Dogfish Head Fort - Aging and Tasting Notes
By jason on Mar 3, 2008 in Bocks, IPA's, and More, Reviews
Name: Fort
Brewer: Dogfish Head
Style: Fruit
Vintage: 2007
Bottled On: November 7th, 2007
Cellared On: February 22nd, 2008
Original Tasting: February 29th, 2008
Not seeing this beer in the store when it first came out last fall, I simply thought upstate NY had missed the boat on this brew. As you can imagine, I was surprised and overjoyed when I walked into the store a couple weeks ago and saw it there on the shelf! It turns out the local Dogfish rep was just in a couple of days before and arranged for a special shipment to be sent over. Good luck for me!
Fort poured a dark brownish orange in color with just a bit of carbonation. Smells of big fruity malts were plainly evident, with the raspberries being especially assertive (not surprising, since this beer is brewed with a ton of ‘em).
To taste this beer is to taste about the most overwhelming fruity malt sweetness I’ve ever experienced. The before mentioned raspberries were big players in the flavor, but other fruits such as oranges and raisins were noticeable. There’s also a wine like quality to the beer, kind of like the Captain Lawrence Nor’ Easter I sampled back a few months ago. Alcohol is very evident, with a little bit of burn going down the throat as I swallowed. Mouthfeel was medium-to-heavy, and somewhere in the middle of being creamy/syrupy. From first sip to the finish, I didn’t find very much variation in the flavor profile.
One last thing about this brew. With all of the other fruit based beers I’ve sampled, the malt and fruit flavors manage to remain fairly separated, with a blast of fruity esters making a quick appearance before dropping out. Fort is most definitely not like that. There’s an amazing integration between the tastes - the ingredients combine for a single intense flavor. Definitely worthwhile to sample!
Cellar Outlook: With an intense sweetness and extremely high alcohol content, this brew is just begging to be cellared. I hoping for a little bit of mellowing out of the sugar and alcohol. Hopefully the fruit can hold up for awhile!
Next Tasting: February 2009
Jason
Post a Comment