Chicagoist's Beer Of The Week: Founders Dirty Bastard

By Jason Baldacci in Food on Sep 27, 2014 6:00PM

This week we're looking at a year-round offering from one of our favorite Midwestern breweries, and a style of beer that you don't tend to see a whole lot of around the city.

Dirty Bastard is a Scotch Style Ale from the good people of Founders Brewing Co. in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It pours a brilliant ruby-brown color in the glass with rich aromas of caramelized, roasted malts. On the palate, that caramelization hits up front, but it's met with an underlying breadiness that makes us think of sweet pastry.

The malt profile overall is so well rounded and lends an almost doughy mouthfeel to the beer, along with hints of figs, dates and roasted almonds. We do pick up a hint of earthy hops that kick in on the back end, but they're muted significantly by a long, boozy finish that is very appropriate for the style. At 8.5% alcohol content, Dirty Bastard is a formidable representation of a classic Scotch Ale.

There are only a handful of beers from Scotland that make it to the USA, so we're really happy that a brewery like Founders is going through the trouble to make a beer like Dirty Bastard. Hops don't really grow in Scotland, since the general climate is a little too chilly for them. Scotland does grow an abundance of barley and other grains though, which lends some explanation as to why they produce so much whisky.

In the old days, if Scottish brewers wanted to get hops, they had to import them from England, and dealing with England wasn't something that most Scots were fond of. Because of this, breweries used hops very sparingly, if at all, putting a lot more emphasis on the malts in their beers. Sometimes other preservatives would be used instead of hops, things like sprigs of pine, spruce shoots, juniper, ginger and other herbs and spices.

Dirty Bastard is available on draft and in 12oz bottles. Check beermenus.com to see where you can grab some this weekend.