Archive for Beer a Day
DFH Raison D’Extra
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Raison D’Extra is a Twilight Zone version of Raison D’Etre. The D’Etre is planted in reality, but the D’Extra is lost in some other dimension.
The Dogfish Head website describes the D’Extra in understated terms:
This is a bulbous, brown ale brewed with a bunch of malt, brown sugar and raisins.
There’s little indication of what you are about to experience, other than a whopping 18+ ABV!
My 12 ounce serving was bottled in March 2007, so it’s had time to mature. Yet, I couldn’t wait any longer — on the way home tonight, I called and asked my wife to pull the D’Extra out of the fridge. I wanted the beer to warm up a little before I had my first taste, but I didn’t want to lose valuable moments waiting for the beer to warm up. The clock was ticking. At more than 18% ABV, I knew it would take me most of the night to sip this ale down.
I popped the bottle cap off the Raison D’Extra and poured it into a tulip glass, and the sweet, raisin/cherry smell of the beer wafted up at me. The D’Extra is thick, cloudy and dark. Held up to the light, the ale looked like a mulled apple cider.
DFH Raison D’Etre
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Dogfish Head’s Raison D’Etre is a beer that can easily require complicated courtship before achieving full appreciation. But for me, it was love at first sip.
Years ago, I stumbled into the Clark Street Ale House in Chicago’s River North, where I saw the name “Dogfish Head Raison D’Etre” chalked inauspiciously on a board above the bar.
You may not be able to judge a book by its cover, but quirky beer names have rarely failed me. I ordered a bottle without hesitation.
There was no drum roll, no fanfare, no choir of angels — nonetheless, ordering that beer set me on a new path. I’d never had a beer quite like it, and my fascination led me to discover other craft ales and a world of beer I hadn’t even known existed.
The Dogfish Head website describes the beer as:
A deep, mahogany ale brewed with beet sugar, green raisins, and Belgian-style yeast. As complex as a fine, red wine. Voted “American Beer of the Year” in January 2000 by Malt Advocate Magazine.
The Raison D’Etre struggles to find its place, and I find that struggle interesting. It has a distinctive, yeasty “Belgian Beer” taste, but the sugar and raisins combine to create a fruity, toffee/molasses flavor that is nearly successful at overwhelming the palate. And yet the beer still manages a pleasant, clean finish reminiscent of dark-cherries.
Tonight’s bottle of Raison D’Etre was the first I’ve had in years. Though I had a furious love affair with this impressive ale years ago, in many ways I have moved on — but I’ll always have a fondness for this unique beer.
Tomorrow I’ll be drinking the Raison D’Extra. I’ve never had it before, but it is described as bigger and bolder than the “D’Etre”. The D’Etre is 8% ABV, and the D’Extra is about 18%.
If I survive, Dogfish Head Week continues tomorrow!
DFH 60 Minute IPA
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Officially, the “60 Minute” reference in the Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA refers to the length of time the wort boils while hops are continuously added. It doesn’t refer to the elapsed time required for drinking the beer — it goes down far too easily to last a full hour.
The Dogfish Head motto is, “Off-centered ales, for off-centered people,” and perhaps that pairing is how they got me. Dogfish Head made one of the first craft ales that really knocked me back and made me pay attention to my beer. (That story will be saved for tomorrow.)
Wychwood Hobgoblin
Posted by: | CommentsTonight’s beer was sponsored by my brother-in-law Mike, who in December grabbed the most interesting 
bottle of beer he could find and made it a Christmas present.
And the bottle of Wychwood’s Hobgoblin Dark English Ale certainly lives up to that description. The label features a drawing of a hobgoblin with a sword, bow and quiver. It’s a big bottle — nearly 17 ounces — which made it the perfect beer to nurse through the Super Bowl.
The beer is brewed in Oxfordshire, England, and there’s no freshness date on this imported beer. The pour was colloidal, with flakes of something (spent yeast?) floating through the dark, brown beer. The beer had a great head, which I may have ruined by stirring the beer, trying to break down those clumpy flakes. The Hobgoblin was trying to scare me away, but I’ve consumed older and scarier beer in my time.
And I’m glad I didn’t let those flakes turn me back.
Gritty’s Christmas Ale
Posted by: | CommentsI discovered Gritty McDuff’s a few years ago, not long after arriving in Boston. Portland, ME is a fair drive from Boston, but it’s a pretty port city filled with New England charm (that’s code for “chockablock with tourists”) and well worth the trip — especially if you stop in for a pint or three at Gritty’s Brew Pub.
Gritty McDuff’s holiday seasonal is called Christmas Ale. I bought a couple of Christmas Ale six packs back in December, and I kept a bottle on hand for the BeerADay.net challenge.
