Raison D'Extra
Dogfish Head Craft Brewery

 

Bottled Jan 11, 2019 - acquired on a New York trip in May 2019, when travel was still carefree. Split 2 ways.
Pours a ruddy reddish brown colour with a very scant wisp of tawny head. Hazy but no debris.
Aroma is malty and boozy - initial whiff of cherry blew off giving way to brown sugar, molasses, raisin and prune, toffee - certainly a hint of a sherry note that the age has undoubtedly contributed.
Taste is sweet and a bit fruity - again prunes, raisins, brown sugar, toffee and a hint of cherries - there is a definite booziness and alcohol heat.
Warming boozy medium full mouthfeel - sweetness sits and makes a sipper for sure - smooth, like I would imagine sipping a brandy…..

2019 vintage. 12 oz bottle into a snifter at 53°.
Pours thick, a struggle to coax just a tad of head. Deep mahogany, a great red hue seen thru light.
Smells damn near like mince meat. A lot of malt and dark brown sugar pops on the nose. Fragrant!
Tastes like alcohol marinated prunes and toffee. Required a sip of water afterward, this is teeth ringing sweet.
Feels toes-on-the-line syrupy, but the carbonation that lasted in the bottle keeps it lively.
Overall, a muscular take on a fruit forward Strong Ale.

2019 Bottling, consumed September 2022. Thin and sharp, sweet but alcoholic. Mild raisin character, surprisingly low malt character. Some red apple. I would like to think it was just stored improperly...

Bottled on 01/11/19
Poured from a bottle into a snifter
Appearance – The beer pours a deep mahogany color with a small head of fizzy off-white foam. The head fades rather fast leaving a light level of foamy lace on the sides of the glass.
Smell – The aroma is massive of a raisin and prune smell mixed with aromas of candied sugar and a whole lot of yeast and molasses. Along with these aromas cones a nice roasted malt aroma, some caramel and toffee as well as a little bit of a cherry and apple smell. Some rummy booziness as well as a brandy like smell are there as well, mixing with the rest and with a touch of tobacco, to leave a nice roasty and sweet boozed up raisin smell. Almost fruit cake like.
Taste – The taste begins with malty brown bread and quite fruity flavor of raisin, plum, and cherry. Right from the start there is a rather strong boozy taste of brandy and rum as well as some notes of red wine and a bit of candied sugar and molasses. At the same time there is a bit of spice as well, being of a nutmeg and cinnamon nature, but containing a touch of clove. The raisin and the plum get stronger as the taste advances, bringing a bit more sweetness to the brew. While the raisin and plum do bring some sweetness, the taste is still on the slightly drier side, with the booziness of the brew increasing and making he flavor profile more liquor like in nature. Some leather and yeast-cake join in more towards the end, and with the increase in the raisin and prune, as well as the increase in the boozy liquor flavors, one is left with a quite warming rum raisin like taste to linger on the tongue.
Mouthfeel – The body of the brew is medium in thickness and creaminess with a carbonation level that is slightly higher. Overall for the mix of fruit, boozy heat, and abv, the feel is quite appropriate, making this one a nice slow sipper.
Overall – A rather fun and quite boozy but enjoyable brew to drink. I like the rummy raisin like nature of the brew and think this one to be quite fun. Overall, I would buy it again, and one I think would be worthwhile for others to at least try.

Bottled in 2014

A: Poured into a snifter to a deep brown beer with a slight reddish tint. The beer is topped by a dense and slightly rocky light tan head which fades slowly to a collar around the edge of the glass with minimal lacing.
S: Smells of huge dark fruit and raisin notes with some slight caramel and toffee
T: Tastes of brown sugar, caramel, dark fruits, raisins, hints of toasted bread, and a touch of banana. On the swallow there's more brown sugar, raisins, toffee, dark fruits, hints of spice, and lingering sweetness
M: This beer has a body which is on the heavier side of things with a slightly silky feel. Carbonation is on the low end but it's adequate for the style and ABV while the beer has a drying finish due to the high ABV.
O: Overall this is a pretty sweet beer. It isn't cloyingly sweet but it does come across a bit unbalanced. It still has some really nice complexity and despite the age it has held up quite well.

A little sweet to be perfection - it comes from all those raisins. :)

 

**
02/27/22

2018 bottle to DFH snifter.

Wow! Very tasty and sneaky smooth at 18%. Raisin, brown sugar, brandy, black cherry, wood, nutmeg. All kinds of interesting nutty/spicy/earthy/dark fruit notes that are not part of the known ingredients.


**

2019 Vintage
12oz bottle poured into a snifter

A- pours brown in color with a one-finger foamy khaki head that has good retention

S- malty and sweet aroma with notes of bready brown malts, brown sugar, raisins, toffee, fruitcake and a spicy yeast aroma that gives notes of clove, pear and basement must

T- bold, boozy and super sweet up front with a big hit of brown sugar, quickly followed by raisins and some bready brown malts, the sweetness combined with the brown malts is reminiscent of a fruit cake. The finish gives more onslaught of brown sugar sweetness, followed by some phenolic yeast that adds hints of clove, ripe pear and apple. Lingers of sweet malt and sugar

M- medium-heavy body with moderate carbonation leads to a foamy mouthfeel that turns slightly creamy into a warming finish, abv is hidden pretty well

O- bold and full flavored, but cloyingly sweet, especially as it warms

I got this for $10 and thought I'd give it a whirl. 16% man does that pack a punch and the price was reasonable so why not try something new? The artwork shows a country gentleman clutching his guitar, so hopefully this is music to my tastebuds. This was bottled on 12/20/18, and it's now 1/29/22 so this beer is a good 3+ years old.Poured out crispy caramel, beautiful light brown color that assimilates in the glass as a darker more mystifying shade. Very little head that stayed for any length of time, but that's ok I'm here to drink. Just as advertised boy does this smell like raisin. That's the predominant note, that's the predominant scent, that's what we're getting wafting out of the snifter. And a sip - wow! An electrifying, overwhelming raisin with a wild alcohol burn that really kicks the senses into gear. The label advertises brown sugar, and I can see how that might be a supporting note, but this thing really connotes raisin raisin raisin RAISIN! I like it because it's unique. I wouldn't drink this brew frequently but I like the experimentation with something unusual, and I can definitely say I've never had a beer quite like this one. Mouthfeel is thin to medium bodied with a light carbonation. For a good 30 seconds after the swallow my mouth is eveloped by a raisin dominance that I've never experienced from a beer before. Hey, they got this one nailed. Overall it's unique, it's unusual, it's independently and confidently bold. If wine is made of grapes, but this is made of raisins, then I would venture to call this post-wine. It's not my favorite flavor, but damn does it know what the hell it's doing. Cheers.

 

12oz bottle from 2014 poured into a goblet.

L: Muddy brown body with a thin but persistent cap of tan bubbles. Pretty good lacing for the abv. Not bad for its age, but far from visually appealing.

S: Complex aroma of ripe fruit, chocolate, and booze. Dates, figs, raisins. Cocoa powder, brown sugar, port. Lots going on, and most of it pleasant.

T: Follows the nose, with emphasis on the sweet raisin/port notes up front. Bittersweet cocoa fills in nicely toward the back end, with a strongly alcoholic aftertaste being the one major fault. Intense and mostly enjoyable.

F: Medium-to-full body with a surprising amount of velvety carbonation and a moderate dose of drying alcohol. Much livelier than the appearance suggested.

O: Enjoyable, intense, unique - but a bit of a chore to drink.

Big thanks to my buddy Charlie for tossing this one my way! Cheers!

 

Poured from a 12 oz bottle into a DFH Goblet Glass
Pours a murky caramel color with some reddish hues, and a smallish off white head that dissipates quickly leaving behind virtually no lacing

The aroma is quite sweet; consisting mainly of dark fruits (most notably raisins of course), brown sugar, caramel, a mild spiciness, and a definite booziness.

As with the nose, the flavor is a sweet mix if dark fruit (raisins, plums, prunes), brown sugar, molasses, and just the smallest hint of spiciness. Also, as with the nose, the alcohol presence is front and center, without being off-putting. Full bodied and mildly carbonated, somewhat slick on the tongue.

Overall, this is a nice sipping beer. I didn't really like this beer the first time I tried it (I think I just didn't understand the style at the time), but over time it has become a favorite.

From the older bottle, it pours a hazy brown color with a modest, soon diminishing, head. In the nose, it is raisins, cinnamon and lots of alcohol. Taste is strongly dark fruits/raisins with a base of sweetish malt. A bit syrupy in the mouth, it leaves a bit of an aftertaste.

Opening this about 2 and half years after the bottling date, im glad I tried this it always stood out to me and I wonder if no one at the store wanted it cuz of the raisins lol. Stop hating, this is malty and sweet from the sugar and light dried fruit taste. Doesn't taste very boozy which is good and bad at the same time lol. I really like this

 

Smells awesome, like dried fruit, not overwhelming and not sweet. The raisins are obvious in the taste, but are not overbearing. This is good, since I do not like raisins. The mouthfeel is thick and coating, feels very much like a wine. With a more carbonation, this would be a higher score for me. I'd buy it again. The alcohol content sneaks up on you, so beware!

 

 

Pours out a dark amber color. Mild translucence. A half of a finger of white foam that doesn't last very long.

Nose is grape, dark fruit, brown sugar, and malt. Just like the bottle says all of these notes come rushing out of the glass. It smells great. Lacking nuance and modesty but great.

Taste follows the nose to a tee. It's like sugar coated raisins in a highly malted Belgian brew. The alcohol is strong in this one and that comes through. It reminds you a little of wine due to the fruit presence and ABV, but the malt does a good job of reminding you that you're drinking a beer.

Mouthfeel is fullbodied and rich. A little syrupy which isn't surprising. Mild carbonation.

This is a brew with very little complexity but it makes up for that by being absolutely bombastic. Simple, but massive. A fun brew by Dogfish Head.

 

Another great offering from DH...

...I didn't really know what to expect from this beer. What I got was a slightly sweet, very boozy, and truly unexpected experience. I think the thing that surprised me the most was the booze-potency to go along with the nice base of raisin flavoring this offered. Mouthfeel was light and crisp - again surprising considering how boozy it was, and it looked absolutely unique - a dark cooperish color with distinctive gradient down the glass. Lately this website asked folks to define "craft". Well, I think this is a perfect example to raise - or should I say Raison D'Extra...

Bottled 1.11.2019 and served in my Spiegelau tulip. Pours a deep, translucent mahogany hue with a fizzy, tan head that quickly disperses towards the shoulders. Nose expresses brown sugar, figs and booze. Taste follows nose - big, bold and boozy with some caustic ethanol notes at the finish. Mouthfeel is medium-light in body with a lively carbonation, a slight oiliness to the texture, and a residual alcohol burn that lingers between quaffs. All and all, hits all the marks for the style, yet bigger and bolder per the DFH idiom. Would love to see what 5-10 years of cellar time does for this beer.

 

 

 

 

 

Bottled in 2019. In Leffe Chalice. Pours chestnut brown with very small tan fizzy head w/no retention. smells of brown sugar and raisins. very boozy, w/taste of raisin as a finish. Pretty good for sitting for almost a year and a half! Cheers!

 

Dark brown in color with a quarter inch of brown around the rim and a quarter of the top. Moderate lacing. I smell raisins and brown sugar, and alcohol. I taste is of malt, raisins, and brown sugar. The mouth is deceptively smooth and warm.

 

Bottled on 01/11/2018. Enjoyed on 12/23/2020.

 

 

 

Funny, when I grabbed the single bottle from Buckley's Wine & Spirits in Overland Park, KS (two thumbs up), I thought I was grabbing Raison D'Etra. I wanted to start with that one and move then to the stronger D'Extra. Moreover, this was one of those "tries" that I figured I probably wouldn't repeat -- true enough. Regardless, I was not disappointed. I am surprised when I read that this beer pairs well with meat -- while I enjoyed the flavor, I found it a little too sweet for much more than cheese/fruit. I would liken it more to an apertif. I fell in love with Dogfish Head after having their Mixed Media and fell out of love after they discontinued it. But, like a scorned lover, I shall return.

Pretty sure I reviewed this before, prob got lost in a server crash. bottled 1/11/19

Pours a very small fizzy tan head with low retention (as expected), dark chestnut to auburn brown color

Nose brings layers of sweetness, super sweet, with brown sugar, molasses, toffee, sweet brown malts, caramel, basically everything sugar based, as well as dark fruits, especially raisin, and a bit of date

Taste brings more sweet flavors but not as sweet as expected overall, again lots of brown sugar, toffee and molasses up front, with dark Belgian candi sugar like, into rum characters from the molasses and fruity flavors, lots of candied raisin, fig and date as well, quite fruity, a bit nutty as well, with some toasted brown malts, some smooth alcohol that gets quite hot but not fusel surprisingly, finishes sweet of course, sticky, with a bit of bitterness and lingering sweet flavors with raisin

Mouth is fuller bod, rich and chewy, fair amount of hot tingly alcohol, med-light fizzy carb

Overall basically what I remember it to be, this one is fairly fresh (relatively anyways), and the ones I've had that were about a decade old were awesome, but I wanted to review a younger one