Dogfish Head Fort
I had actually been looking for this one for quite some time. Luckily enough, the Total Wine in the area happened to have it on a visit back in December. Knowing that it contains over 20 pounds of pureed raspberries per batch, I greedily placed it in the cart and continued on. The plan was to enjoy it for New Year’s Eve with the wife. Plans, however, never worked out right.
We finally got to the bottle shortly after the new year started. I was surprised by both my wife’s reaction and my own.
Aroma
We poured the Fort into white wine glasses, as recommended by the brewers. The smell emanating from the glass was all raspberry and alcohol, with the fruit being the dominant aroma. There is a slight bubble gum sweetness to the nose as well as a small bit of hoppiness.
Appearance
The beer is a bright pink/ruby with orange highlights when held up to a light. It’s slightly hazy with active carbonation. The head was essentially non-existent, due to the 18% ABV. There was little to no lacing on the sides of the glass.
Taste
Whoa! This beer packs quite an effervescent punch. It attacks the tongue with a tangy kick from the fruit and carbonation. For as much fruit as Dogfish Head claim to put into each batch, it’s not overly sweet. It’s got all the elements of the raspberry including the fruit’s bitterness. The alcohol also stakes a claim to your palette as well.
Overall
As I said in the into, I was surprised by my own reaction to this one, as well as my wife’s. She liked it, but said she could only handle it in very small amounts. I figured she’d be all for the lightness and fruitiness of the glass we poured for her. In fact, I ended up drinking the rest of her glass as well as the rest of the bottle — you can see I enjoyed it. I’m not a big fan of overly fruity beers, but this one was more like a champagne than a lambic or other fruity nonsense. The high ABV left me warm and ready for bed by the time the 750ml bottle was finished.
All that said, if I were to buy this one again, I would probably let it sit in the basement for a year or so to help it mellow out. I think that it would end up much smoother than it is now. I believe I will also take the wife’s recommendation and serve this to many folks in small amounts for after dinner enjoyment. Rating: 3.75/5