Raison D'Extra
Dogfish Head Craft Brewery

A - Pours a clear dark brown with a thin fizzy off white head. Light amount of spotty lacing.

S - Aroma is raisins, molasses, dark chocolate

T - The taste is brown sugar, molasses, raisins, dark cherries, prunes and a nice alcohol heat.

M - Medium body with low carbonation. Soft mouthfeel with a nice slick finish.

O - Decent.

 

This ones from 12-2018. Opened 03-2025. Blood red, nearly opaque, and nearly hazy, if you shine a flashlight through it. Super sweet on the nose, obviously very raisin scented, but not very complex. Theres other sweet aromas there, probably a bit of the malt but it's mostly overshadowed by the cloying raisin odor. The flavor and mouthfeel is that of a sweet, mildly viscous red or fruit wine. It lacks the astringency of anything barreled, and lacks any alcohol bite, but still is obviously boozy.

Clear , dark brown. Medium-sized. off-white head. Dried fruits and caramel malt in the aroma. Sweet, with light alcohol notes. Vanilla in the sweet aftertaste.

12 ounce bottle poured into a goblet.
Bottled 12/13/18

L: Clear ruddy brown pour, showing ruby through the glass, quarter inch off-white head is short lived but a thin collar hangs around for the duration of the glass.
S: Rich raisin and prune aromas, with steady clean (not boozy) alcohol.
T: Big malty flavor, sweet and rich but still fairly well attenuated, raisin and molasses are prominent, prune which comes off as plum at times, faint spicy yeast, sharpens and dries on the back.
F: Medium bodied and very smooth, low carbonation, it is pretty warm and gives a small bite from alcohol coming at the finish.
O: Excellent, alcohol character is much more mellow than expected.

From a 12oz bottle. No date, but it is over 5 years old. Stored and served at room temp.

Slight hiss and a bit of smoke upon opening the bottle. This beer is a very dark pouring beer, brown in color. Slight amber hints at the bottom of the glass. There's a steady stream of carbonation bubbles rising in the glass. The head that forms is 1 finger and tan in color with smaller bubbles. The head retention is quite amazing considering the ABV. There's no lacing on the glass as the head dissipates to a ring around the glass.
Aroma is really like an imperial stout. I get just a ton of caramel hitting my nose. Tons of raisin, which is to be expected based on the name. It does have a slightly boozy aroma, but I was also expecting this based on the ABV.
Taste - This is for sure not an imperial stout like my nose was telling me. I am getting a good hit of raisin which lingers throughout. I am getting a slight brown sugar sweetness to this beer.
The beer is bubbly feeling. The body does seem thin to me. There's really little burn to this beer considering the ABV.
This is a very interesting beer, and it threw me off a bit based on the aroma. I can buy another bottle of it, and may do so.

Zero carbonation and otherwise flawless. Reminded me of JW Lee's ales. Raisin popping through on nose and palate. Big body to match the sweetness. Absolutely loved this.

 

 

12oz bottle from 2007.

Pours clear mahogany with a short-lived head of off-white. Zero retention or lacing. Pure fusel alcohol in the nose with shades of toffee, malt, leather. Medium bodied with a slick, oily, flat mouthfeel. Sweet malt with caramel and booze on the palate. Finishes very warming on the throat and not as sweet as I remember.

 

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.


**