Founders American Black Ale

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

I was expecting somethin a bit different. I'd say this is most similar to a porter. Black in colour with a bitter roast malt flavour throughout. I was expecting more hop flavour and found this to be rather one-dimensional.

An opaque ruby black with a small tan head. Aroma of coffee and crisp grapefruit. Bitter roasted taste offset by a light hop taste/feel. Slight bitter aftertaste. Big yeast particles in bottom of bottle.

Roasty chocolate-coffee on top of a lighter-than-expected body. "Porter light". Nice darker beer for summer.

As the description states, dark, but light bodied. It was fairly flavorful, but not as roasty as I would have suspected. Not any one flavor stuck out at me between malt or hop.

The flavor in this was Super Roasted - strong smokey coffee and seemingly well hopped. What was unusual was the thin body - I guess that'd make it very easy to drink as a session ale.

It is very tempting to rate this as a porter, but I resist. Pours dark ruby, with a thin head and burnt aroma. The flavor proved interesting, as I noted dark fruit and smoked notes along with bitterness. It is thinner-bodied than most porters, and the flavor is distinctly different. An interesting style.

Black as night. I do have to say, although I'm not crazy about this beer overall, it has this POP. This certain flavor, almost like a hint of lemon or something, that jumps right at you. It kept my interest regardless of my overall feelings on this beer.

Roasty, toasty, lightly smoky malt and citrusy hop in the aroma. Deep, dark ebony in color, with a very creamy, lasting, root beery head and plenty of lace. Sediment swirled and poured. Flavor has some roasty, faintly chocolatey malt, with some coffee, caramel and plenty of robust, citric hoppiness, along with an intriguing but fleeting dark fruitiness, hints of prune and raisin. Bitter, creamy mouthfeel and a light to medium body. Interesting balance and blend of flavors, comparable to no one thing in particular.