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Description:
We’ve reached into the vault and pulled out a cult classic from years ago. Before Black IPAs were all the rage, we made a dry-hopped dark ale with copious amounts of rye malt. Black Rye is a perfectly balanced blend of German- and American-grown hops, premium 2-row barley and heavily kilned rye and wheat malts. As with many of our offerings, there’s no style category that can contain this beer. It’s an original. (Description provided by company)
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ABV:
7.50% ABV
Availability Frequency:
January - March
Containers Available:
bottle
draft
Locations Where Available:
Northeast
Southeast
Midwest
Southwest
Store/Serve Temperature:
40-44 degrees F
Comments
The AC/DC-like font tells you how manly this is
Founders' Black Rye was quite black out of the bottle and into my glass. Smell is roasted malt, rye, and soil. The rye is quite strong and gives this beer primal characteristics. I like stouts but found this to be more rugged than what I care for.
Blacker than Black
A pitch black beer with a full and very firm bubbly tan head. Long retention on the two fingers of head.
A little bit of a spicy rye combined with dark, burnt malt aromas. Hop aromas are there, but buried well underneath all the malts.
The burnt coffee-like flavors and bitterness are very strong and prominent, along with a not-at-all-subtle alcohol zing. Lots of bitterness and strong flavors vying for attention, the rye adds a nice dimension - a little bit of extra spicyness. It's fortunate that it's there, since the hop flavors are pretty solidly overwhelmed by all the dark malts. A long lasting, lingering aftertaste that (unfortunately) highlights a lot of the alcohol. More Imperial stout than rye beer.
Like Imperial Stouts? Like rye beers? Founder's Black Rye may have exactly what you are looking for. But be aware that this beer does punch above its ABV weight a bit.