Founders Reds Rye P.A.

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

Bottle on 11/28/2008 in the Great Butters Tasting of 2008. Very slightly hazy copper body with a medium creamy light tan head. Big caramel, some rye, and a big citrus and floral hop aroma. More caramel, light rye and citrus and floral hop flavor with a dry floral bitter finish. Medium full body with moderate carbonation.

Dark red/burnt copper with clinging white lace - woody aroma, with pungent hops and background of freshly brewed tea and herbs - very hoppy and grainy - like a very malty IPA - herbs and grassiness - a solid ale no matter how you slice it (whatever that means).

Bottle. Amber colour with a huge white head. Hoppy aroma with notes of citrus and melon-like. Nice hoppy flavour with notes of rye, citrus, lemon and melon. Ends up with a little alcoholic and bitter finish.

04-Dec-07 (12 oz bottle: Obtained 17-Mar-05 in trade with bkelley68, thanks Brian!) I dug deep into my cellar to finally find this long-lost beer. Two and a half years of aging have most certainly changed the beer considerably, but I’m not the least bit disappointed by the outcome here. There’s a good half-inch of loose, chunky sediment and a thin layer of sludge in the bottom of the bottle, but the first 10 ounces pour mildly hazy and dark amber in color. The foamy, off-white head is at least three inches in height. After scooping out some of the head, the nose is sweet, malty and woody with an oxidized, caramely tone. Mimicking the nose, fairly strong notes of oxidized, sweet, deeply caramely flavors are further enhanced by tea, dried fruit, sherry, light earth, wood and vanilla. Just a touch of gently bitter hops emerge in the finish, but no surprise there of course. As the beer warms, modest smokiness adds even further complexity and the earthiness begins to deepen and intensify. Body is medium-full and carbonation is moderate. A hint of tartness and acidity adds some vibrancy on the palate, and combined with the gentle bitterness, this malt-dominated beer is tasty and easy to drink. No doubt, most people would probably consider this beer long past prime (what constitutes "prime" is an individual choice), but I think it’s delicious; it’s taken on almost an Olde Ale character. I do suppose I should obtain and rate a fresh bottle of this beer, but I don’t expect it will provide any more satisfaction that this aged, highly complex bottle has today.

Bottle: Deep, slightly hazy amber topped a consistent tan head. Very aromatic. Has a rich hop as well as malt presence. Sweet caramel, bready rye malts, accompanied by an American hop fruitiness of brown sugar nectarines. Tight carbonation in the velvety feel. The rye malt has a great presence, giving it a bread crust richness (not sweet or doughy bread) Mild chocolaty and caramel hints as well, meshing harmoniously with a grapefruity hop flavor, which gives it a perfect amount of dryness. Slightly piney bitter finish. Delicious, and extremely drinkable.

Hoppy aroma with not much else. Pours a nice orange with a lovely white creamy head. Flavor is pretty strongly hopped with a touch of malting throughout (light on caramel, sprouts). Very crisp. It dissappoints me that the very distinct rye is never really realized in any rye beers.

Brillian red, big tan cellular head, cool old geezer on the bottle. Grapefruit hop and malt aroma - strong, with some cat urine at the end. Hazy. Medium-light sweetness, hop bite, grapefruit finish. Might have missed some subtlety by burning my palate with chicken wings, but I don’t think so. Over-rated, generally, but decent.

Bottle pours dark caramel, quite cloudy, large frothy off-white head, clingy lacing, with very soft carbonation.   Hops, slight pine, and citrus rind on the nose.   Semi-sweet bitterness, citrusy, with a nice malty background.   Quite smooth and well balanced.   Solid body, creamy mouthfeel.   Finishes with a floral quality, smooth hop bitterness, and lingering citrus notes.   I really enjoyed this one!   Thanks goes out to TAR for this one!