Looking for Founders Dirty Bastard Clone

Does anyone have a recipe that is very similiar to Dirty Bastard? I enjoy the taste of this brew but in my area it is not always available and it is expensive. Doesn't have to have the high ABV.

13 lbs. Pale Malt
1 lb. Special B
.5 lb. Carapils
.5 lb. Caramunich
.5 lb. Caravienne
.25 lb. Black Patent

1 oz. Golding @60
.5 oz. Perle @40
.5 oz. Golding @20

US-05 for yeast.


- It's an AG version but I'll see if I can find a Extract and post. I think I will try this one at some point.......

Founder’s Dirty Bastard Scotch Ale Clone by Wes

Extract + Grains method
5 gallons
60 min boil

Steeping Grains:

1 lb Dingmans Special B
8 oz Dingmans Cara-Munich
8 oz Dingmans Cara-Vienna
8 oz Dingmans Cara-Pils
2 oz Briess Black Patent

Wort Processing:

9.5 lbs Munton’s Light Malt Syrup

(60) 1 oz Kent Goldings (4 AAU), ½ oz Perle (9 AAU)
(40) ½ oz Perle
(20) ½ oz Kent Goldings, teaspoon Irish Moss

Wyeast 1056 American Ale (liquid) or,
Whitelabs 001 California Ale (liquid) or,
Safale American Ale (dry)

Fermentation

Temperature: 67 - 70 F

Let me know how it turns out..........

Is this the founders in grand rapids, MI?

yes

just picked up the ingredients for the extract today, should be brewing it up tomorrow or the next day. ill post back to let ya know how it turns out

If this is a "wee heavy" shouldn't it be fermented with a Scottish ale yeast? I'm not being snooty just questioning the yeast choice.

Clifton said:

If this is a "wee heavy" shouldn't it be fermented with a Scottish ale yeast? I'm not being snooty just questioning the yeast choice.

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should come in around 7.6 but it is still in the alcohol tolerance of the yeast.
i think i'm going to try it on a 1056 american ale cake.

also on the wyeast site, the yeasts have similar characteristics. one just is more tolerant.

Has anyone tried brewing this with the extract recipe?

I did a couple weeks ago, bottle aging almost done. I'll report back when I do a comparison between the two

CHefJohnboyardee said:

should come in around 7.6 but it is still in the alcohol tolerance of the yeast.
i think i'm going to try it on a 1056 american ale cake.

also on the wyeast site, the yeasts have similar characteristics. one just is more tolerant.

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I checked out the site. It says that 1728 Scottish Ale has higher flocculation and lower attenuation than 1056 American Ale.

They both ferment clean and neutral and I'm sure if both were pitched the same and fermented at the same temperature the brews would be very similar.

However, I would bet the 1728 would have a slightly higher FG, which would be a little sweeter. Thus, if I had both yeasts in my stable, which I do, I would go with the 1728.

My $.02.

brew-job said:

I did a couple weeks ago, bottle aging almost done. I'll report back when I do a comparison between the two

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awesome, i want to pitch this on a yeast cake I'll have soon anything to save $5.50 plus shipping!

its only been bottle aging for about 3 weeks now and i think it will need some more time in the bottle, extremely strong alcohol flavor and not much carbonation, i use the carbonation tabs for this brew, dont know if ill do it again. But ill be getting a db this weekend to compare

brew-job said:

its only been bottle aging for about 3 weeks now and i think it will need some more time in the bottle, extremely strong alcohol flavor and not much carbonation, i use the carbonation tabs for this brew, dont know if ill do it again. But ill be getting a db this weekend to compare

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It's been a month. How did your comparison go? How is your clone aging?
Thanks

I am interested in this thread as I recently tried my first Dirty Bastard. DB is now in my top 3 brews all time.

I'd like to brew this one it's one of my favorites.

If I recall correctly the brew is 8.5%. What are the ibus of this recipe, seems like the original brew is really hoppy. Is the special b going to provide the smokeyness for the style?




Let us know how it turns out.

The bottle in my fridge says 50 IBUs on the side. I don't know about Special B providing smokiness but I do have a brown ale in the kegerator that was fermented with WLP028 that tastes smokey to me that did not have that characteristic with fermented with Wy1056.

ok guys, it took a couple months for it to condition to the point of being comparable to db, it turned out good for me, but like i said, a couple months for conditioning. I brewed this a couple months ago and this week i finally had one that was very drinkable and matched the flavor of db very well.

I have brewed this as an extract brew. It is surprisingly close to the original product.

For those who've brewed this. What yeast did you use? I have both WLP028 (Edinburgh ale) and Wy1056 (American ale). I am thinking of using the 028 but I still haven't decided.

What do you guys mash at? I was thinking maybe 154ish.

brew-job said:

ok guys, it took a couple months for it to condition to the point of being comparable to db, it turned out good for me, but like i said, a couple months for conditioning. I brewed this a couple months ago and this week i finally had one that was very drinkable and matched the flavor of db very well.

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Do you still have any bottles left? If so, how's it aging? DB is one of my go-to show off beers, always impresses when people come over and I ask them what they'd like... My own Scottish ales like to sit in the bottle for 4-6 months, so I'd expect this Scotch ale clone to really mellow out past four months.

BTW, at the Founders brewery on tap, this is not as good as the bottle-aged product, IMHO.

torque2k said:

BTW, at the Founders brewery on tap, this is not as good as the bottle-aged product, IMHO.

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I've only been there once, but I agree. I had Backwoods Bastard on tap and thought it was good, but I've never had it in bottles.

It's hard for me to think of any craft beer I've enjoyed more in bottle as opposed to on tap.

Looking forward to this one, I brewed the AG version on yesterday with my Dad as he really like DB. I think I have turned him on the home brewing which is cool as well. The wort smelled awesome, I pitched 2 packs of Us-05 as I didn't have enough time to make a starter with the other yeast options since I got to the store late aka that morning. Looking forward to how it turns out.

I tasted a hydro sample after 2 weeks at 62-63F with US-05. It was very good!

Edit: gravity was 1.017, I mashed at 153F.

My temps are right around 60-62 in the room I have it in. How did your sample compare to the original?

sgoehner said:

My temps are right around 60-62 in the room I have it in. How did your sample compare to the original?

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I haven't had a Dirty Bastard in a while, so I'm a little apprehensive to to compare.

With that caveat, I'd say mine was similar in flavor but a bit smoother (lower ABV). Maybe a little drier too. I was quite a bit low on OG (1.075 vs 1.083), mostly due to the fact that I didn't want to stir any more and lose mash temp. I used to freak out at not hitting my OG, but now I'm firmly in the RDWHAHB camp....

I'm planning to add rum at bottling, but I think I might bottle a sixer or so without rum so I can do a comparo with the real deal.

I compared mine with the original. I fermented mine with WL028 so it finished at 1.025. I decarbed a sample of the Founder's and it measured 1.016. Mine was good but too sweet for my taste. I'm planning on making a cream ale with WY1056 then transferring this onto the yeast cake to dry it out.

Thanks for the info guys, I really hope that his one turns out. It has been going steady since Monday morning and I have about a 4 inch Krausen currently. Sitting around 60-62 still. This is my biggest beer so far, so I am curious to see how long it takes for the Krausen to drop and for the two packs of 05 to finish it off.

Update on progress, brewed the AG version of this 9 days ago and pitched two packs of US-05. Started about 1.078, and it is now down to 1.011. Doubt it is going to go any lower, but planning to leave it for 2 or 3 more weeks. Tasted the hydro sample and not only is it extremely close to the original already, in my opinion, but this is by far the best beer I have made to date if it holds up. The next couple of weeks of waiting are going to be very hard.

Any update on the all-grain version? It's been a few months since people have brewed this, there must be some kind of update.

Cold Country Brewery said:

Any update on the all-grain version? It's been a few months since people have brewed this, there must be some kind of update.

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I made mine a while back with wyeast1056 and it turned out great. I took it to my beer club meeting the night we were tasting Scottish ales. Founders DB just happened to be on the list so we drank founders first and my clone after. All 10 people said they enjoyed mine better than the actual DB. I will say, I think we got a poor batch from Founders because the bottle wasn't near as good as it has been I the past (the mouthfeel just wasn't there). However, I think this is a great recipe and tastes very similar to the DB. I would recommend this recipe to anyone who enjoys the wee heavies.

I tried this beer with US-05 (starter with washed yeast). It turned out really well. It was my first time cold crashing. The beer is slightly hazy but there is almost no yeast at the bottom. I bottled 3 of the 5 gal with Appleton Estate V/X at a rate of 2oz/gal. It mostly added a fruity taste with a touch of alcohol warmth.

I have not yet compared it next to the real thing.

Is anyone boiling part of the wort until caramelized on this one?

Anybody by chance try this with 1728? I am doing a Wee Heavy in about a month and I was thinking of this or the Northern Brewer Wee Heavy kit.

I used the White Labs version. It was nice and smokey but didn't attenuate enough (too sweet). I had to use a Wy1056 yeast cake to dry it out. After that it was amazing.

dantheman13 said:

Is anyone boiling part of the wort until caramelized on this one?

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+1 to this. I was wondering the same thing. Bueller............Bueller?

I am about to try first ever bottled dirty bastard. In the last week I found a store that actually sells good beer. I tried Weyerbacher merry monks, Terrapin easy rider ale, Victory hops wallop, Siberian night imperial stout. And a few others. Im brewing a IPA for my first brew.

First impressions of DB...Hard to describe aroma...kind of faint. Taste is more towards a light stout with a bitter finish. Im new to all this so idk what Im saying!