Raison D'Etre

Anything from Dogfish Head is worth a try, and as a delicious, powerful and creative beer, I was surprised to find I had never logged this one before. 

Great appreciation goes out to Logan Beausoleil's beer dedication for bringing this beer out to Rock Island over his brief spring break.  Logan helped for a full day at the brewery filtering the Farmer brown and cleaning the brew kettle.  

This Dogfish Head was tasted in a frozen pint glass after a satisfying dinner of organic fried rice with Jim Johansen's farm fresh eggs.

Appearance: Dark mahogany amber with a rusty tint.  Clarity is inhibited by the darker color, as only some slow rising carbonation bubbles are visible.  Fine off-white foamed head with some soapy bubbles emerges at a fingers worth but dissipates to a little more than a film.

Aroma: Sweet and herbal with a extremely rich fruitiness.  Malt backbone presents itself with esters resembling dark plum and grapes with a floral honey.

Taste: The flavor is predominantly sweet.  The earthiness of beets provides an addition to a caramel toasted malt foundation.  To complement this earthiness is a mild honey taste that helps expose more complexity in the form of dark fruits, as noted in the aroma.  The finishing bitterness is well melded into the beer in the form of mild Golding hops and fruit skin.  As the beer warms, the caramel malt emerges as a dominant factor - brown sugar and raisins permeating through the base.  The alcohol is hardly distinguishable on the finish, though it does leave a very subtle vinous flavor.  Some banana phenols can be tasted as mere vapors in the back of the throat.  The finish is definitely more spicy than bitter.
Mouthfeel: Lighter medium body with somewhat of a watery texture that doesn't take away from the flavor.   Carbonation is on the lower end, only bracing the sides of the tongue.
Overall Impression:  Raison D'Etre means "reason for existence" in French.  This beer boasts a huge malt bill with a vast complexity of fruits and various barley adjuncts.  A big brown ale with a little extra.  I was pretty impressed with this one.  Limited bitterness finishes the beer with a mild alcohol taste.  Raison d'etre?  Clairement!