Founders Dirty Bastard Scotch Ale

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

Bottle. Pours deep dark marroon with small off white head. Aroma is burnt wood, malt and a touch of hoppiness. Flavor is bitter at first with smoke, malt, and dried red fruit, finishes bittersweet with honey, barbeque, and a touch of hops. Medium mouthfeel with medium carbonation, alcohol may be a little to present. I like this though, one of the better scotch ales I have had.

Pours a murky copper-brown color with a 1/4 inch tan head and low carbonation. Aroma is sweet with lots of toasted malt, some darker fruit notes mixed with a light chocolate and fruity hops scent. The beer has a sweet flavor up of Maris Otter and some caramel malts, light dark fruity taste moving into a sweet, earthy bitterness in the middle and finishes with an almost gritty smoke and peat ending. Alcohol is there but not a dominate factor in this fairly strong brew. I love the ending to this beer and is exactly what I would expect for a scotch ale, that gritty smoke/peat ending which lingers around afterword and compliments the early malty sweetness.

rerate.
somehow much improved this time around.
6 3 7 4 15 3.5

reddish copper; thin khaki head; malty caramel aroma; flavor - same, w/ prunes. this one’s all right.
6 3 6 3 14 3.2

Bottle. Dark golden amber, thin white head. Tastes stronger malts, good touch of bitter hops. Notes of the booziness. Not a huge fan of this beer type.

Bottle into red wine glass. Pours murky dark red-brown, with a thin, soapy off-white head. Nose is caramel, a bit of cocoa, big hit of fruity esters. Taste is caramel, some toasty malt, bit of molasses; lot sof fruity esters, almost to the point of dominating the flavor. Buttery diacetyl comes out as well, stronger after a few sips. Light, earthy bitterness towards the finish. Mouthfeel is very lightly carbonated, with a full, slick body. Disappointing effort by a great brewery. Esters are over the top, and the diacetyl that pokes through just adds to the distraction.

Pours a dark brown almost black with some translucence around the edges. Almost no head. Nice malty aroma with dark toffee and yeast. A bit of bourbon and raisin also show up. Starts heavy and ends watery. The carbonation is almost non-extistant. Heavy on the malt with a yeasty aftertaste. There is a whiskey bit in the middle but doesn’t overwhelm. Not bad, didn’t like the mouth feel on this one. Drinkable under the right pairing or mood. Not something I would seek out unless I had a specific itch to scratch.

12 oz. bottle from the Binny’s Singles Rack from the back of the cellar (Orland Park, IL). Finally getting around to it. Pours a very nice fiery brownish hue, lots of red notes dance throughout with khaki moderate head that dissipates to a decent amount, well hazed brew. Aromas are very nice with caramel, toffee, and biscuits heavy on the nose with a faint peat and smoke element. Initial is very nice, complex, with caramel and toffee taking the forefront, mixing in some nice vanilla and touches of peat, alcohol, light toaste, and subtle fruitiness. Largely a malt bomb, but under the layers takes a deeper complexity. Finishes with some malty lingers and a subtle bitterness beneath serving for balance. A beer I’m sure to come back to. Cheers!

12 oz bottle. Pours a cloudy mahogany with a tiny tan ring of head, a bit of bubbly lacing sticks to the glass. Big caramel and toffee maltiness on the nose, perhaps a hint of smoke, but faint. Medium sweetness, caramel malt, some fig fruit flavor, again slight smoke, just the tiniest touch of bitterness rounds out the flavor quite nicely. Med-to-heavy mouthfeel with low carb.