Dogfish Head is a craft brewery located in Milton, Delaware. They also have a restaurant in Rehobeth that serves their beers along with wood-grilled food that's a pretty amazing place. Their motto as brewers is "off-centered stuff for off-centered people" so when you try one of their beers, you know you can expect something different.
The Raison D'Extra is a higher alcohol content version of the Raison D'Etre. The D'Etre is brewed with green raisins, beet sugar, and Belgian style yeast. The D'Extra on the other hand is brewed with brown sugar, and weighs in at 18+% ABV. Our particular bottles were brewed in March 2007, so our January 1st tasting gave it nearly 2 years to age and continue fermenting.
The beer poured a reddish caramel color, with a slight haze to it from the yeast in the bottle. It had a 1 finger off white head with a nice foamy quality. The head dissipated fairly quickly, but it still left good lacing on the glass.
The aroma was sweet and malty. Initially it was dominated by a raisin smell, which isn't surprising given the ingredients. Underneath there's a definite hint of alcohol, but for being the strongest beer I've ever tried, it was well hidden. There was some traces of chocolate and caramel as well, but they were pretty muted. Overall, the smell was attractive, and not overly strong.
The taste was as sweet as the smell, and likewise the raisin flavor is predominant. Dan suggested that it was a white raisin flavor, and the beer definitely had some wine-like aspects to it. There was a definite burn to the beer as well, as expected given the high ABV. It was right in the middle of the throat that the warmth really got me, but it was a nice pleasing type of warmth that would be good on a cold night. There was also a nice light bitterness that finished the beer just in the back of the throat that stayed in the mouth for a while after swallowing. Dan and I both agreed that the beer was most similar to a brandy, both in strength and flavors. The one thing I noticed was missing from the taste was the metallic "Delaware water" flavor that I normally find with Dogfish beers. I was pretty happy about that fact, as it's usually the one issue I have with the flavor of stuff I've had from them.
The beer had a medium-heavy body that was somewhat syrupy in quality. The carbonation was moderate, with a light tingle on the tip of the tongue, and more roundness in the rest of the mouth. There was just a little bit of coating in the mouth, and it had a somewhat wet finish. Overall it was a substantial beer and complimented the warmth and strength of it well.
Overall, I would definitely recommend trying this if you manage to find it, but beware, it is strong! I wouldn't try drinking more than one of these in a night, and make sure you don't have to drive for a while after opening it. It's absolutely a winter ale, and not one for the weak of heart. I went from completely sober when I started this brew to feeling a good buzz halfway through, and finished it a bit tipsy - and I was drinking it pretty slow. Still it's not surprising since it's roughly 4 to 5 times as strong as the average beer.
- Adam
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