Dogfish Head Fort
This was a beer I bought for Nicole. She really likes the Lindemans Framboise so this is right up her alley. We’ve enjoyed this beer on one other occasion at a wonderful restaurant with some friends. Dogfish Head is fast becoming one of my favorite breweries. So I’m looking forward to sitting down and really spending some quality time with this fruit beer. At 18% ABV, I am interested in seeing how the sweet fruit palys with the heat of the alcohol.
And here’s an interesting little blurb from beeradvocate.com…
The World’s Strongest Fruit Beer with over a ton of Oregon and Delaware raspberries that were dosed in, slowly, over a two month primary fermentation. This process produced lots of complex fruit aromas and flavors without being too sweet.
Appearance – Poured into pint glasses for both myself and nicole. Its odd. As raspberry beer, I think the natural assumption is that it would have a color reflective of the red raspberries. It is a mostly amber color with a slight reddish tint. Under light, it has a faint cloudyness. The carbonation appears minimal. The head dropped quickly and remains as only a thin halo. The lacing seems to rock side to side when the glass is manipulated.
Smell - Whew. Definite fruit notes, but they do not dominate. The alcohol is certainly apparent. Personally, I found it hard to denote any malt or hop spice.
Taste - You would think a ton of raspberries would be liable to impart a more pronounced flavor. The malt sweetness tag teams with the well balanced fruit elements.
Mouthfeel - There is an obvious alcohol bite that tends to shock, but the carbonation imparts a nice crispness. Bubbles slightly.
Drinkability - It is a beer which is not to be taken lightly. Very high APV limits how much one could reasonably drink. But for the most part, the heat of the alcohol and the carbonation marries well with the fruit forward nature of this beer. Overall, it is easy to drink once the shock of the alcohol passes.
bottomline - Nicole says “Fruity, strong… I like it.” wow… thanks for showing up princess.
I do like it but I don’t think I’d rave about it. I know Nicole really likes the taste of this beer, but she admits that it is one that one drink only occasionally. I prefer to mix this with a Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout. That combination is quite delicious.
B-
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