Dogfish Head Fort

Brewed by Dogfish Head Brewery
Style: Fruit Beer
Milton, Delaware USA

2008 bottle from Chevy Chase Wine & Liquors in DC. Review #1001 for me. I wish I could also keep stats on brain cells killed, liver tissue destroyed, and hours of productivity wasted, but I have a feeling that even if I knew these totals, I would probably not slow down my pace of beer consumption. Beer is just that good. Anyway, this beer, Dogfish Head Fort, seems to be about as polarizing as it gets. Love it or hate it. Personally I thought it was good, although "love" is probably too strong of a word, reserved for things like Dark Lord, the movie "Dumb and Dumber," the Steelers, my girlfriend, authentic tacos al pastor, and Westvleteren 12. Pours a hazy orangish golden color with some reddish hues and a minimal white head. Aroma is sugar, raspberries, wild funk, and alcohol. Flavor is sweet malt, fresh raspberries, mildly tart funk, and alcohol. Medium-bodied and boozy on the palate. If you think of this as a liqueur, it’s actually pretty damn good and drinkable. As a beer, well, it’s very unique, and I admire that.

Not sour at all. Malty and sweet with some dark fruit and cherries. Just can’t get past the sweetness.

Pours a dark cloudy amber/orange color with some golden ruby hues when held to a light source and a thin white foam head that quickly disappears leaving no lacing behind. Sour funky aroma with a subtle hint of raspberry which is surprising, until you take a sip. Massive alcohol presence which makes this beer smell more like Mad Dog 20/20 than a beer. Once again the alcohol dominates the flavor taking away from any semblance of other flavors including the faint hints of raspberry and sugar. Firey alcohol burn lasts throughout warming up the chest in the finish. I thought that this beer was flat out disgusting and undrinkable. It is the only beer I have ever drain poured. I guess if you want to get wasted there could be some value in it but I would just stick with Mad Dog. Gross!

Very unimpressed. I was looking forward to this one for a long long long time because DFH’s super gravity beers have been absolutely phenomenal up until now. I’ve had De Extra, 120, WWS, and Olde school at 15% and was blown away. But this one was rank. Just pure alcohol. No malts, no real sweetness--it tasted like grain alcohol flavored Hi-C. The Raspberries need to be thicker, the body needs to be thicker, the malts need to be more. This just tastes like thin liquor you’d buy on the cheap to get hammered at a party... Sorry DFH, I am your biggest fan of these super beers, make many more of them!, but I could not stomach this. Had to toss a $17 bottle...

2007 Vintage. Enjoyed from a one pint, nine ounce bottle. The beer pours a ruby to almost amber color, with a slight white head that dissapates quickly. The nose brings aromas of tart/sour fruits, lambic-esque notes, malt, and some alcohol. The palate is complex and full, bringing first a note of raspberries baked in a dark chocolate cake, malt sweetness, and a warming alcoholic note at the finish; which lingers for minutes. The alcohol is noticeable, but not displeasing, adding a depth that fills out the palate. Overall, a complex beer that gives evidence of creativity, outstanding craftsmenship, and forward thinking.

Not that much of a fan on this one. Has a reddish color. Smells of raspberries and alcohol. Taste is mostly of raspberry puree with a heavy alcohol flavor behind everything.

Six month aged bottle pours garnet in color with big fluffy slightly pink head. Nothing but raspberries in the aroma. You get a punch in the mouth with alot of raspberries and then a rubbing alcohol chaser. This needs more age on it. Way too much. Needs atleast a year in the bottle to tone down the raspberries.

Ive tried several rasperry ales but none really pull it off save this one. It pours a deep red/orange with a strong raspberry liqueur aroma. It has a smooth texture with a strong raspberry front and a malt finish. There is no tartness theat one might expect. Would be great with chocolate.