Founders Dirty Bastard Scotch Ale

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

one of my all time favorites...finally got around to rating it... really malty, but lacks that sticky sweetness that can be there...good hop bitterness to balance out...

Pours a hazy brown color. Aroma of of sweet malts and some nuts? Tastes very sweet hiding the alcohol very well.

Poured a ruby plum color. Smokey malt aroma. very pronounced alcohol.,was ok but a bit disappointing as a Scottish Ale. Tough finish. Will try again

Finally got around to trying this one. What a mistake I should have much earlier. Do not be scared by the high alcohol. It has a great balance with alcohol and sweetness which make it dangerously drinkable.

Pours brownish red with a thick off white head. Aroma is thick and smoky malt with some sweetness. Taste has a little peat smoke in it with lots of malt. A sneaky strong beer, too. Somewhat like an 80 or 90 shilling style ale, but with a bit more carbonation. Finishes a little thick, but overall pretty nice.

nice dark brown color but the thin tan head only lasted a few seconds. smells very sweet and slightly smoky, sort of like a good bock. taste is sickly sweet and cloying. feels smooth and sticky going down. finishes a little bitter and some of that smoke finally emerges in the flavor. not terrible but if you are going to call it a Scotch ale it should at least have some earthy/smoky complexity.

Small but dense beige-brown head over hazy, opaque chestnut beer. Sweet, maltsyrup nose, but with touches of both hops and alcohol. Sweet rum cake, laced with hops and raisins. Quite roasted, too. Hopped & roasted, as a cake that has been thouroughly baked on the outside, becoming bitter-burnt, hiding the sweetness inside. A bit syrupy, affirmed by the MF. It is pulling a bit in two directions, ending a bit irresolute. Well bodied. Again undecided syrupy - thinner. Alcohol obvious, even some fusels. Especially the aftertaste betrays resins, whilst the smokiness spoken of, is very tardy in coming in the open. Nice, if undecided beer. Thanks to Eric from BA!

In short: A nice easy to drink hoppy scotch ale.
How: Bottle 12oz, 6+ months old
The look: Cloudy dark burgundy body with a short-lived tan head.
In long: Nose of barley candy and tobacco. Taste has lots barley candy, some residual sugar, some kind of spicy liquorice and a light berry flavour. Very little fruity flavours. Pleasant body but certainly not a thick decadent scotch ale. A bit oily. A lot more hoppy than average for the style but I’m in the minority who prefers hoppy scotch ales. Tasty resinous oily citrusy hops makes it highly drinkable. Alcohol is apparent but doesn’t detract from the drinkability. This is like a session scotch ale. Not often that I come across a dirty bastard that I find very sweet.