Raison D'Être - Dogfish Head Brewery

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BA SCORE
83
good
-
3,177 Ratings

rAvg: 3.67
pDev: 15.8%
Reviews: 1721
Hads: 1456

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Brewed by:
Dogfish Head Brewery

Delaware, United States

Style | ABV
Belgian Strong Dark Ale | 8.00% ABV

Availability: Year-round. bottle (1619), on-tap (96), growler (4), nitro-bottle (1), nitro-tap (1).

Notes:
A deep mahogany, Belgian-style brown ale brewed with beet sugar, raisins and Belgian-style yeast.

25 IBU

Reviews

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Reviews by FernMaster:

FernMaster

Missouri

4.1/5 rDev +11.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured from a bottle into a pint glass.

I'm just going to begin by saying I love this beer. It easily has to be in my top ten favorite beers and if I lived close enough to a place to buy it on a regular basis it would be up there with Rogue Dead Guy Ale and Goose Island's Matilda in my most purchased beer category.

I bought this because of the absurdity promised on the label, beet sugars(?), green raisins(!), what's with this crap? Brown Ale or Belgian Dark Ale, call it what you will because I'm damn fine with it either way. Also it gives you the ability to make many cheap jokes based on the title; like this facebook status of mine, "Ah, my Raison D'Être's - how I have so few of you left."

Raison D'Être pours with two finger worth of head that stays around for a minute or two, long enough to enjoy but not too long as to get in the way. As you drink, several layers of lacing form, which equals cool. The smell on this one is currently faint, I blame it on the cold, but the smell (as I remember and can pick up) is peculiar. There's some definite sweet characteristics to it, brown sugar, a little bit of fruits - presumably the raisons - and possibly the last hard to identify smell is the freaking beets! I have to remember this was made with beet sugars, I love Dogfish Head. The taste is fully backed up by the smell! I hate it when I become fully enamored with the smell of a beer and the taste doesn't follow suit, fortunately that's not a problem with this beer. In the taste you get the malts, the raisons, the sweetness and some sort of other added spices. All of it works beautifully together and it's a freaking joy to drink. If you see this in your local beer stores selection and you haven't tried it yet, please do yourself the favor of purchasing this beer. It'll rock you from the pour to the final drink.

Serving type: bottle

10-28-2009 03:00:24 | More by FernMaster

More User Reviews:

JHendu

Florida

3.25/5 rDev -11.4%

05-25-2013 18:34:38 | More by JHendu

dcloeren

Texas

3/5 rDev -18.3%

05-25-2013 06:51:53 | More by dcloeren

NormLobstah

Virginia

3.75/5 rDev +2.2%

05-25-2013 03:53:53 | More by NormLobstah

billbeers

Pennsylvania

3/5 rDev -18.3%

05-25-2013 03:51:22 | More by billbeers

mulliwater

Virginia

3.5/5 rDev -4.6%

05-25-2013 03:48:34 | More by mulliwater

GinsuDave

Michigan

3.75/5 rDev +2.2%

05-24-2013 22:30:47 | More by GinsuDave

DRTBrewster

Arizona

3.5/5 rDev -4.6%

05-24-2013 20:46:03 | More by DRTBrewster

WallingBrew

Virginia

4.33/5 rDev +18%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

This is the Belgian (dark) strong ale that got me hooked into the category. The beer has a terrific complexity ranging from a caramel toffee to spiced banana and each sip finishes with a welcoming alcoholic punch and smooth mouthfeel. Hard to describe but certainly worth seeking out at under $10 for a 6-pack. Well done DFH.

Serving type: bottle

05-24-2013 03:21:42 | More by WallingBrew