In my searching the internet for reviews of Raison D'Etre by Dogfish Head, I was surprised to find that it was reviewed relatively poorly with rankings in the high 70s and low 80s...This surprised me a lot because Raison D'Etre is one of my most favorite brews in all of brewdom...

My Rating - 89

Alcohol Content - 8.0%

Approx Cost - $10/six pack

Upon pouring, Raison D'Etre is a beautiful dark red, woody color. It has very minimal foam and smells very sweet, malty, and also interestingly earthy, perhaps because of the beet sugars used in the brewing process. This beer sips very sweetly, but doesn't have a strong taste of raisins - just an overall fruitiness. It also has some very gritty, organic overtones, which assault the taste buds causing an interesting kind of confusion between sweet and rustic qualities - a confusion that I love intensely. Like most of Dogfish Head beers, Raison D'Etre is incredibly rich and robust, meaning that more than one or two in a night can quickly become overwhelming; however, they do sip pretty easily up until that point. Raison D'Etre is a truly delicious beer that allows you to sit back, relax and perhaps ponder what the real meaning of being is...