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Dogfish Head Raison D’Etre — Reviewed By: Dave
Brewery: Dogfish Head Craft Brewery Inc.
City – State- Country: Milton, DE USA
Style: Belgian-Style Brown Ale
Alcohol by Volume: 8%
Release/Date: 12/13/2011
Reviewed By: Dave
INFORMATION: This brew is from the year round line up from Dogfish Head Brewery. It uses Belgian-style yeast and beet sugars along with raisins. This beer was a pub special in 1996 and became commercially available around 1998. There is an interesting video about yeast on the DFH website if you click the hyperlink above. Ready?..lets taste this baby.
APPEARANCE: Pours a deep reddish brown (mahogany as advertised). Put up about 1 finger of off-white head in a short stem wine glass. Great lacing and head retention.
AROMA: Raisins, sweet malts, and a touch of dark cherry is what I’m getting.
TASTE: A spicy raisin flavor is what greets you. This is followed up by roasted malts and a woody/earthy flavor. The backyard is consumed with dark cherry and and a light plum flavor. This beer is actually slightly boozy for 8%. If I didn’t know prior to drinking I would guess a percent higher.
MOUTHFEEL: A moderately syrupy feel to it. Almost sticky in a cough syrup way…but no medicine like flavor.
DAVE’S BOTTOM LINE: Honestly I went in not knowing what to expect from this brew, and I have to say I enjoyed it. It is not something I could drink all night, but 1-2 with dinner would be great. This isn’t my favorite thing from DFH but not to shabby. Personally it’s not something I would buy regularly. However, I would drink this with something sophisticated like braised lamb chops with a red wine sauce, risotto and asparagus.
Nostrovia!
Score: 3.5 out of 5
About Dave
I agree with your review totally. This wasn’t a beer that I liked the first time I tried it. However, having tried it a couple of years later and not expecting much, I was more impressed with the complex flavors. DFH is my favorite brewhouse, so anything from them is worth a second try.
Tonight, my fiance and I tried the limited release, Urkontinent and we were surprised at how flavorful and deep it was. Definitely worth a pint.
~Cheers,
C & G
C & G,
Don’t worry this will not be the only time I try this beer. I too love DFH and would not turn this beer down. By the way, how was Urkontinent?
~Dave
Better Beer Bureau
Good pairing choice. I think together it would be a 1+1=3 situation. I haven’t had this beer in a long while. They stopped shipping it to the Pacific Northwest because they couldn’t make enough beer for a while.