Fort - Dogfish Head Brewery

Gaisgeil

Michigan

3.95/5  rDev +8.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Expensive for a beer, but considering it's ABV is well into wine territory, I'm somewhat okay with that personally.

Pours a slightly hazy amber in color (I'm really shocked it's not red at all, considering the amount of raspberries used in it's creation) with a thin creamy head that had good retention. Nose is outrageously juicy, very overwhelmingly fruity, smells of rich fresh raspberries. Taste is nicely balanced, not as overly sweet as many fruit beers, actually sort of dry, rather than the typical syrup mouthfeel. Layers of malt and tartness balances things out quite well. Strongly alcoholic, but maybe doesn't strike me quite as 18% ABV would indicate. A quite nice diversion, but not something I'd look for very often.

Slàinte!

Serving type: bottle

01-20-2006 07:38:27 | More by Gaisgeil

ScarletLady

Maryland

4.28/5  rDev +17.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

I found this at Frisco's after looking all over town for it. I thought it reasonable at $19.95 a bottle (promo for DFH pint night) It poured a copper/bright bronze color, with a bit of head. It smells WONDERFUL. Light raspberry and maybe cherry aroma, but you can detect a hint of alcohol. The taste is what really made it stand out. I don't usually like fruit beers because of the sweetness. this had a great fruit flavor that evaporates on the tongue, I'm guessing due to the alcohol content. No sticky sweetness. Definitely could taste a bit of the alcohol but that didn't diminish it in the least. Very drinkable.

Serving type: bottle

01-18-2006 22:15:38 | More by ScarletLady

cubedbee

Maryland

4.05/5  rDev +11%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

$15.99 for a 750 ml bottle, certainly pricey, but I just got a promotion and so I'm splurging. Pours a glowing ruby-amber with a finger off off-white head that quickly reduces to a ring, some spotty lacing left behind on the glass. Nose is sweet berries--rasberry, cherry, blackberry, with a slight whiff of alcohol. Taste has a big rasberry component, not artificial and syrupy, slightly tart. The rasberry is overlaid on a smooth wheaty malt, with a definite alcohol bite and a fairly dry finish. Medium/full bodied with a moderate carbonation. This is a pretty decent fruit beer, hiding the abv extremely well and making a very high alcohl beer rather easy to drink.

Serving type: bottle

01-17-2006 00:12:49 | More by cubedbee

mjohn27603

Michigan

3.63/5  rDev -0.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

$16.67 a bottle. Bottled on 11/28/05. Pours a pinkish, rusty, cherry tinged color out of the bottle. No evidence of chill haze quite clear. A thing head remains on top fo the beer, very fine bubbles of carbonation simila to a champagne rise up from the bottom. Aroma is sweet and of berries. First sip reveals a rather light berry taste with some off flavors like a rubbing alcohol or vodka. Not overwhelming alcohol flavors but hide in the background. Mouthfeel is a little heavy but no where near what is expected for 18% ABV.

Why does this need to be 18%? I would rather enjoy a smaller bottle or a lighter ABV session beer to this. Not worth the price. I've been finding Dogfish Head is doing too many extreme beers for the sake of doing it not for a pleasant drinking experience.

I'm not even going to finish the bottle but cap it and store for later. The fruit is light in flavor so even if cellared for a while I don't know that this would taste vastly better other than a more subtle alcohol flavor.

Serving type: bottle

01-16-2006 01:26:46 | More by mjohn27603

beergurujr

Illinois

4.6/5  rDev +26%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

first thing: i cannot believe that this is an 18% beer. way, way too well balanced. however, i'll go along with the listed ABV, for now anyway.

visual: hazy strawberry blonde. moderate head and carbonation.

aroma: raspberries. simple, but good.

foretaste: raspberry extract-like. interesting. i like it.

mouthfeel: medium to heavy.

midpalate: raspberry and hop; alcohol (assuming it is really 18% ABV) extremely well hidden. perhaps a huge hopping rate to make this so drinkable?

aftertaste: pretty much raspberry extract. dry.

you'd expect such an extreme beer to be way malty, way sweet. this isn't. kudos to DFH.

buzz is hitting me now, shortly after downing this one rather quickly. it may actually be 18% ABV as listed. but as i wrote, very, very well balanced, regardless of actual ABV. a winner!

Serving type: bottle

12-30-2005 06:34:37 | More by beergurujr

BeerAdvocate

Massachusetts

3.65/5  rDev 0%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Bottle from the first batch of Fort brewed just before the Extreme Beer Fest in Jan 2005. Hand-bottled by the brewer, unlabeled and sealed with cap, red wax and string with a black wax tip. This one is back when the beer was "Forte" : French for "strong," and the World's Strongest Fruit Beer, brewed with Oregon and Delaware raspberries. 20% ABV

Pours a hazed amber orange, topped with a ringed white lace. Little head retention.

Aroma was a bit off-putting initially, but once warmed ... smells like fruity antacid or zinc lozenges. A bit musty. Deep raspberry cordial and solvent in the nose.

G'damn! This is one hot and fruity beer! The heat creates one harsh mouthfeel. Super solvent-like alcohol burn that taunts with heartburn, and seeps into the palate. Loads of alcohol spice. Peppery palate smack. Sticky cough-syrup and cheap schnapps cling and deliver the palate a major beat-down. Raspberry character is strong and distinct. Lime-like stab across the palate, just beneath the berries. Big fusel alcohol rips your esophagus to pieces. Surprisingly, the finish is pretty damn clean and bone dry.

It burns! It burns! We swear this is Devil's blood. The juice of Satan! But we can't stop drinking it! And each sip makes the pain more ... pleasant. All hail Fort!

Serving type: bottle

12-13-2005 00:22:09 | More by BeerAdvocate

Chadbrew

Delaware

4.18/5  rDev +14.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

This pours a nice amber-red and brilliantly clear, it has a slight head and good carbonation. The aroma is simply sensational. I inhale a great big hit of bitter raspberries, My mouth is starting to water, really.
The taste is clean and dry. No doubt you are drinking a fruit beer here as the raspberries are definitely present, but don't get the wrong impression... this is no sissy fruit beer. The berries are crisp and bitter and there is very little sweetness here at all, some beautiful tartness. There is alcohol present, but it's so well complimented that you really don't know how much until you go looking for a listing (18% whoa!).
A nice light body, something I think suits this beer as opposed to a syrupy fruit beer.
What a treat. I can't wait to lay some of this down for a while and see what it's like around next Thanksgiving.

Serving type: bottle

11-29-2005 00:57:08 | More by Chadbrew

DocBrown

Florida

3.38/5  rDev -7.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 2.5

i had this on tap as well, then opted to fill a growler to bring back up north to share...

this is a monster. there are smells and tastes of alcohol throughout. i read here some treated it as a brandy, which is accurate (as served on tap is in a tulip). in growler, it appears amber in color, but pours a slightly cloudy light reddish color with small head and little to no lacing (though this could be fault of the growler). smell is of strong alcohol, but with nice touches of berries and other sweets. taste is also of strong alcohol, but also has taste similar to the smell following. the body was medium, the tastes linger, and succesive drinks draw a minor acidity.

i completely applaud the creativity in the brewing--this is a recipe i could see be refined into a much more smooth (and slightly smaller) fruit beer, and even this batch will probably even mellow a little bit with age. however, as is, it's a bit much...

Serving type: growler

06-05-2005 06:06:22 | More by DocBrown