Founders Black Rye

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

On tap at Founders. Rye and hops in the aroma. Roasted malt and more rye for flavor, dry finish.

12oz - Aroma is at first hoppy, then the roasted chocolate malt kicks in with a bit of vanilla in the aftertaste. Pours thin black with a quickly dissapating head and decent lacing. Flavor matches aroma and is a bit roaster than the aroma, Palate is creamy and tart. Different and good.

Aroma:Mixe of ipa hops and rosted malt..... Appearance:Dark with a good brown head... Flavor:chocolate rosted malt,nutty,dry finish.....

12 oz bottle: dark chestnut with amber highlights. Burnt, bitter hop cone aroma, with hints of coffee, roasted peanuts and rye. A little over carbonated on the tongue, but the tingle is welcome none-the-less. Full, creamy, large bubbled dark tan head. Dark, roasted hop bitterness that complements the high carbonation in the palate very well. Lightly charred raisins and burnt oak linger on the sides of the mouth. Very enjoyable and drinkable.

12 oz. bottle, also from Archer Liquors. Pours an almost black dark ruby color with a small beige head. Aroma of piney hops, toasted and chocolate malts, nuts. Some bitterness up front, some earthiness, a little bit of bitter chocolate, and a fairly dry chalkyish finish. Old rating was 3.3, and I don’t know why.

Very thin dark brown foam head. Nose is a mix of dark chocolate and rye. Dark opaque brown coloring. Slightly bitter dry semi sweet chocolate flat taste. Different from other rye beers I have had.

Bottle. Pours black with nice big frothy tan head. Nice dark roast, sweet chocolate, and grainy aroma. For me, I think the flavors could use a bit more balance. There are hints of coffee, chocalate, rye, and earthy hops. Finish is bitter, spicy, and peppery. Very slight warming. Another good beer from Founders. As far as rye beers go, the Reds Rye is better IMO.

Bottle from Archer Liquors. One of those beers that is very enjoyable yet its hard to get the numbers up to the relative level of enjoyment. It could have something to do with my inherent fascination with rye beers and that this is pretty much the best, and that I’ve finally got the bottle that I can’t at all get locally... I mean, rye is such a great grain! Rye bread, rye whiskey, rye beer... what more could you ask for. It’s important that I mention this fascination because this may very well be one of those cases where something is so exciting in concept that I love it before I even try it and refuse to accept that it’s actually just mostly average in the end.

OK, onto the beer. Pours deep, stout-like black with a big, crisp head and great lacing. Aroma is very grainy, with nice rye, sprouts, almonds, a touch of hopping at the end. Taste is kinda harsh grains. Rye is definitely noticable, with bitter hops in the finish. Palate is thin though also buttery and very drinkable. What can I say, I love this beer every moment except when I’m drinking it. At that point it’s only pretty average.