Dogfish Head Raison D Extra

Pours a thick, cloudy, deep, auburn-brown with a thin light tan head. The aroma is huge: lots of alcohol, lots and lots of brown sugar and caramel, sweet malts, intense notes of soft fruit and candy-sweet raisins, and a touch of cracked white pepper and spice. The flavor starts spicy-sweet with alcohol, peppery spice, and loads of molasses and caramel malt. The middle of the flavor finds more malt - malt, malt, malt, malt, malt! It has a wide range of flavors: raisins, maple, brown sugar, pears and berries, raisins, hints of milk chocolate, and caramel. The finish is very crisp and very strong - there is a delicate balance of fruity, earthy, bitter hops. But the finish continues with the huge malt and fruit presence, tingly carbonation, intoxicating alcohol, and sticky, brown-sugar-coated raisins. The beer stings the back of the fruit like a strong digestif/liqueur. The mouthfeel is intense - it is thick, but not syrupy, depositing huge drops of flavor all over the tongue. When you swish it in your mouth you feel the sting of alcohol and carbon dioxide (almost like nettles - except tasty). This beer seems to run similar rails as Avery’s Beast - great big, huge malts. But this one represents a better execution.

I must admit I really enjoyed this one. I am a big fan of 120-minute IPA and Raison D’Etre and this one is significantly better. Take a Raison D’Etre and super charge it and mellow the flavors and you have this winner. Granted, I drank two of these back-to-back, so my judgment might have been affected by the 18.5% alcohol content.

"First off, the smell is what hits you first, lots of dark fruits, sugar, rum, plums.

. Is massively bitter, yet still a tad sweet- never has a beer been so wide in that spectrum! .

. The mouthfeel almost hurts, well not really but the alcohol is quite apparent.

. The flavour is complex but at colder temps, the alcohol can be a bummer,WAIT!!
---> warmer shows some real class, tasty yet assertive

.. bold .

. Overall it’s a big powerful brew that i would wager needs years on it for it to be truly appreciated! reminds me alot of Samichlaus in the fact that it is great young but world class aged!"

and that’s not spinach!

It’s brown, it’s cloudy with a tight bubbled head. It’s also sweet, a fruity sweet with a sour fruit aftertaste. The hops , if any are minimal (only 20 IBU’s?).The effect is funky, not to my liking. I admire craft brewers who push the envelope to obtain extreme beers. Sometimes it doesn’t workout, this is one of them.

Bottle. Amber color with a light white head. Sweet raisin and plums aroma. Sweet raisin and plums flavor with a light alcohol note. Balanced and nice sweet palate.

big bottle 2004 vintage. pours thick and a deep rich amber with a black cherry hue. Heavy but silky mouthfeel of raisins, prunes, toffee, burnt sugar and flowery spice. There is a hint of vanilla and a strong alcohol presence. very complex. Enjoy in a snifter and share on a cold night in front of a fire. This one packs a punch!

Bottle at the Alehouse in Gaithersburg. Pours dark amber with good legs. Estery malt aroma. Flavor is what I would imagine green raisin cognac to taste like. Dry alcoholic finish. Not for the faint of heart.

poured a very dark amber color with very small lacings. it tasted of lots of malt and fruit. the alcohol was very apparent after the first sip but slightly covered up by the raisins and fruit.