Do you ever wake up in the morning and feel like you forgot to do something the night before? When you were in school maybe it was your homework, if you're a working class stiff maybe it was preparing for a meeting, or if you work for a website and write beer review articles maybe it was to drink a beer and write a review. I'll let you guess which category I fell into when I awoke this morning. Luckily, when I opened the fridge I saw a bottle of Dogfish Head Raison D'Etre and thought to myself, "this will be a perfect morning replacement for Raisin Bran".
When I got to the office I went to the kitchen to search for a glass to pour my morning breakfast in. I found a moderately suitable glass and poured away. The Raison D'Etre pours a beautiful amber color with a nice two finger head that holds for a while. I was impressed with the amount of carbonation that I saw bubbling to the surface in a glass that wasn't even close to being beer clean. This was a smooth drinking beer and the raisin notes were subtle, but definitely there. I enjoyed the maltiness with a slight hop note that diminished nicely on the back of the tongue. Overall, a really drinkable beer for a hot day that I could envision kicking back with a few at a cookout. It is a bit deceptive at 8% ABV, but right on target with the 25 IBU's. Dogfish's website recommends food pairings of steak, duck, wine-reduction sauces, blue cheese, goat cheese, ham, and mussels. Beeradvocate.com and Ratebeer.com seem to both agree with me, another sign that I am usually right, giving Raison D'Etre a B rating and a score of 96 respectively.
Here's a video of Dogfish Head founder and President, Sam Calagione babbling about Raison D'Etre.
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