Dogfish Head Raison D Etre

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

Amber in color with an off white head. tastes sweet and fruity. you can smell and taste the raisin but it’s not overpowering. quite pleasent and finishes nicely.

I’m sure this is a great beer, and it sure is pretty (pours an attractive deep mahogany red), but it’s just too damn sweet. Somebody, quick, hand me a Ruination IPA! Might be I just don’t like Belgians (sorry Belgium).

Draught at MacGregors in Henrietta. Orange/amber color with lace. Aroma of raisins, caramel/molasses, port. Warming alcohol in the mouth, with raisins, Belgianesque esters, caramel. Fruity, spicy, very smooth and rich. A nice take on a Belgian strong.

( 12oz bottle) Pours a clear orange-brown with little to no head or lace. Nose of alcohol, brown sugar, and raisins. My description sounds complex but it wasn’t really. Taste of alcohol, hops, toasted malt, brown sugar and has a bitter linger. Let it warm and it will reduce the alcoholic nose and taste. I think a year or 2 would do this beer a lot of good because even after 4 or 5 months in my fridge it’s a lot better.

bottle, pours mahogany with a medium tan head. Brown sugar and spice aromas lift from the glass without even bringing it to my nose. Yeasty, some baked apple, and nutmeg or cinnamon. Great aroma. So much sweet malt in the form of carmel, light toast, and some roasty almost coffee notes. The raisins are evident in the finish which is nice and spicey with slight hints of alcohol. This is a fine and tasty beer.

Tap at Ginger Man. Pours bronze. Initial aroma of caramel, currants, and whiskey, but the whiskey occasionally overpowers everything else. I swear one moment it smelled like sweet fruit and caramel, and then the next moment it smelled like a good whiskey. Flavor was whiskey heavy with a sweet caramel finish. Everything about this beer was whiskey-ish, except for the smooth finish, but at least it’s a smooth, good whiskey.

pours deep brown, thin tan head. Arouma is sweet and sugary, if a little thin. Taste is refreshingly light as well. Fruity, prune and rasins. Sweet and bitter are well balanced. The alcohol taste comes through, but isn’t overpowering. Not exactly the style of belgian strong ale, but it stands on its own. I would drink this again, happily.

[bottle poured into trappist glass] pours a weak coffee brown, light brown and quickly dissipating, thin head. Aroma is sweet. Flavor is sweet hops obviously there is a raisin taste, but i am not sure I would say that if it wasn’t called raison. Taste is slightly reminisce of an IPA, though this is not considered an IPA. Not too bad.