Dogfish Head Raison D Etre

Brewed by Dogfish Head Brewery
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Milton, Delaware USA

bottled, pours deep amber with small brown head that quickly leaves, nice thick body, aroma of sweet malt with hints of raisin/dates noted, almost unnoticeable hop aroma, full mouth feel with moderate carbonation, mellow sweet malt up front that carries through to residual caramels on palate, no hop bitter noted, excellent in it’s style.

Interesting brew. Pours syrupy (very quiet, even from about 8 inches), a transparent reddish brown with a small head that eventually fades to just a ring of bubbles around the edge. Nose has raisins and prunes, some cinnamon, and lots of sweet malts. It’s a bit boozy, and slightly bitter - but not in a good (hoppy) way - more like it’s attacking the back of your tongue with reckless abandon (baking soda). Still lots of sweet malts, but it’s really pretty bland. Big enough flavor... but it’s very one-dimensional. Not too impressed with this one.

Nose has an off-putting metallic tang with fainter hints of raisins and sundry. A relatively sweet beer that comes close to overdoing it. Not the best in the style, but not bad.

I’ve had this out of the bottle and on tap, and lemme tell ya, it’s interesting. It’s one of the most complex beers I’ve ever had, so many flavors mixing around that it’s hard to put your finger on all of them. Most importantly though, the tastes all mesh wonderfully; it’s a great beer to sip on.

It seems they tried to make an Orval knockoff, which I am not happy with. It is too turpentine for my palate- with an unpleasant sting and unrecognizable flavors. It is pretty though. Maybe with some aging...

Pours mildly cloudy nutty copper with thin off white head. Aroma is bourbon raisin and very faint cinnamon. Flavor is belgian sugars with dried fruit (condensed) sweetness. I want to say raisin b/c the fruity sweetness is a mild dried fruit flavor, nothing overpowering. Alcohol is definitely present in the flavor with malt tones. Body is light with fair carbonation.

Bottle. Pours a deep brownish red color, minimal head. Flavor is mild malts, raisins, candi sugars, some yeasty esters. Medium bodied, chewy and a bit bready on the palate. Finishes on a note of a mild red wine. Tasty, well done.

[Bottle] Pours deep reddish-amber with a small off-white/tan head that completely disappears after just a moment. Aroma is huge on malt with faint, fruity sweetness. Some alcohol, and some very unpleasant notes that are hard to describe (vegetal, burnt hair and all manner of strange things) are too present. Taste also has quite a bit of alcohol and malt and not much going on. It is sweet, and a bit bland and boring, but inoffensive, which is more than I can say for the aroma. Medium-thin mouthfeel, smooth with an average length finish. Very strange beer that is ruined for me by the aroma. Disappointing.