Raison D'Etre

Dogfish Head Craft Brewery

Raison D'Etre - 8.0% ABV

Rating: 4.0 out of 5.0

"A deep, mahogany Belgian-style brown ale brewed with beet sugar, raisins, and Belgian-style yeast. We began brewing this one at our brewpub in 1996 (we began packaging and selling it sometime in 1998) as the answer to the question, "What beer should I enjoy with a wood-grilled steak?" Raison D'Etre fits the bill, tasty and as complex as a fine, red wine."

Now after just reviewing the first big Belgium style Abbey Ale (Brother Thelonious) I feel the need to point out 2 things. The first being Belgium yeasts really do add a unique and different flavor to a beer then many other strains of yeast. The second being there are really 2 kinds of Belgium style beers. Those that more strictly follow traditional recipes, and those that brew in the tradition of Belgium style beers but get a bit....craz and uniquey. This most definitely is in the latter category. Raison D'Etre is a pretty unique beer and you'd be hard pressed to find another similar to it. I mean how many have you had that were brewed with raisins in it?

This one pours to a nice pretty deep amber color with a smaller head and decent carbonation. A really nice beer to look at, and smell. You get aromas of spice, brown sugar and of course fruit aromas with a spicy raisin aroma being rather pronounced. As for taste once you try a sip you get the spicy yeast flavor as you'd expect from Belgium yeast (so I'm told), but then you get the tart spiced raisin and fruit flavors coming through. Not overpowering though which is good. Finishes with a malty slightly bitter yeast flavor. A very interesting flavor profile and unique brew for sure. The spicy fruity flavors compliment the yeast and malt flavors and they work well together without one really taking over the others I thought. Now as it was brewed with strong malt and yeast flavors I thought it might be a bit stronger then it was taste wise. Which can be a problem as it is 8% ABV but it does not taste like that strong of a brew. So watch how many you have at once. Now this particular brew was crafted in particular to go with grilled foods like burgers and steaks or game meats. Supposedly the strong meaty grilled flavors help to balance the brew more. Lucky for me I had some little flat iron steaks waiting to be grilled up to test the theory. Honestly the nice hearty and rich meat flavors did go well with it, ad they did add another level of balance to it all. Definitely would stick to heartier meats though as opposed to poultry or seafood on the grill. On it's own it's very nicely balanced and very interesting/refreshing. When paired with the grilled foods it does balance out even more and take on different flavor notes. I found it to be a very good beer and definitely a must try the next you grill some red meat.