Dogfish Head Raison D'Etre

Raison d'être \ˌrā-ˌzōⁿ-ˈdetr^ə\: a French phrase meaning "reason to be" or "reason for existence" 

Now, no matter what you are making, calling your product the reason to be or the reason for existence is a tall order to fill. It is ambitious and puts the bar very high to begin with. The question stops being is this any good and quickly becomes does this live up to its name. 

I found this beer on my most recent journey to my favorite beer store (which at this point I feel deserves a solid mention so the details on the location of this magical land will be at the bottom of the post for those of you located in the Hudson Valley area) I had a difficult time deciding on a beer. I didn't want to start being a one note horse and get the delightful malty beer that was recommended to me by the owner when I bought the Celebrator Dopplebock at my last visit. So I wandered and wandered and my sister finally decided it was time for us to leave so I threw up a Hail Mary. 

I had heard a lot about Dogfish Head and nothing but good things from everyone who spoke of it plus this beer was labelled American Beer of the Year so I figured it was only good journalism to buy it. At this point, I had no idea what the beer's name meant but even so, I was excited to try something new. 

My friend translated it for me and immediately, my outlook on the beer changed. The bar had been raised and  now not only was this the American Beer of the Year but it was reason to be. Who wouldn't be thrilled to try something like this? 


I did my usual research and as it turns out this beer was created to go with a wood-grilled steak according to the brewery. Made with Belgian yeast and brewed with green raisins and Belgian beet sugars, the intention of this beer was to be paired with steak and invoke the feelings of good Bordeaux wines. The brewery's website instructed me to drink it out of a snifter or goblet. Upon going through the glasses available to me, I couldn't find a glass goblet or snifter but there was a plastic one so I poured. The result was disastrous looking so I quickly switched the beer to a pint glass. 
  

Much nicer looking beer, I promise

As can be seen, the beer was a deep reddish-brown color with a good head on it. The head didn't last long but that may have been because of the inappropriate glass I was using. The smell of the beer was very sweet, the grapes and sugar were very apparent and smelled a bit like candy. Now, this beer is 8% ABV which is a lot stronger than most beers that you can get in your grocery store. While I do enjoy strong beers, as with the Dopplebock and, my current personal favorite, La Fin Du Monde, the taste of alcohol in this beer is strong, bordering on unpleasant when it's cold and nearing the taste of whiskey if it sits too long. You can, of course, still taste the grapes and I think if the beer's alcohol content was just a smidge lower, it would be a very enjoyable brew. The price, while not terribly steep, was too much for me to ever consider trying this beer again at $11.99 a six-pack. Overall, I would say this beer does not live up to its name. It set the bar high and it seems as though instead of going over it, it runs right into it. 


 Now for the beer store location:

Beverage Plus II
15 South Street
Warwick, NY 10990-1325  
(845) 986-8855