Founders Red’s Rye P.A. Beer Review

I hadn’t planned to do another beer review so soon, but how was I to know I was going to run into another excellent beer right away?  This one is Red’s Rye P.A. Ale from Founders Brewing in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Founders makes a lot of great beers including one of my favorites, their Breakfast Stout.

The commercial description: Pours a spectacular crimson red with a creamy tan head. Brewed with four varieties of Belgian caramel malts imparting a sweet richness. Reds Rye is impressively balanced with its hop bitterness and floral bouquet achieved from the dry hop. In the finish, the generous amount of malted rye used accentuates a spicy crisp finish.

My take: When I poured it into my glass it was a beautiful hazy copper color, and had a great big frothy beige head.  At first sniff I got a rich Caramel malt aroma. The next sniff gave me a sense of floral hops.  I was getting something else I couldn’t quite identify, so I’m going to assume it was spice, but I’m not completely sure. I’m glad I got a 6 pack!  After I did my weird little sniffy thing we beer raters do, I finally took my first taste. YUM!! Sweet creamy caramel!  I’ve tasted caramel-y beer before, but this is the first time I identified it so quickly. I also tasted citrus, and then the beer had a nice long bitter hop finish. The more I’ve been tasting, the more I realize I really like the floral/citrus hops flavor.  I think I’m going to have to study up on hops a little bit to see if I can learn something about the different varieties and flavors they impart. I’ve tasted some hops flavors that were so harsh as to be very unpleasant, and I’d like to know why the huge difference. As to palate, this is a medium bodied beer with a slightly creamy mouth feel.  Overall it has a nice balance between bitter and sweet. I think it’s a perfect late summer (going into fall) beer. It has that great crisp, citrus hops that you would associate with a summer thirst quencher, but a heavier creamy body that would pair well with rich harvest scents and flavors.   I drank a second one, and the arthritis pain that has been bothering my knees for the last couple of days is a little less noticeable.

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One Response to Founders Red’s Rye P.A. Beer Review

  1. Cindy Jones says:

    That sounds delicious! I don’t know if we can get it here. My favorite brewery is introducing a double IPA on Saturday. Can’t wait to try that.
    Cindy

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