Brews Clues: This week's Ale: Founders Pale Ale
Dennis Mongello
Issue date: 11/16/07 Section: Arts & Entertainment
- Page 1 of 1
Dry hopping is a technique used by brewers to get more character into their beer. As you probably know, hops are a key ingredient in the brewing process. What you may not know though, is that by adding hops after the beer has been cooled down from boiling, the beer can maximize its absorption of flavors and aromas from the hops. This may sound very exciting, but it is possible that the dry hopping can throw the beer off balance and lead to a hop heavy flavor. I will say, it adds a wonderful aroma.
A lot of the craft brewed pale ales are dry hopped. Some, like this week's Founders Pale Ale will proudly display this fact right on the label. Other won't. Don't fret though, if your favorite brew isn't dry hopped, the Dogfish Head brewing company has something for you! They call it Randall the Enamel Animal. It's basically a tap that you attach to a keg filled with hops. The beers flows through these extra hops and picks up all their flavors and aromas. It is basically an instant dry hopping. But enough about dry hopping. Let's get to the beer.
Founders Pale Ale is topped off with a finger's worth of pillowy white head. It dissipates into a very thin lacing that clings to the side of the glass as you drink the beer down. This head sits atop a rich copper body. There's a nice orange-reddish hue to it. It's not totally clear, but there is some translucence to it. The beer isn't beautiful, but it's not hard on the eyes either. The aroma of the brew is wonderfully hop heavy. You can smell the distinct floral hoppiness common in bitter beers like IPA's. This characteristic smell has a lot of citrusy sweetness on the nose and a slight boozy odor. You can really tell the beer has been dry hopped by this smell alone.
This beer is more bitter than your average pale ale. This is not due to the dry hopping, because bitterness is the one aspect of hops that dry hopping will not add to the beer (the hops need to be boiled for that). The bitterness dominates the flavor profile, but the beer finishes with the slightest malty sweetness. The taste seems grassy and oily. This is due to the dry hopping, and it just seems to knock the beer out of balance.
The beer is dry and bitter, but it is not full bodied enough to stand up to the bitterness. The bitterness just dominates the beer, and that's strange for a pale ale with a weak body. This just creates an unpleasant taste overall. The beer goes down easily, if the bitterness doesn't get to you. It would go well with any of the foods that go with bitter beers: spicy stuff, pizza, whatever. It's actually quite versatile.
Anyway, when going for a pale ale, you have a lot of choices. Founders Pale Ale stands at just above average. There are a lot of better pale ales out there, most notably Anchor Liberty Ale. This is a shame though, because Founders has a lot of other really good brews. What can I say? Their pale ale just isn't one of them.
Rating: 3
Inebriating: 3
A lot of the craft brewed pale ales are dry hopped. Some, like this week's Founders Pale Ale will proudly display this fact right on the label. Other won't. Don't fret though, if your favorite brew isn't dry hopped, the Dogfish Head brewing company has something for you! They call it Randall the Enamel Animal. It's basically a tap that you attach to a keg filled with hops. The beers flows through these extra hops and picks up all their flavors and aromas. It is basically an instant dry hopping. But enough about dry hopping. Let's get to the beer.
Founders Pale Ale is topped off with a finger's worth of pillowy white head. It dissipates into a very thin lacing that clings to the side of the glass as you drink the beer down. This head sits atop a rich copper body. There's a nice orange-reddish hue to it. It's not totally clear, but there is some translucence to it. The beer isn't beautiful, but it's not hard on the eyes either. The aroma of the brew is wonderfully hop heavy. You can smell the distinct floral hoppiness common in bitter beers like IPA's. This characteristic smell has a lot of citrusy sweetness on the nose and a slight boozy odor. You can really tell the beer has been dry hopped by this smell alone.
This beer is more bitter than your average pale ale. This is not due to the dry hopping, because bitterness is the one aspect of hops that dry hopping will not add to the beer (the hops need to be boiled for that). The bitterness dominates the flavor profile, but the beer finishes with the slightest malty sweetness. The taste seems grassy and oily. This is due to the dry hopping, and it just seems to knock the beer out of balance.
The beer is dry and bitter, but it is not full bodied enough to stand up to the bitterness. The bitterness just dominates the beer, and that's strange for a pale ale with a weak body. This just creates an unpleasant taste overall. The beer goes down easily, if the bitterness doesn't get to you. It would go well with any of the foods that go with bitter beers: spicy stuff, pizza, whatever. It's actually quite versatile.
Anyway, when going for a pale ale, you have a lot of choices. Founders Pale Ale stands at just above average. There are a lot of better pale ales out there, most notably Anchor Liberty Ale. This is a shame though, because Founders has a lot of other really good brews. What can I say? Their pale ale just isn't one of them.
Rating: 3
Inebriating: 3
is a member of the 
Be the first to comment on this story