Raison D'Extra - Dogfish Head Brewery

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BA SCORE
89
good
-
740 Ratings

rAvg: 3.97
pDev: 16.12%
Reviews: 569
Hads: 171

Ratings Help

Brewed by:
Dogfish Head Brewery

Delaware, United States

Style | ABV
Belgian Strong Dark Ale | 18.00% ABV

Availability: Rotating. bottle (554), on-tap (14), nitro-tap (1).

Notes:
This beer is retired; no longer brewed.

A bigger, bolder version of our Raison Raison D'Être.

This is a bulbous, brown ale brewed with a bunch of malt, brown sugar and raisins.

40 IBU

Reviews

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Reviews by Gambrinus1184:

Gambrinus1184

Connecticut

4.22/5 rDev +6.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured from a 12-ounce bottle into a Sam Adams 6 oz. sampler glass. Bottled on date shows 3/15/2007.

A: Poured a cloudy, dark amber, brown color with tan highlighted edges and a clouded, brownish center. The thin head of carbonation quickly faded to a fine ring of lace around the edge of the glass.

S: Smells faintly sweet and fruity, with lots of dark fruit notes; plums, raisins, berries and a bit of spicy sweetness. The woody alcohol aroma wafts up from this burnt berry concoction.

T: A full onslaught of sweet, coating fruity alcohol and malt. The taste has many a liquor-like quality, with heavily absorbed and refined dark brown sugars, maple and molasses complexes, a sweet, wood-stored and aged texture, and a burning alcoholic raisin flavor. This is a pure sipper.

M: Mouthfeel is slick, full-bodied, sticky and flavorful. The carbonation is there in a swish, which causes some alcoholic sting, but it's very rich and robust.

D: It'll take you quite a time to get through 4 ounces of this one, let alone a whole bottle. It's very deep, lush and fulfilling, so you're better off sharing it.

The over 20% alcohol warms and soothes you as you consume this brew slowly. You'd be wise to lightly chill and serve Raison D'Extra as an aperitif to a red meat meal, perhaps with a chocolate based dessert. However, I'd recommend sipping this one on its own. I'll let my other bottles sit a couple years before savoring this unique flavor again.

Serving type: bottle

11-11-2008 04:02:41 | More by Gambrinus1184

More User Reviews:

smithj4

New York

4.5/5 rDev +13.4%

05-19-2013 02:45:33 | More by smithj4

dbrauneis

New Jersey

4.01/5 rDev +1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

A: Pours a hazy dark reddish brown in color with minimal amounts of visible carbonation and some garnet red highlights. The beer has a minimal amount of light beige head that quickly reduces to a very thin ring at the edges of the glass. Minimal amounts of lacing are observed.

S: Moderate to strong aromas of dark fruits (raisins, prunes, and plums) and candi sugar.

T: Overall this beer is pretty sweet, with moderate to strong flavors of dark fruit malt sweetness with raisin, prune, and plum all making a strong presence. There is a strong presence of candi sugar as well which contributes to the overall sweetness.

M: Full bodied with light amounts of carbonation. Syrupy with light amounts of alcohol warming.

O: It is a shame that DFH stopped making this beer and continues to make the Raison D'Etre (the watered down version of this beer) - I would love to see DFH pull this one out once every 3-5 years as it is so much better. Nice amounts of complexity but it is not the easiest beer to drink as the alcohol is not as well hidden as would appeal to the masses.

Serving type: bottle

05-19-2013 02:44:56 | More by dbrauneis