Barrios (852), Nashville, Tennessee, USA Apr 13, 2009 Pours a tan head that laces with a dark brown body. Smells of ripe fruit, anise, wood, and smoke. Flavor is the same. Finish is sticky and sweet. hickey (32), Georgia, USA Apr 12, 2009 I guess that this beer is a bit to clever for my palate. The aroma is very sweet smelling, the vanilla coming full force. I don’t pick up as many of the fruity notes that others point to.
The beer is extremely smooth and malty like a scotch ale. The dominating flavors are roasted malt, the "palo santo" wood, vanilla, and fruits I cannot identify. The sip finishes with a warming alcohol, and is when the hops faintly emerge.
The lingering flavor of the wood mixed with alcohol is slightly annoying. I cannot say that this is one of my favorite dogfish head beers. Worth trying, but at your own risk. cathcacr (586), Portland, Oregon, USA Apr 11, 2009 There must be lots of fruit in that Palo Santo wood because this is fruitier than a mofo. Got some kind of mixture of raspberry and strawberry to this. It TASTES a deep dark purple, on top of all the visual hints. (The look is of an imperial stout.) Goes down very bubbly and fruit-sweet.
monkeychugg55 (214), Joliet, Illinois, USA Apr 8, 2009 Pours black with small dark tan head that quickly becomes a thin ring. Aroma is of sweet dark fruit, vanilla, smokey wood, and alcohol. Flavor is very complex, but mostly consistent with aroma, emphasizing the sweetness and wood. The lingering wood taste mixed with slightly bitter hops and alcohol warmth is interesting, but sad to say I’m not loving this one. I think it’s the wood, it really lingers. berniecarbo (5), Holliston, Massachusetts, USA does not count Apr 8, 2009 Pours almost black with about a 1 finger tan head, not much carbonation. For a 12.7 ABV it goes down smooth with a taste of scotch ale, chocolate, malt. Great beer to sit and enjoy. Coltrane (108), South Carolina, USA Apr 8, 2009 Complexity for days. Take a sip and let it sit in your mouth for a couple minutes. What does that taste like? Thats happiness. Caramel, roasted, burnt sugar, sure why not. This is one dark liquid. An absolute home run. Ethereal (1500), London, Greater London, England Apr 6, 2009 On tap at Toronado, San Francisco, with Phyllis, 24th Mar 09. Black. Fruity. Alcoholic. Sweet on the tongue with lovely raspberry hints and perfect smoothness. BossHossBikes (147), Tennessee, USA Apr 5, 2009 Bottle. Pours an opaque, dark burgundy. Only the thinning edges allow light to pass through. The dark tan head isn’t too abundant but very long lasting. There are lots of sweet aromas going on here, caramel, tons of molasses, dried and candied prunes and other darker fruits. Cacao is also evident. There are some less prevalent smoked, woody qualities as well. The mouthfeel is syrup-like with some very light carbonation. The initial flavour is of the candied and dried prunes and other darker citrus. The drier wood and smoke qualities quickly surface and overpower as the brew sits on the taste buds. Passing the tongue, the sweeter molasses and caramel and candied notes dissipate as smoke and wood attributes amplifies. Even amplified and overpowering the other flavours, however, the smoke and wood is actually quite mellow and well-rounded. The darker citrus remain, stripped from its dried and candied qualities of earlier. Cacao now becomes more apparent adding to the dryness of the flavour. Alcohol is quite evident as it creates a nice warming sensation in the chest and a bourbon-like flavour. The finish is lightly bitter and mildly dry with cacao, mild smoke, some wood, and dark fruits to round it off. Molasses, caramel, and the other sweeter notes hardly exist in the finish. Alcohol adds a nice kick to the finish and definitely to the senses! This is very enjoyable!
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