Founders Black Rye

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

This was very nice, especially so on a cold night. I’ve frequently found something unhappily odd about rye beers, but this one didn’t do that. There are some rich dark strains here, deeper than porter but with a lot of toasty smokiness and musty chocolate. Not particularly thick but not in a bad way. Excellent.

Pours a dark chocolate brown (almost black) with an enormous, dense, frothy, tan head that leaves sticky, glass-coating, creamy lace, once it eventually recedes. With a proper pour, a half inch of liquid yields a glassful of head; it reminds me of what you get from pouring root beer over vanilla ice cream. Patience is a virtue with this beer, as you will be waiting a while for the head to diminish. Once it does, the aroma is quite enticing: chocolate, toffee and spicy rye notes commingle in a sweet-toasty harmony. Medium-bodied and creamy-slick with a moderately bitter, toasted finish. The flavor is of chocolate, chestnuts and mildly spicy rye with a supremely well-integrated hop finish. I really like Red’s Rye, and this beer is even better. God, I hope that Founders expands it’s distribution to Kansas City. They certainly know how to make extraordinary beer.

Bottle, thanks to after4ever. Big sour rye aroma, with plenty of chocolate, coffee and brown sugar to keep it company. Medium body and light carbonation. Taste also features rye, chocolate, coffee and brown sugar.

12-oz. Thanks, Sprinkle! Black. Thick, surging, bubbly tan head. It’s impossible for me, as a certified rye freak, to imagine a beer smelling better than this. Rye, char, roast, chocolate, and who knows what else on the nose. Body’s on the high side of medium with nicely placed moderate carb. Chocolate, sour rye, and roastiness on the mid-palate. Lingering rye bread finish. Awesome stuff.

A very nice brew. Pours dark brown-black, with very little head. Nose is hops, mostly, with some roast notes. Flavor is, in many ways, similar to a dry stout: roasty, rich, coffee, and hops. Very nice!

Bottle: Pours very black with a good, thick head. Great hoppy aroma. Tastes like a very good and thick IPA. I really enjoyed this beer.

This one is a reminder how much I love rye. Very dark with a nice head. Nose of chocolate malt with sweet hops. Taste has some rye spice but it helps balance out the hops and nutty malt body. Some caramel and roasted malts. Nice beer screams to be warmed.

12 oz bottle. Nearly black with hints of amber and a thin tan head. Spices and chocolate in the nose. Fairly big hop note to start with a chocolate malty middle and a very clean finish. Thinnish. Very drinkable.