Dogfish Head Raison D'etre

One of two of my very last bottles, pulled from my cellar this rather kick-back Friday night. Not sure when I'll pop open my very last one -- would like to open it about the same time when news reaches the West Coast that Dogfish Head will return (hopefully for good).

Why the drama? Only that Dogfish pulled out of the West Coast market after their distributor (who shall remain nameless) didn't want to handle *all* of DFH's offerings (e.g. the likes of the 90 Minute IPA, since it could conceivably cut into the sales of the distributor's own single and Double IPA sales). That was at least 6-9 months ago. So, basically the beer in front of me represents one of the very last DFH bottles in CA....

So, all that having been said, is this worthwhile? I would say yes, yes it is. As in, as we used to scream in Bootcamp, "Thank you sir! Can I have another!?"

Very rusty/bloody red in color, with a modest but ever-present ring of foam on top.

Interesting aroma -- hard to tell where this beer will be taking you, on it's magical mystcal trip to la-la land. Definate "warm- to semi-hot" notes in the nose: this has some heat to it, alcohol-wise.

The aforementioned alcoholic heat doesn't quite make it's prescence known so much in the flavor. Yeah, it's there, but makes sure that the real weight of this beer (the actual flavor profile) takes the ball and runs with it.

Taninish, vaguely estery, slightly fruitish (plums?), with perhaps hints of clove and basil. This isn't a Simon And Garfunkel song, so I won't try to say that there's any Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme involved with this beer -- but it does seem to have some ever-so-subtle spice elements, that I wasn't quite expecting. But a welcome addition to the mix? Yes, I'd say so.

Filling in the mouthfeel, and warming and pleasant as it goes down. It's only after it's hit the gut that this beer's 8%ABV starts to show itself. Not a bad thing unto itself, as long as you know what you're getting!

An excellent example of an American take on a Belgian style of beer -- without having to go over-the-top and balls-to-the-wall.

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