Founders Dirty Bastard Scotch Ale

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

Bottle. Brown color, hazy. Malty caramelly buttery aroma with a hint of cinnamon. Malty sweet buttery flavor with licorice and cinnamon. Caramelly. Cookie dough. Pear. Alcoholic and a sticky mouthfeel.

12 oz bottle served in a tulip. Pour was deep ruby with a half inch of tan colored foam on top. Nose is peat, caramel, malt, earth, molasses, and a hint of hops. Taste was molasses at first, followed by the characteristic scotch ale blast and a light hop bouquet. Wow!! For me, it doesn’t get much better than this brew. Every phase, even through the finish, is simply delicious.

Poured from a 12oz. bottle into a pint glass. The color is a dark maroon with some slight brownish head. No lacing. The smell is malty with some nice dark bread flavor, some great butterscotch flavor as well. The taste is caramel and toffee. Some dry dark fruit mixed with some hop bitterness with a nice warm alcohol flavor. The feel of this beer is medium bodied and is easy going down. It is high an ABV but still pleasant and not overpowering.

This is a great looking beer. Copper pour, light haze, thick flourish of tan head, generous lacing. Generic malty aroma. Rich malt ball of flavor, cracker, bread, toffee, fig, offset by generous bittering hops. Medium to full body, zesty palate, some alcohol warmth.

12 oz. bottle. Clear amber mahogony ruby pour with tan beige frothy head. Smells of malt, caramel, smoke, bourbon, vanilla. Tastes of rich roast malt. One of my favorite beer styles, and a good take on it. Excellent.

Bottle. Cloudy, red-brownish liquid with an almost yellow head. Aroma is rich with some sweetness and notes of caramel, dried fruits and banana. Taste is sweet and rich with some fruitiness and hoppiness. Thick mouthfeel and notes of banana. Really nice brew.

Location: 12 oz bottle from Wine and Beer Westpark, 12/6/09

Aroma: Nose of dark berries, caramel, toast, sugar, wood, and some earthy hops
Appearance: A deep, dark reddish-brown color with a small head
Flavor: Big sweet flavor up-front, fruits/sugar/bread, and a nice hop presence in the later palate
Palate: This beer has a smooth mouthfeel, medium-full body, and long duration
Overall Impression: I found this beer to be really enjoyable. In fact, I’ve found pretty much everything I’ve had from this brewery to be pretty darn enjoyable. They just make a lot of really quality beers. This one was quite good, a great flavor profile, nice looking, nice throughout the full palate. Well done by Founders with this one. I picked up a bunch of Founders at Wine and Beer Westpark, and I’m glad I did, because they make some really nice brews.

Pours a deep, dark, brown with little to no head. Whatever head there was laced nicely as it went down. Aroma, is caramel, chocolate, and maybe a hint of peat. Mouth feel is medium and a bit chewy with minimal carbonation. Taste is fairly sweet. Lots of caramel and chocolate notes. I could pick out a few notes of smoke and peat, however, would have enjoyed more. Malt is offset by a nice hoppy bite at the end that helps avoid it becoming cloying. For the abv, this is easy to drink and can creep up on you. I’d definitely would let this warm a bit, as the complexities come out the longer it sits. I’m not very well versed in the style, but from the scotch ales that I’ve tried, this would rank up there pretty high.