Founders Pale Ale

Brewed by Founders Brewing Company
Style: American Pale Ale
Grand Rapids, Michigan USA

Haze-laden amber, peppered with floaties. A fast head that might have been white. Sweet orange starts the aroma, with grapefruit, sawdust (and other wood notes), and a touch of wet dog. Healthily bitter flavor starts with a shock of pine moving to honey sweetness and finishing with citrus and a hint of spearmint.

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Grainy malts and grapefruit hops in the floral aroma. Clear copper coloured body with low but lasting white head. Sweet caramel maltiness with some grapefruit-orange, floral hop flavour and moderate finishing bitterness. Dry, medium body with moderate effervescence. Draft at Ashley’s in Ann Arbor.

Nice copper tinged gold, topped with a nice level of bubbly white foam. Aroma is lightly floral with a touch of grapefruit. Flavor has a good well balanced mix of floral and caramel malt. Sugary and sweet. Nice pale! Good leve of aftertaste containing caramel.

Nice golden body, a bit richer than the usual pale. Dry on the palate with a hoppy finish.

(12 oz bottle: Obtained in trade with bkelley68, thanks Brian!) Massive carbonation prevents me from pouring the entire bottle into my pint glass, but that may be a good thing for once. Just a few flecks of something, I presume it’s hops, have flown into the glass, and so underneath the 4 inches of bubbly white head, an army of carbonation bubbles rise through the golden liquid, circulating the flecks like a snow globe. Later on, I’ll get to pour the remainder of the bottle into the glass, including what seems to be a significant amount of sediment, and watch the show. But for now, the nose is hoppy, floral and quite aromatic, though also a bit soapy. Some of that hoppiness transfers over into the flavor as well, but not nearly to the same degree of dominance or abundance. It’s moderately hoppy at best, somewhat citrusy, increasing in bitterness in the finish, but it does taste pretty fresh. Mild sweetness, a bit of fruitiness, and a light malt body only manage to provide some balance, not nearly enough for me, so in the end, it’s a hoppy beer by default, and this beer is more aromatic than it is flavorful. That’s too bad. The body is also a bit thin, but not watery per se. Fairly clean on the palate with an expansive mouthfeel from the carbonation and a reasonable crispness in the finish. As the large head dies away, it leaves several clumps of foam on the glass. Not a bad pale ale, certainly easy to drink, but I’d prefer a more malty backbone. And now, since the beer stimulates my eyes more than my taste buds, I will empty the bottle and watch Round 2 of the snow globe...

Not much of a nose on this one, but a damn drinkable ale. Nice pale ale with a full color and hopped tongue, but not overly done. Much like the IPA from founders, this is a classy beer and not heavyhanded.

Clear golden color with a thin white head. Good aroma of floral hops. Good flavor of grainy malt with floral hops, the hops has the typical dry hop signature, bitter finish. Medium body, dry mouthfeel. Founders does it again with another solid product.

Poured a deep golden from the bottle. Decent head and lacing. Not much aroma, but hints of aromatic hops. Flavor is on the hoppy side, bitter first then the sweetness finishes. Finishes nice and dry, almost astringent. Has the feel of a fuller beer, not weak by any means (seems uncharacteristically full for a pale ale). Very drinkable. Solid performance by Founders.