Founders Black Rye

Brewed by Founders Brewing Company
Style: Specialty Grain
Grand Rapids, Michigan USA

A dark, spicy, malty beer that’s also a good "just drinking" beer. It’s chocolaty and nutty but zesty, just a note of citrus, a bit of floral flavor, and a lot of spices (especially in the finish). Which spices? Bits of allspice, cumin, dill (!), coriander. Plus it’s astonishingly light for all its complexity. Not so heavy that one will keep you from drinking more, but still satisfying. It’s an exciting beer.

Bottle. Pours a dark black with a tan head with nice lacing. The aroma is chocolate malts with a touch of hops. The flavor is very malty. Chocolate, toffee, but then the hops kick in. What an interesting beer. Nice balance of initial malts with the hop finish. Excellent beer.

Poured from bottle, nice dark head, leaves lacing on side of glass. Smells like hopped chocolate. Taste is sweet, roasted chocolate with a cleaning hop presence that keeps the brew from being heavy. This brew really opens up while it warms. Very easy to drink! Not a heavy feel in mouth. Heck of a beer and I’ll have to get some more!!

bottle. Aroma: dark chocolate, floral, big malt, and a hint of citrus. Rye is subtle but present. Appearance: Opaque and very dark brown, almost black. Small brown highlights when held to light. Small light tan head was fluffy and lingered for a bit. Nice lacing. Flavor: Big malt sweetness, chocolate and smoke, rye spiciness, and then the hops kick in. Very nice. Finish is nice and dry, have to think the rye is helping out there. Very slight alcohol flavor on back of tongue. Palate: Medium bodied. Beer had a slight oily texture, but in a good way. Carbonation was good and finish was dry with little hop bitterness aftertaste. Overall: A very good, drinkable dark rye beer. Pleasantly surprised by how good it is.

Interesting. And pretty good. Malts and chocolate are full with a nice alcohol kick.

Bottle. Pours dark with a red hue around the edges, with a decent off-white head. Aroma of roasted and chocolate malts, grain, and rye. Flavor is roast, chocolate, nuts, rye, and bittering hops. Good body, goodbrew.

Rerate: Had on tap and the hops were much more dominant. Hurt the complexity of the beer. I would say let bottles age for about 8months to a year for the most rewarding experience. Original rate: Wow, what a beer. Pours black with tan head that lasts throughout. Smells like dark chocolate wrapped in hops. This bottle is about six months old, so the hops have diminished a bit from when I had it last, so the aroma isn’t getting top scores, but I think the age has improved the flavor! Tastes like chocolate, some nuttiness, rye, some sourness, some alcohol. Finishes rich, creamy, and smokey with perfect bitterness. This is exactly what I’ve been looking for- a complex beer that isn’t 10% plus alcohol and it comes in a 12 oz bottle for under $2 per! Insanely good and one hell of a value.

Pours a dark dark stout-like red brown with a thinning light tan head. The nose is really very excellent. Once is first struck by the big malt and hint of that chocolatey roast and floral hops. A swirling really brings out touches of the rye and more aggressive hops (Cascades?) with touches of alcohol. This is smooth and creamy on the tongue with a bit of viscosity on it’s own and a slight alcohol warming. Truly pleasant to drink! The flavor is incredible in my opinion. A big sweet somewhat chocolately malt backdrop overwhich there is the roasty charcoal, spicy rye, liberal hopping, and touches of alcohol. I feel like each of these flavors pick up where the other left off forming something like a chord or a "wall of flavor". Really complimentary flavors with complexity not solely for the sake of complexity, but to genuinely be enjoyed. There’s also a bit of smoke and the slightest touch of dark fruit. As the flavor lingers the charcoal, hops, and rye taper off very nicely together. I really lament that this is my only bottle... I will have to hunt down some more, without question!! rerate: 20 July 2007 I still enjoy this beer. It’s appeared in the area regularly though, so I’ve gotten to drink a good deal more of this stuff, and some flaws have become apparent, though this is still a very lovely beer. 4 for appearance still. Dark dark brown with a subtle tan head, not much though. 9 for aroma. A strongly piney rye pungently dominates. Alcohol and a well proportioned malt sweetness. A bit of roast fills in to give this some balance. A still think this is a unique set of odor sensations, just like the first time. 4 for palate. A subdued body low in CO2 but still a bit creamy. 8 for flavor. Roast, sweetness, piney rye all vie for attention. Sweet malt backbone, some caramel, though with diacetyl butteryness, give this a creaminess, though it works largely. A hint of coffee and maybe chocolate. A silky smooth creamy finish. 18 overall. I can still drink this at least once a week, but it’s hard to call this as so close to perfection now.