Thursday, February 7, 2008

Dogfish Head: Raison D'Etre

The very first beer I posted on this blog was a "hybrid" brew: a hefeweizen-amber ale. Well here's hybrid #2: Dogfish Head's Raison D'Etre. I've labeled it a Belgian Amber Ale, but it less thoroughly "Belgian" than Leffe Brown. I don't even know how to put a name on it, but you probably know that distinct Belgian blond or Belgian brown taste (and if you don't, go grab a leffe and you'll immediately see what I'm talking about). So it's a little less sweet, and a little earthy, and very very malty. Raison is very mildly hopped and, true to its name, tastes vaguely like raisins. However, it's decently carbonated, which keeps it from tasting syrupy.

To those of you who have a taste for Belgian Ales, I highly recommend this one. And if you also like brown ales, a la Fat Tire, then it's a double bonus. Cheers!

2 comments:

Eef said...

Short, but sweet. I bought this beer last week, actually, and accidentally drank the last one in a stupor before I could get a review of it.

Which reminds me. Beware, this beer is extremely heavy and strong. Syrupy, no. But dense, yes! Watch out, it'll hit you quite fast.

Hof said...

just to cover myself... i do know that "raison" does not actually mean "raisin" - it means "reason"