Dogfish Head Raison D Extra

from a 2007 12 ounce bottle. a deep rich brown color. taste of raison, very sweet, alot of brown sugar. great for an after dinner desert beer. not nearly as intense as i expected (similar to the 120 minute) enjoyed it througholy. all in all dogfish does it right agian.

Poured from a 12oz bottle (bottled on 9/29/06) and served in a tulip. This brew poured a clear, dark copper/amber with a minimal head of quickly fading tan bubbles. Not much lace to speak of. The aroma of the beer consisted of raisons, caramel, sweet vinous notes, candi sugar, and also some alcoholic notes. The flavor was made up of candi sugar, raison/grape notes, sweet caramel, dark fruits, and some warming alcohol. The high ABV was considerably well hidden. The mouthfeel was full-bodied, slick, and slightly oily with minimal carbonation. A very nice beer, but the one thing holding it back was that the sweetness tended to border on cloying at some points.

12 oz bottle, 2005 Vintage. Pours a perfectly clear amber body under a minimal fizzy beige head that completely vanished. Zero visible carbonation. The nose is big alcohol vapors over heavy raison, some candi sugar, and lots of toffee malt. The flavor is ridiculously sweet, but I can actually appreciate it some before the tide of alcohol washes it away. Tons of raison, dark brown sugar, and some fig and date fruitiness. Mouthfeel is full bodied and thick, but not especially sticky or cloying despite how sweet the taste is. Moderate soft fizzy carbonation. Overall, this wasn’t nearly as bad as I was expecting. I had a much harder time putting down their WWS than this. If you like the sweet stuff, this might just be for you.

11/2005 12oz bonus bottle from the newly beer god, kmweaver. From my wants list. Thanks Ken! Pours with little head of small bubbles barely fighting their way to the surface of the deep brownish amber liquid. Lots of sediment in the bottle including little black chunky things. What were those?Aroma is a little crazy. Deep dark fruits, malt laden apricots and some inevitable alchohol. Thick body. Lightly sweet malt taste. I would put this in the barleywine category. Maybe it’s the alchohol, but it has low drinkability. Must be sipped for sure. It needs an accompanyment of some cheese or something. At 18% I can’t help but wonder what it will be like in 10 years.

Whoa! Another knockout from DFH! Aroma heavy of alcohol and dark fruits. Mouth feel like a plum wine with raisins, brown sugar, and malt. This is an excellent slow sipping after dinner beer.

Pours a beautiful dark amber with a minimal head. The aroma has the signature Dogfish characteristics... I’m not sure how to describe it... old socks, maybe? Really funky. I suppose it’s the yeast they use, but I don’t know. The flavor is super heavy... the alcohol comes out underneath dark malts and raisins. The beginning is a tad rough, but it all smooths out into a thick sweet flavor that has hints of cocoa. Much closer to the other Dogfish super-strong beers than to the Raison d’etre. Excellent.

Pours out deep red with thick fluffy head. Aroma is sweet malty alcohol with some raisins and, oh yeah, more alcohol. Taste is thick and malty, the alcohol really bites the tongue. I also get some brown sugar and lots of raisins. Goes down more like an aperitif than a beer and should probably be treated as such. If you feel you need a beer to get you out of a taste rut, this will knock you on your butt and the rut.

I thought this beer not quite as "extreme" as I’d expected and, honestly, feared. The mouthfeel was not a monumental challenge, and was thick but not syrupy. Flavor included lots of caramel malt which imparted a certain kind of molasses flavor, but also had a lot of fruitiness which reminded me not of raisins but of white grapes. In fact, I could have sworn that this beer had an injection of white grape juice.Pours a very dark brown color with no head. Aroma was rather grapey-fruity with plenty of alcohol esters. Not bad, but not great. It is certainly unique, but far less drinkable than Raison d’ Etre. Nonetheless, I would recommend giving it a try, if nothing else for novelty purposes and curiosity.