Founders Pale Ale

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

Serve in Lager glass, Shaker

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Draught: Aroma of bready malts and citrus hops. Poured amber in color with a medium-sized, creamy, off-white head that shrank but lasted throughout. Great lacing. Hazy. Sparkling. Flavors of bready and caramel malts as well as citrus hops. Medium body. Thin, watery texture. Average carbonation. Strange, water-like finish. Overall, disappointing for Founders.

Pour is a hazy tan with a small white head. Aroma is deffinatly hops but they are very weak. Flavor is very zesty and citrus for a pale ale and the hops don’t really stand out. Referishing on a warm summer night is the best time for this beer and calling this a "lawn mowin" beer is right on.

UPDATED: OCT 31, 2005 (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...

Maybe I had an old bottle, because it wasn’t as hoppy as I expected. Still, pretty smooth and tasty pale ale. Not that this is a bad beer, but it’s not really as good as most of their other stuff I’ve had.

Bottle. Pours a cloudy yellow with a big, frothy white head. Decent lacing. Sweet and slightly tart, fruity and citrus aroma with dusty notes in the background. Dry, sweetish flavour with notes of yeast lurking in the shadows. Metallic notes as it warms. Finish is a lingering bitterness. Occasional notes of fresh plums. Too much carbonation Overall I think this resembles a witbier more than a pale ale in many ways. Not bad as such, but not what I expected – plus, I’m not that into witbiers. 15.09.10.

Peach colored and hazy with little head. Fruit, caramel and honey a bit of hops in the aroma. Good body with a slightly metallic finish. Some malt and hops in the flavor but a bit bland.

Pours a lightly hazy pale golden amber with a medium foamy/lacing off white head. Tons of hop residue form the pellets they use. This is the most hops I have noticed ina commercial beer every. Boy did they drop hop it and not filter it thats for sure. Aroma of floral and lightly citrus hops. Various fruits and a very little bit of caramel malt hiding in the back. Flavor of hops (mostly lemon and flowers), slight bitterness, some malt balance with hints of graininess. Kind of thin and watery though.

12oz bottle. kind of dull looking bronze with no bubbles under a sudsy white head. mildly hopped aroma with soapy notes. a light mix of floral and grapefruit. light body. bitter finish. not at all sweet.

In short: Dried fruits in a bottle. A bit sugary and not very hoppy. Just ok.
How: Bottle 330ml. Consumed probably fresh a few weeks after purchase
The look: Cloudy glowing orange topped by a very small white head
In long: Nose is very much dried fruits, mainly dried oranges. This really is like smelling a bag of dried orange cubes. Taste has rather soft. Plenty of soft pale bready malts (generic industrial white bread) with a bit of white sugar. A little too much crystal malts for my taste in that type of beer. Then comes the fruity flavors of marmalade, dried oranges, banana peels, some flower petals. Bitterness level is rather low and leaves and after taste of dried fruits. Easy to drink (the least I expect from an APA) but it is not particularly refreshing and just not that interesting g. Not something I want to drink again so I’m giving it a 0.1 below my “worth drinking again” score. A disappointing beer from a brewery I usually like. I suspect I got an old bottle from the store so I should try it again. Modern society could prevent a lot of unnecessary suffering if they forced brewery to put bottling dates on their beer and gave only liquid soap to prison inmates.

Pours hazy amberish gold with 1 finger of head that fades to skin, big bubbles. Aroma is bitter floral grapefruit with hints of toasty caramel. Taste is slightly nutty, sweet caramel overtones, citrusy and piney accents as well. Body is light-medium, below average carbonation, light mouthfeel, dry citric finish. Overall, a decent brew but waaay subpar for Founders. Kinda like a Sierra Nevada with just a little more cojones.