Founders Centennial IPA

Brewed by Founders Brewing Company
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Grand Rapids, Michigan USA

Bottle - Cloudy amber color. Medium head with lots of lacing. Lots of hops. Very woodsy. Hard to say anything bad, just a darn good IPA. Need to find this one on tap somewhere.

From a 12oz Bottle. Rated Blind. Pours a somewhat hazy, ripened peach flesh color with a thick head of pillowy ivory. Head is actually a bit large and overly puffy, leaving a pillar of merangue obstructing the aromatic streaming bubbles struggling to reach my nose. Light caramels, graham cracker malts, and floral hops create a nicely balanced nose. The hops have a lightly spicy character and are somewhat earthy, but otherwise emit a grassy perfume. The malt, while caramelly, has a bit of an aged malt extract syrup thickness to it. Medium-light bodied, highly effervescent mouthfeel. The bubbles are a bit coarse and over-done, scrubbing the tongue like low grit sandpaper. A moderate hop bitterness comes out right away on the tongue, along with some darker, lightly toasted bread flavors. The bitterness is a bit strong, causing the darker malt flavors to seem a bit dry and borderline astringent. Some white grapefruit pulp adds some citrus qualities on the backend, but the finish is too dry to add much depth to that flavor sensation. Overcarbonated, overly dry, and the malt profile seems to clash a bit with the spicy, earthy, citrus hop flavor.

Clear medium-to-dark amber color - lively aroma of floral and piney hops. Sweet flavor with bold hop character, including citrus, a hint of caramel and a brisk finish. Nice IPA.

Bottle: Average appearance, but everything else above average. Great hoppy smell and taste for only a single IPA. Very drinkable. I could drink several of these in one sitting (as opposed to most double+ IPAs). Very good.

Thanks Nuts. Probably the perfect specimen of a medium to mild IPA. Rather clear but darker than your typical pale yellow lager, perhaps some red or orange tinge. Mild to medium perfumy floral hop aroma. Very little if any carbonation. Rather gentle in IPA flavors when compared to many other IPA. Hoppy but not too hoppy. Rather acceptable even for a sweet lager lover. Overall less oppressive than I predicted. Puts other offensive IPAs to shame. A good example of a well made IPA, enjoyable and hoppy, yet not extremely medicine bitter.

Date: 07/18/2005
Mode: Bottle
Source: Trade

Appearance: opaque orange, whispy white head,
Aroma: big sweet citrus hop aroma with a touch of pine sap,
Flavor: lots of sweet carmel malt flavor balanced by great grapefruit hop character, fatigues easily and a fair amount of bitterness shows up,
Overall: starts off great but fades
-------- /> Date: 09/06/2005
Mode: bottle
Score: ii to ii+

Appearance: dark amber, fine beige head,
Aroma: big sweet grapefruit aroma,
Body: creamy body,
Flavor: nice big hoppy flavor on top of some good sweetness, turns into a creamy hop flavor grapefruit smoothy
-------- /> Date: 03/15/2008
Mode: bottle
Source: tasting

holds up very well, retains a lot of the citrus and grapefruit rind character,

Aroma: 7/10; Appearance: 8/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 7/10; Overall: 13/20
Rating: 3.5/5.0
Drinkability: 8/10
Score: **+/4

Once, this was one of my go to beers. Excellent IPA. Perfectly hopped. Just the thing you want on a Michigan summer day.

Bottle. Yeah, thats the one. A terrific full bodied, full flavored IPA with all kinds of delicious hoppiness. A lively apricot / copper color with a beige head that laces nicely. A hearty malty backbone that slams into a hoppy finish. Slick and smooth on the way down. This will be my standard, every-day, after work IPA - very nice. My full rec. I would have expected nothing less from Founder’s.