The Triangle

Issue date: 1/30/09 Section: Arts & Entertainment

Media Credit: Karl Kuchs

If you are a regular reader of this column and its alternate writers, you most likely have at least heard of the name Dogfish Head Brewery, if not heavily sampled their various wares to begin with. Located in Rehoboth Beach, Dela. and run by a man who annually launches a keg of BMC (Bud-Miller-Coors) out of a "Punkin' Chunker" at an oversized toilet, Dogfish Head is well known for its unusual, sometimes extreme, but always delicious beers such as the World Wide Stout and the ever popular, 90 Minute IPA.

Many of these offerings have a very high alcohol content that is usually well balanced and hidden behind myriad flavors of varying complexities. This week's submission is no different. This fruit beer, called Fort, weighs in at a whopping 18 percent ABV, ranking it in as the world's strongest fruit beer and is easily cellarable for several years. This bottle in particular is from July 2007.

To be labeled a fruit beer, a fruit of some fashion must be used in the creation of the base style - as part of the fermentable sugars or as simple flavoring. In our case, Fort is aged over raspberries from Delaware and Oregon, providing what should be a pleasant and mild flavor and aroma profile. Usually, the beer will be mildly hopped, if at all, so as to not detract from the fruit presence.

Let's start this then. Proper glassware for fruit beers tends to be what is called a flute. This is a tall, slender piece of stemware that accentuates lighter colored and more carbonated styles such as lambic (a sour fruit beer) or pilsner. This bottle of Fort pours a golden color with a one finger or so cream-colored head and medium lacing. The beer itself is a little cloudier than expected, but not enough to be inappropriate for the flute.

Initially, the aroma leans heavily on the malt with caramel notes but quickly reminds you why it is a fruit beer. All that aging pays off with light hints of raspberry liqueur. Like a liqueur, you can instantly tell it has some alcohol in it, and this sometimes wins out over the pleasing raspberry fragrance; however, it is never so much that it becomes overwhelming. It is simply a reminder that you are not just drinking a juice box.

This is all well, but I highly doubt any of you are drinking a beer of this pedigree just to look at it or maybe just to bury your nose in it. The taste is what seals the deal for me. It can be the most delicious beverage you have ever laid eyes upon and smell like a bed of roses, but if it isn't drinkable (and I'm not referring to that misleading "drinkability" quality a certain commercial brewer is tossing about), I will just pass it by without a second glance.

Continued...

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