Raison D'Extra
(has 2 batches)

12 oz bottle, bottled 03/15/07. The third in my tastings of DFH’s 15%+ beers. Pours brown amber, and a vigorous pour is able to elicit a coarse light tan head that dissolves rapidly. Definitely has some legs (ah, wine term, fabulous!). First aroma is the now-familiar extreme sweetness and alcohol blend characteristic of these high-gravity brews. Getting past that there may be some fruity (dark fruits and cherries) and caramel aromas, but it’s hard to distinguish them. Flavor is of course intensely sweet with some alcohol, but also has the raisin and grape notes of the base beer, especially in the finish, along with some caramel, which all complement the sweetness nicely. Not as great as World Wide Stout, but quite a nice beer.

bottle, 12 fl. oz. 2007. appears muddy golden/brown. dark yellow head that was mostly bubbles and that disappeared really fast. flavor is raisins, and a little citrus. not that strong. no alc. in aroma. a little sourness also in the aroma. flavor : alc! lots of alc! also raisins, sweet stuff, bitterness. not balanced, and not really very well tasting. for comparison, rørvig gløgg-øl is much better tasting and about as strong. and they usually make totally shitty beer. Anyways, flavor is, if you can distract yourself from the alc, somewhat belgian, just quite subdued. will let it warm, perhaps it gets better. an alternative way to get drunk for sure, If i should compare it to something it would be an average belgiand, add vodka to bump ABV to 20%, and drink.. Still, i love it when brewers freak out and make something special. keep surprising me please. I think this one would probably be less agressive and more balanced if lagered for some time. What about a barreled version? I have warmed it now. it just got worse. In my opinion the beer clearly can’t mange the high ABV, alc. distracts bigtime. if you drink it like whiskey (no air) it is a lot better.

Bottle. Frothy white fair mostly deminishing head. Amber colour. Powerfull vinius rasin aroma. Moderate bitter flavor. Very vinius and alcoholic. Long finish. Creamy palate. Not pleasent.

At EBF 2008, Friday September 12Clear copper color, tan head. Sweet alcohol scent. Sweet, malty, bitter, alcohol taste. Smooth mouthfeel, medium high bitterness.

12 oz bottle, purchased sometime in mid-2007 (date lost to the winds). Pours a deep red-brown color with a small light tan head that dissipates quickly. Aroma is alcohol, malts, raisins and other dried fruits. Flavor is strong warming alcohol, with dried fruit - raisins. Enjoyable, but certainly only a once-in-a-while kind of beverage as I’d probably rather just drink Raison D’Etre.

Old rating from beerfestival: Extremely heavy. Warm, smooth with notes of dark fruits, oak & a lot of raisin & sugar. A heavy sipper!

12 oz. bottle courtesy of Zinister. Bottled on March 15, 2007. Pour is a cloudy orange brown with a small tan head. Aroma of honey, raisins, cooking butter scotch sweetness. Behind all of that, a touch of booziness. Quite a bit going on in the nose. Taste starts with a lot of raisins, and a lot of mouth puckering acidity. Pretty soon after is a huge blast of alcohol. Really made my mouth water, this tasted way too boozy for me. I realize this is a huge beer, but the complexity and subtlety in the aroma led me to believe the flavor would follow suit, with some balance. It really didn’t follow suite, the alcohol was really sharp and jagged. I originally had this at around 55 degrees. As it warmed to room temperature, it improved a bit, becoming a touch more integrated, still too much for me. As this got to the bottom of the bottle, it was more enjoyable, though that may have been the drunkenness. Thanks for sending this my way, Mike!