Founders American Black Ale

Formerly brewed at Founders Brewing Company
Style: Porter
Grand Rapids, Michigan USA

Bottle: Courtesy of Styles. Aroma is loaded with chocolate along with some caramel, a hint of fruit and coffee. Pours a dark brown with no transparency and small tan head that quickly fades to a ring around the edges of the glass. Starts initially with some chocolate before roasted grains jump into the middle with a hint of caramel. Finishes with light roasted coffee. Flavors aren’t as bold as I expected based on the aroma, maybe even a tad watery. A tad thin.

Very dark transparent mahogany with a thin light tan head. Aroma of roasty dark malt with a touch of dark chocolate. Body starts semi-sweet with a touch of dark chocolate and a bitter roasted malty finish. Nicely-balanced and enjoyable.

Poured a dark brown color with a thin beige head. Big creamy chocolate aroma. Lightly roasted. Flavor is lightly roasted and acidic. Mild bitterness on the finish. Light to medium body.

Very dark brown, somewhat transparent when held to light. Minimal tan head fades to ring of film. Aroma full of roasted grain, dark fruit, chocolate, faint coffee. When swirled though gives off a cabbage like aroma, maybe the bottle is too old? infection? I don’t know, knocks the aroma/overall down a few points. Flavor starts very sweet, chocolate and faint toffee notes. Through the middle gat some bitttering hops and faint coffee again. Will agree with others surprisingly light body, makes it a very easy drink.

(12 oz bottle: Obtained in trade with Sully, thanks Mike) This Black Ale pours a very dark brown that is only a shade lighter than black, and there are deep mahogany highlights at the edges. It takes about five seconds for the small, wafer-thin head to materialize, and then it quickly fades back to a partial sheen. The nose is sweet yet tart, roasty, smoky, and very chocolaty with a modest aroma of berry, and is reminding me of a chocolate raspberry cake, albeit not as sweet. More of that cake when I first take a sip, but there’s also a clear and unmistakeable roastiness with a moderate bitterness that picks up potency within a second or two. The beer tastes less sweet than the aroma even when first taking a sip, and in fact, even that sweetness dies away quickly, being replaced by an obvious tartness. A solid smokiness joins the fun in the finish, as does a surprising grapefruit character. Body is quite light for such a dark beer, not that that is unheard of, but certainly goes against the norm. That’s not to say the body is light in general, rather, it’s more medium "plus" to me. Carbonation is fairly gentle, but seems perfect for this beer. Lacing is literally spotty. This is just an all-around great beer, extremely flavorful, very enjoyable and tasty, and wonderfully complex with a variety of flavors that are rarely tasted together in one beer. Excellent, excellent brew.

Bottle. Dark brown color with a moderate off-white head that was lasting with good lacing. Good complex aroma of roasted malt and caramel. Medium to full body with a smooth texture. Full flavor with a small bitter and long pleasing finish. Another very good and complex brew from Founders.

Bottle. Pours a dark brown color w/ a small light tanhead. Nose is light hops, some roasted notes and a bit of coffee like hues. Taste is hoppy with some light roasted notes, some coffee and overall pretty unimpressive. rerate. 12oz bottle.After darkelfs rating I had to try again, must have been wasted the first time cause it really is damn good. Pours a dark brown color with a creamy off white head. Nose is mocha, malty and some dark fruits. taste is slightly bitter up front, some maltiness, roastiness, dark chocolate, and a very smooth finish. I upped the aroma, appearance, palate up 1 point each, overall up 3 points.

12 oz bottle - Pours dark brown with a crazy rocky tan long lastig head that took up 3/4 of the pint glass and laced pretty well. It took me 10 minutes to pour this thing. Aroma was mostly hops. Floral citrus a touch of caramel and chocolate also can be found in the head. Flavor is notes of chocolate, caramel, and brown sugar under a pine like hop flavor. On the palate this is surprisingly light for a beer of this color. It looked and almost felt like rootbeer in the mouth too. A very unique beer.