One of the early brews that we posted on the site was a DFH brew. I so cleverly named the title Gone Dogfishin’ (man, that seems like ages ago). At any rate, the beer was Raison D’ Etre, a French philosophical term that means reason for being. The Raison D’ Extra is the extreme version of this beer, and it weighs in at 18-20% ABV depending on the year and who you are talking to. I’ve seen it classified as a Belgian Dark Strong Ale. One thing is for sure, it is a strong ale. A twelve ounce bottle will usually cost between $8-$10, but try to think about getting four beers worth when you buy it. Like most of DHF stuff, this beer is worth the money.

The Pour: Head retention in this beer, which was a 2005 version that I drank, was very minimal. What head there was sat atop a deep, clean, crimson body that was slowly active on the carbonation. I could immediately tell that the beer was thick, so I gave it a swirl around the glass. Do you know any wine drinkers? Have you ever heard a wine being described as having “legs”? Well, this beer had legs, which basically means that it clung to the glass and droplets eased their way down, giving the appearance of having legs. Very nice!

The Nose: There was some apparent bready qualities to the beer. My guess is that there was so much yeast that it just really came through. Alcohol, fruit, grapes/raisins, wine notes and sweet sherry qualities were evident. I thought that the beer also smelled syrupy in its quality. Raison D’ Extra was somewhat candy-like in some aromas as well.

The Taste: Make no mistake, the alcohol was present, but I thought the beer was incredibly smooth for being 20% ABV. The yeast-like breadiness and sweet Sherry qualities made themselves very well known. A good dose of residual sweetness was present as well. I caught some metallic qualities and thick, syrupy aspects in this Dogfish Head offering. Raisins, figs, and other burnt/dried fruit qualities were very nice on the palate. Raison D’ Extra faded into a dry, long-lasting, and sweet grainy finish. Crazy as it may sound, I thought that some qualities of the beer reminded me of eating tangy taffy–take that for what it’s worth. Whatever else may be said about the tastes of the beer, they lingered on forever.

Overall, this beer is what it is. I love it, but if you don’t love big/extreme beers, you might not like it that much. I found it to be delicious and complex. Wonderful! It also helps that mine was over four years-old when I drank it, and the aging was very nice.

Mike’s Rating:

Overall Satisfaction:  

Among other Extreme beers: