Founders Pale Ale

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

Serve in Lager glass, Shaker

Aroma of citrus hops, caramel, hay and white sugar. Appearance was unfiltered translucent royal gold with 1/3 inch white head. Flavor started out with sweet caramel and citrus hop balance, moved to caramel/hay emphasis shortly thereafter and finished dry with a slight lingering bitterness. Palate was a mouthfull of rolling bubbles with a touch of liveliness. A very nice APA- wouldn’t mind have this in my fridge all the time.

bottle poured a dark golden in color with a thin white head. aroma has light citrus dry hops, pale malt, and some wet grass. mouth feel is light and there is high carbonation. flavor has a nice pale malted base, a light bitterness, grassy hops, and low sweetness on the finish. this is a solid pale ale.

Cloudy pour somewhere between yellow and orange, with a thin, dissipating head. Aroma is bready malts, with grassy and citrus hops. Slight hints of banana and orange. Taste is surprisingly a little bland, coming from Founders. Doughy, pils-esque malt profile with a hint of honey and caramel sweetness. Finish is dry, but doesnt really have much hop flavor or bitterness. Palate is light and crisp. I guess it says something that the worst Founders beer I’ve had is still pretty good, but this one was nonetheless a bit disappointing.

I love drinking various beers from great breweries like Founders because, not matter what the style, you know you’re going to get an impressive beer. But sometimes you get something that’s not quite as good as you were used to and it’s almost little disappointing, relatively speaking. That’s how I felt about Founders Pale Ale - a good example of the American pale ale style and a solid beer in its own right, but isn’t quite as amazing as the other offerings from this brewery. Still, a good beer is a good beer and I can’t complain.

I poured a 12oz bottle into a tumbler.

Appearance: Probably the haziest pale ale I’ve ever seen. Peach fuzz orange hue, with noticeable carbonation at the bottom of the glass. Doesn’t generate much of a head - only a white, soapy coating. However, it does leave impressive lacing for such a small amount.

Smell: Orange juice and flowers with a slightly sour tang. Smells like a very arid beer from the nose alone.

Taste: This is what I expect out of a good pale ale: hop bitterness from start to finish with genuine flavor all along the way. Much like the aroma, the palate has an orange juice-like flavor and finishes with orange sherbet sweetness. It’s quite dry and somewhat chalky throughout, though. According to the bottle it’s only 35 IBUs, but the bitterness is accentuated by the dry palate. I also get a touch of sour tang on the aftertaste, which seems out of place. It’s easily ignorable, thankfully. Not the most robust palate for a pale ale, but one that satisfies and that should be good enough for most drinkers.

Mouthfeel: Crisp but not fizzy. Palate is on the lower end of medium bordering on flat-out light.

Drinkability: Despite the dryness and slight sourness, Founders Pale Ale is extremely quaffable. Not quite refreshing, but definitely tasty. An ideal beer to pair with snacks or a fairly generic American dinner. The 5.4% ABV is perfect, although I wouldn’t session it because the hops would get cloying rather quickly.

Overall, a fun and easy beer to drink even if it isn’t quite as mind-blowing as the other offerings from this brewery.

Bottled@Pikkulintu, Helsinki. Honeyish goldeny orange colour with a small white head. Aroma is fruity and floral hops, quite strong on the maltyness as well. Some herbal and grassy notes as well. Flavour is bready and quite sweet malts with some floral and fruity hops finishing in a quite floral and grassyness. A rather pleasantly balanced and easy to drink APA.

Orange-y golden color, with a so-so head. Crisp, citrussy, and hoppy. Bitter, but not overpowering.

Dry hopped just like the bottle says. Good dry finish. Hoppy for the hop lover.

Pours straw colored with a medium white head. Slight hoppiness on the nose and the tongue. It’s a nice session beer but nothing special. My least favorite founders so far.