Founders Reds Rye P.A.

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

bottle from bbb63, pours a red/gold color with a cream colored head that faded out almost immediately. aroma is strong, giving off large wafts of grassy hops and sweet rye. flavor is much like an ipa, but softer and not quite as sweet, as the rye is cleaner and crisper in the finish and aftertaste. a nice drinkable brew.

[Bottle, thanks Joebrew] Pours amber with a small off-white head. Aroma is hops and caramel. Taste is rye...and what seems to be like grape and some hops. Long finish. The grape taste was very unusual, but this beer was quite enjoyable.

Bottle from ucusty I believe. Poured a deep red-amber color with a thick, dense off-white head that slowly diminished to a thick layer and left nice lacing. Aroma of light rye bread, a hint of ice tea, a tinge of caramel, and some earthy, floral hops. A dry, crisp entry greets the tongue as the flavor quickly transitions into an earthy, floral hoppiness with some soft pine dryness and undertones of rye malt with a nice breadiness. Ends with a moderate dryness. Moderate carbonation and solid mouthfeel. I enjoyed this more than I anticipated, the last rye pale ale I tried was not a favorite.

Pours a dark reddish with brown hints and a thin white head. Aroma was some aged citrus hops and maltiness. Flavor was hoppy, malty sweet, and had a little rye crispness coming through. I saw this beer for over six months and never picked it up, im glad i tried it.

Really good. Citrus flavor with a lot of hops. Very dry finish leaves you wanting more. A little sweetness in there too.

355mL. Pours a slightly cloudy amber/orange with a four-finger, massive, yellowish tan head that has excellent retention and big poofs of lacing. Aroma is fresh grapefruit, fruity Centennial hops, some rye malt, bitter orange. Taste is refreshing: rye malt, some caramel, ends with some great alpha acid bitterness, some roasted hazelnut, and rye bread. Very light to medium bodied. Awesome session beer!

THOUGHTS: Way better than I was expecting. I’ve had a few rye beers and this is one of the best. It was right up there with Bear Republic’s Hop-Rod Rye. Like that beer the rye is not overpowering, but adds just the right piece to complete a great beer. The rye just seems to make it smoother. Hid alcohol fairly well. TECHNICAL: Bottle. Poured a medium to dark orangey red with a small to average, off-white head that mostly diminished and left fair lacing. The aroma was light to moderate malt, moderate to heavy citrus (sort of like ruby red grapefruit and orange rind) hops and some rye. The initial flavor was light to moderately sweet, lightly acidic and moderately bitter; while the finish was moderately sweet, heavily bitter and a little sour with and average to long duration. There was some rye throughout and started with malt sweetness melding into citrus hops with just a touch of sour rye in the finial with a little metallic hops. Nice balance and great transition. The medium body was dry with tingly carbonation and a light metallic finish, but overall it sort of just goes down easy.

Aroma is predominantly citrus hops with a dry malty overtone. Taste is initially very citrus and pine/floral hops and I start to wonder if this is really a specialty grain beer or a Rye IPA. And in the finish as the rye really starts to shine through and the resiny hops linger I realize that I was wrong and this deserves to be a specialty grain beer. Very nice.