Quite often, reviewers of craft beer, rate a beer a particular way with extreme prejudice.  That is, they read the reviews before drinking and formulate their approval of a particular beer based (subconsciously) on presuppositions.  A five rated beer is destined for another high review and vice versa.  I try not to do this.

Which brings me to Founders’ Red’s Rye…

I have sampled many tasty beer from Founders.  In fact, I have probably had a taste of everything they produce, except the Red’s Rye.  Before drinking, I skimmed the reviews and saw that this beer typicaly achieves high ratings.  There are a lot of A+ and five start reviews out there.  This is what I was looking forward to, and was a bit excited…I prefer rye IPAs.  Unlike my other reviews, I am going to skip the pour.

The aroma of this beer is delightful.  The ordinary hints of grapefruit, lemon, and pine hit the nose.  The malt backing is pronounced, with powerful peppery rye smells.  I am sure this is a huge selling point for this beer.  There is a slight mettalic coppery aroma.

The initial dar spiced flavor is fantastic.  The grapefruity hops are a bit of a snoozer, but do balance the sweet peppery malt.  There is an interesting yeast note, that slightly reminds me of begian ale strains.  If I stopped now, you would finish an A+ review…but, unfortunately, there is overwhelming oxidization, and a peculiar mouthfeel which I attribute to overcarbonation.  The beer felt extremely dry in my mouth, and the irony flavor did not bode well with the rye flavor.

At times, I find this affect of oxidization pleasant, particularly in Belgian beers, but in this case it was off putting.  If you go ga-ga over this beer, feel free to disagree…that’s the beauty of beer:  subjective interpretation.  BUt this beer reviewer must break with trend and give a heart-felt review.

Nate’s Rating:

Overall Satisfaction: ★★½☆☆ 

Among other Rye IPAs: ★★☆☆☆