Beer of the Weekend #1,148: Dirty Bastard

I need a beer—multiple, actually—after today’s news. One of them is Dirty Bastard, brewed by the Founders Brewing Company of Grand Rapids, Michigan.

I found my trusty Swing-A-Way bottle opener to open the bottle. I have not seen or used it in forever. It has opened a lot of bottles for me and it felt good to whip it open once again.

Serving type: 12-ounce bottle. “BOTTLED ON 03.27.24” is printed on the back label.

Appearance: Pours a luscious and extremely dark ruby red into a tulip. It is basically black. Holding it up to light reveals a lot of stuff floating around. A bubbly, dense, buttery, light tan head dissipates slowly, leaving a lot of foam stuck to the glass.

Smell: Very sweet and enticing with lots of berries and dark fruit. Cherry, raspberry, maple syrup, maybe plum, caramel, and a hint of brown sugar. It reminds me of the fresh cherries I had while visiting the editor in Michigan.

Taste: The flavor is very muted, which may be because of the bottle’s age. (Though it was in the fridge when I got it, I have no clue how it was stored before.) Hints of cherry and raspberry emerge, though. It is sweet but not tart. There are also hints of brown sugar and maple syrup. There is not a hint of alcohol, which is nice since the ABV is so high. Caramel and honey comes through after the beer has warmed awhile.

Fun facts about Dirty Bastard:

• Style: BA classifies it as Scotch ale / wee heavy.

• Price: I did not buy it. It was left in a beer fridge that someone in the blended family was selling.

• Alcohol content: 8.5 percent ABV.

• Here’s the description via the beer’s webpage, which really needed someone to proofread before posting:

The beer that puts us on the map, it’s so good it’s almost wrong. With dark ruby in color, Dirty Bastard is brewed a variety of specialty malts. This beer has a complex in finish, paired with a malty richness and a right hook of hop power to give it the bad attitude that a beer named Dirty Bastard has to live up to. Ain’t for the wee lads.

• Kudos to Founders for still using bottles. One does not see beer bottles very often anymore, at least for craft breweries. Craft brewers eschewed cans for years then switched to them seemingly overnight.

The Quiet Man’s grade: B-.