Dogfish Head Fort

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

Hmm? I have been searching for this for 4 months. When I finally found the ’holy grail’ I have been searching for I paid $20 for one bottle. Hundreds of dollars/time hours later I EXPECTED to be freakin BLOWN AWAY! I was NOT! Does this mean I was disappointed? I don’t know. I guess so. Maybe I was only disappointed because of all the hype this beer received as the ’strongest fruit beer in the world’. It was good but I am afraid it did not live up to all that hype. The beer was an attractive color, but certainly more clear than I expected. It was quite coppery. A careful pour yielded a very small head. The smell was very yeasty. The taste was quite bready, a bit sour/tart, and definitely subtle raspberry. I was expecting more raspberry and less yeast. A bit of the 18% ABV shows through but remarkably little alcohol for the high ABV. So this is a pleasant drinkable beer but for the price and size of it... I was expecting quite a bit more. Bummer! Hope this is helpful. Cheers!

Pinkish amber with a bubbly white head. Grainy raspberry nose, some genuine tartness. Very drinkable all things considered, sweet raspberry and grain. The finish has an almost vodka-like flavor to it - good for me, as I like vodka. Overall, another wierd but wonderful DFH.

I think this beer is pretty underrated... overpriced, but still underrated. Bought this to celebrate the first day of my job. Clear amber color with reddish-orange hues and a medium sized white head. As expected, the aroma was mostly raspberries but I was surprised at how tart the scent was. The flavor matched the aroma exactly... sweet raspberries in your mouth with a tart finish. Noticed the high alcohol content a bit but never would have guessed 18%. Kudos to dogfish head for another ground-breaking beer.

Exceptionally active, but hidden within the deep orange hue. The fizzy head dies pretty quickly. There’s a light berry aroma. When I opened this, I wasn’t aware of the alcohol conent, but I sure was after the first swallow ... this is a big burning beer with a kiss of berries.

On tap at Capital Ale House - Innsbrook on 08/30/2008. Clear reddish amber body with a small creamy off-white head. Sweet raspberry and caramel aroma and lots of sugar. Heavy fresh raspberry flavor, some caramel, lots of sugar, and a massive alcohol punch in the face. Medium full body with moderate carbonation. 8/3/9/3/18-4.1 Bottle on 07/22/2006. From Immy’s Tasting. Clear reddish amber color with a thin white head. Light raspberry aroma. Sweet raspberry kick in the flavor, with some alcohol burn. 7/3/7/3/15-3.5

I knew this was an experiment going into it, so my mind was open. I was overwhelmed by the pure, natural raspberry aroma but the flavor was a little more difficult to nail. This beer has a definite bite, like drinking raspberry juice, bourbon, and club soda. Harsh mouthfeel, but no stickiness or overt sweetness. Just bizarre, but not un-enjoyable. I’d really like to revisit this beer in a few years.

sour rasperry aroma. Pours a light amber, weak head. Raspberry sweetness, prunes and a tart finish.

Bottled on 11/28/06 and drunk on 7/9/06.
Blueberry pulp colored body is a brassy-gold, with a large, rocky white head that is bolstered by a plentiful carbonation. Some lacing is left behind and the head eventually fades to cover. Sediment remains on the bottom, must be some protein or something, as I don’t believe this to be bottle conditioned.
The nose contains a very fragrant, if somewhat stiff and sugary dose of raspberries. Fruity and sweet, but with a light hint of marmalade-like sharpness/dryness emerging and some soft vanilla notes that seem to suggest a yeast bi-product of some sort. The malt is rather simple, sugary and doughy, leading to a rather dull, heavy feeling in the nose. Alcohol is fairly well-concealed in the nose, however.
The first sip, while the beer is still chilled is full of dry, sharp alcohol through the middle and end. Certainly plentiful raspberries provide some light tartness, but are beaten back by the dull, heavy, sugariness. The heavy carbonation serves to keep it from getting terribly syrupy, but with some breathing, it becomes borderline cloying. The raspberries just don’t have enough appeal or freshness/tartness to separate themselves from the sugariness and alcohol. Really rather one-dimensional malt-wise, with dough and white sugars comprising the bill. Not as sugary, relatively, as some other high abv DFH offerings, but yet again, the malt tastes like any other DFH beer, that is, heavy, sugary and dull.