursue other remedies at law or in equity; and

            f.    Employee shall continue to be subject to the restrictions in
Sections 7 and 8 of this Agreement following termination of employment for any
reason.

      7.    Confidential Information and Goodwill.

            a.    Employee will acquire knowledge of Employer's confidential
information. Confidential information is information which is of a unique nature
relating to the Employer's business operations, internal structure, financial
affairs, programs, recipes, formulations, brewing methods, systems, procedures,
manuals, confidential reports, lists of customers and prospective customers,
sales and marketing methods, as well as the amount, nature and type of product,
equipment and methods used and preferred by Employer's customers and the prices
paid by Employer's customers or any other information which is confidential or
proprietary or otherwise not available to the general public. Disclosure of this
confidential information could cause substantial loss to the Employer. Employee
agrees that Employee will not for any purpose disclose any confidential
information obtained by Employee during employment with the Employer to any
person or entity.

            b.    Employee may have access to records of the Employer. Records
are all contracts, agreements, financial books, instruments and documents,
client lists, memoranda, data, reports, recipes, formulations, brewing records,
tapes, rolodexes, telephone and address books, letters, research, card decks,
listings, programming, and any other instruments, records or documents relating
or pertaining to manufacturing or customer sales by Employer or Employee, the
services rendered by Employee, or the business of the Employer. Records will
remain in Employer's property. When Employee's employment terminates, Employee
will return to Employer all records and will neither make nor retain any copies
of any records after termination of employment.

            c.    During the term of this Agreement and thereafter, Employee
shall diligently, legally and freely perform his duties as set forth in this
Agreement and shall take no action that would damage the goodwill of the

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Employer. During the term of this Agreement and thereafter, Employee agrees that
he will not make any oral or written statement to any third party that is
intended to, or does, call into question the (1) conduct, business practices or
business judgment of the Employer or any of its officers, directors or business
partners; or (2) quality of the Employer's products or services.

      8.    Restrictive Covenants.

            a.    Employee will perform services which have a unique value to
Employer which if used in competition with Employer could cause serious and
irreparable harm to Employer. Employee will develop goodwill for Employer
through personal contact with customers and others who have business
relationships with Employer. This goodwill, which is a proprietary asset of
Employer, may follow Employee after the employment with Employer terminates.
Employee agrees that for a period of two (2) years following the termination of
this Agreement, Employee will not, unless given prior written consent by
Employer:

                  (1)   solicit for employment or employ any other person or
      entity any person who is employed by Employer during the same time as
      Employee. Employee will not persuade or attempt to persuade any customer,
      supplier, distributor, retailer, person or entity which is a customer or
      supplier to Employer during the time of Employee's employment with
      Employer, to discontinue business with Employer and its affiliates or
      modify the terms of business between itself and Employer or its
      affiliates.

                  (2)   engage or act, either as a consultant, independent
      contractor, proprietor, stockholder, partner, employee, officer, or in any
      other capacity, in any business which brews, packages, markets or
      distributes alcoholic malt beverages in any state of the continental
      United States or in any foreign country where Employer brewed, packaged,
      marketed or distributed alcoholic malt beverages during the term of this
      Agreement.

            b.    If any provision or portion of this section of the Agreement
is held unreasonable, unlawful, or unenforceable by a court of competent
jurisdiction, the provision will be deemed to be modified to the extent
necessary for the provision to be legally enforceable to the fullest extent
permitted by applicable law. Any court of competent jurisdiction may enforce any
provision of this section or modify any provision in order that the provision
will be enforced by the court to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law.

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            c.    Violation by Employee of the provisions of Sections 7 or 8 of
this Agreement could cause irreparable injury to Employer and there is no
adequate remedy at law for violation of those provisions. Employer has, in
addition to other legal or equitable remedies, the right to enjoin Employee in a
court of equity from violating those provisions. The cessation of Employee's
compensation under Section 6 shall in no way limit the damages available to the
Employer upon violation by Employee of Sections 7 or 8 of this Agreement.

      9.    Employee's Death or Disability. In the event that Employee dies or
becomes disabled during the period that Employee is employed by Employer under
this Agreement, Employer shall pay for a period of six (6) months the
compensation, other than the annual performance bonus, then in effect on the
date of Employee's death, or date that notice of Employee's disability is
received, to Employee or to Employee's estate or legal guardian. In the event
that Employee dies within one year after Employee's employment has been
terminated pursuant to Section 6.b. or Section 6.c.(1), Employer shall continue
to pay Employee's estate the compensation, other than the annual performance
bonus, then in effect on the date of Employee's death until the first
anniversary of the date Employee's employment terminated, whereupon Employer's
obligation to pay compensation under Section 6 shall cease. In addition, the
options/shares granted to the Employee that are scheduled to vest during the
twelve (12) month period under Section 6.b.(3) and Section 6.d.(3) shall vest
immediately and be exercisable for a period of six (6) months from the date of
Employee's death. Employee shall continue to be subject to the restrictions in
Sections 7 and 8 of this Agreement following termination of employment due to
disability.

      10.   Notices. All notices and other communications required or permitted
to be given by this Agreement must be in writing and must be given and will be
deemed received if and when either hand delivered and a signed receipt is given
or mailed by registered or certified U.S. mail, return receipt requested,
postage prepaid, and if to Employer to:

            Secretary of the Board of Directors
            Redhook Ale Brewery, Incorporated
            3400 Phinney Avenue North
            Seattle, Washington  98103

and if to Employee to:

            David J. Mickelson

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            23912-24th Dr. SE
            Bothell, Washington  98021

or at any other address as either party notifies the other of in writing.

      11.   Miscellaneous.

            a.    This Agreement binds and benefits Employer and its successors
and assigns. This Agreement binds and benefits Employee and Employee's heirs,
personal and legal representatives, and guardians. No portion of this Agreement
or interest in it may be assigned by Employee.

            b.    The terms and provisions of this Agreement may not be modified
except by written instrument duly executed by Employer and Employee.

            c.    This Agreement will be governed by and enforced and construed
in accordance with the laws of the State of Washington. Venue for an action to
enforce this Agreement shall be in Superior Court for King County, Washington.

            d.    In any dispute arising out of this Agreement, the prevailing
party shall be entitled to recover its reasonable attorneys' fees and costs.

            e.    In the event of a breach of this Agreement, the non-breaching
party may maintain an action for specific performance against the party who is
alleged to have breached any of the terms of the Agreement. This subsection will
not be construed to limit in any manner any other rights or remedies an
aggrieved party may have by virtue of any breach of this Agreement.

            f.    Each of the parties has the right to waive compliance with any
obligation of this Agreement, but a waiver by any party of any obligation will
not be deemed a waiver of compliance with any other obligation or of its right
to seek redress for any breach of any obligation on any subsequent occasion, nor
will any waiver be deemed effective unless in writing and signed by the party so
waiving.

      IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties have executed and delivered this

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Agreement.

"EMPLOYER"

Redhook Ale Brewery, Incorporated



By /s/ Paul S. Shipman                Date: December 15, 1997
        Its President and Chief
            Executive Officer



"EMPLOYEE"



By /s/ David J. Mickelson              Date: December 15, 1997