Founders Dirty Bastard Scotch Ale

12 oz bottle. Pours dark red brown with lots of tan foam and a bit of debris. Aroma is sweet, raisin or grape, caramel, bready. Flavor is sweet caramel, raisiny, a bit of dark chocolate, with a little pleasant alcohol bite. A very nice and interesting beer. Flavor seems slightly out of balance, which is what stops this beer from hitting the 4.0 mark for me.

Sexy name. Sexy color. Sexy brew. Molasses up front, but a dry hoppy finish balances this beautifully. Haven’t had much luck with Scotch Ales in the past, but this one rocks.

Bottle from Canal’s in Princeton. Pours a clear deep mahogany with a relatively small medium beige head. Aroma of toffee, cocoa and malt. Similar flavors with some caramel, vanilla and just a touch of smoke. Watery and flat texture and not much of a finish. Maybe I’m being a little harsh on this one - it’s a good beer, well-balanced and drinkable but I was expecting something special (and I’m still longing for another Three Floyds Robert The Bruce).

ABV: 8.3% RateBeer rating: 94 Calories: estimated at 175 C Volume: 12 fl oz. Glass: thistle, shaker Purchased at: Canal’s Discount Liquors, Burlington, NJ (Thanks, Mike!) Price: $1.89 Consumed at: home Tanka: Chocolate surprise mellow red white wisps deep cocoa and caramel long bitter and burnt chocolate on whole wheat toast when can I have another? aroma 10 out of 10 visuals 4 out of 5 taste 10 out of 10 palate 5 out of 5 overall 18 out of 20

Mild hop and malt aroma. Clean dark brown with a slight red tint. Very little tan head. A very good Scothch ale with just a tad more hop than I prefer.

Finally in NJ. Bottle. Pours a dark, red that looks like a cedar water in a creek. Can definitely get a whiff of alcohol by the smell. Surprisingly smooth drinking (but felt heavy), with some very sweet notes. Finish can get a bit edgy for my tastes.

!2 oz bottle

Coupled with the main course was this release. After a few starters it was hard to get through this one. Despite taking it easy a beer this heavy can sink in the stomach. I would love to try it again on its own and on a fairly empty stomach to fully appreciate it. This is a solid beer instead of just one with a earcatching name.

Aroma / Appearance - The deep ruby red body swirled around the glass leaving a slight layer of film along the sides. Black cherries, peat, wet earth and dark malts formed a thick grouping that almost choked the senses. While not the richest beer I could have spent plenty of time admiring it.

Flavor / Palate - A slight bitterness washes along with warmth and chocolately tones. Peat and earth come next. The dry finish leaves one refreshed and full. A little heavy for a warm day this might be nice on a cool fall evening.

Draught at Circa 6/6/08. I don’t see this beer as red or ruby at all, I held it up to the light and got a pure brown for sure. A beautiful brown, but not the scarlet red of a porter in front of a light bulb. Definitely can taste the heat of the alcohol, some smoke and peat, would make a perfect chaser for a big snifter of Lagavulin 16.