Dogfish Head Raison D Extra

A very tasty beer, but a little too strong on the rasins for my palate. I never have tried a Dogfish beer that I didn’t like, but while this one is tasty I prefer their Stout, 120 and 90 brews. Has nice appearance and aroma.

12oz bottle-pours a rich light tan head and hazed amber/brown color. Aroma is nice, sweet medium malt-caramel/toffee, dark fruit-plum/raisin/dates, secondary citrus hops, alcohol. Taste is nice, sweet medium malt-caramel/toffee, dark fruit-plum/raisin/dates, secondary citrus hops, alcohol, brown sugar/some chocolate. Bottled 9/20/06. medium/full body. Lots of malt. OK/mild carbonation. Sipping. Thanks to Joe-jwc215 for sharing.

Bottle: pours a dark reddish color with absolutely no head, aroma is sweet, dark fruits, spices and a bit of the booze, taste is dark fruits and sweet, no carbonation, the alcohol is not overpowering in the taste but you can feel its presence as it warms your belly. My main problem with this one is that it is much too sweet. I’d like to have aged this one a while longer.

12oz. Bottle dated 09/26/06. Poured a deep ruby color with a quickly dissipating tan head. Small ring of bubbles lasted throughout. Carbonation is mild but persistent. The nose on this beer is huge, with a complex mixture of dark fruits, honey, butterscotch, etc. Despite other reviews of this beer, I can’t believe how well the alcohol is hidden. Flavor is noticeably sweet with notes of green raisins, plums, dark cherries, figs and brown sugar. The palate of this beer is also impressively well balanced, not too syrupy, but plenty thick to keep the beer from having a watery character. Finish is quick and leaves a sticky sweetness on the tongue. Very glad I bought more of this at the brewery a few months ago since it is now out of production. I think some of the poor reviews of this beer are largely due to the fact that this beer seems to need a minimum of a year in the bottle before it is remotely drinkable. Another impressive monster from DFH.

yet another of dfh’s huge beers that i have been disappointed by. aroma is very pleasant, but flavor and moluthfeel are overpowering syrup and sugar. far too sweet to drink more than a sip or two. it took me and 4 friends to finally finish the 12 oz bottle.

12 oz. bottle courtesy of Zinister. Bottled on March 15, 2007. Pour is a cloudy orange brown with a small tan head. Aroma of honey, raisins, cooking butter scotch sweetness. Behind all of that, a touch of booziness. Quite a bit going on in the nose. Taste starts with a lot of raisins, and a lot of mouth puckering acidity. Pretty soon after is a huge blast of alcohol. Really made my mouth water, this tasted way too boozy for me. I realize this is a huge beer, but the complexity and subtlety in the aroma led me to believe the flavor would follow suit, with some balance. It really didn’t follow suite, the alcohol was really sharp and jagged. I originally had this at around 55 degrees. As it warmed to room temperature, it improved a bit, becoming a touch more integrated, still too much for me. As this got to the bottom of the bottle, it was more enjoyable, though that may have been the drunkenness. Thanks for sending this my way, Mike!

Bottled 08/30/05, with thanks to boboski! Pours a clear iced tea (although slightly darker than the Etre), with a fizzy tan head that is gone immediately, no ring, no nothing. Aroma is more port like, with dark overripe and dried fruits, brown sugar, molasses, alcohol and maybe nutmeg, lots going on. Flavor is also more mature and complex than the Etre, but manages to hold it well; a touch more sweet, but also tempered and not syrupy or sticky. The high alcohol is actually not detectable in the palate like it is a bit on the nose. To be honest, I did not hold out much hope for this, and imagined it as an over the top mess, but its a tasty sipper. Guessing that putting some age on this thing helped it along as well. Every bit as good as the Etre, but each accentuates different qualities, and are definitely done to different degrees. What the Etre does with subtlety, the Extra does with mature complexity.

Pours a cloudy brown with a tint of red with a tan head. Aroma is amazing, lots of rasins, figs, brown sugars, malt, spices. Flavor is fruit, rasins, brown sugars, spices, figs, nuts. The flavors melt in your mouth and the significant alcohol warms things up, but not too much. The 18% alcohol is hidden in this pretty well as I didn’t find it as hot as other beers with this much alcohol. I’m going to have to buy up some more while I can since DFH is no longer brewing this.