Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron

Brewed by Dogfish Head Brewery
Style: American Strong Ale
Milton, Delaware USA

Bottle. Strong malty aroma, moderately sweet, lots of chocolate and fruit. Near black body, small brown head. Very full mouthfeel. Flavor is roasty sweet, with chocolate, wood, caramel, fruit. Lengthy finish, during which the alcohol makes its presence known. This is a very impressive brew, though it needs to be sipped slowly.

Black. Small, brown head. Aroma: Roasted malt, wood, coffee. Flavor: Molasses, wood, pepper, hops. Bitter coffee finish. Good but beware of the "Buzz"!

Deep strong brown coloured body with an amber highlight and a thinnish tan head. Aroma of strong malt, a lot of hops, oak and a ton of alcohol. Medium to Full-bodied; Strong assertive malt up front with a lot of hops, apricots and plentiful sugars. Aftertaste shows a lot of alcohol, hops and some malt too. Overall, a good beer - not amazing, and neat to try. I sampled this beer on draught at Rustico in Alexandria, Virginia on 15-January-2009.

12oz bottle poured into an English pint. DHPSM pours very deep brown with a medium-sized tan head. This beer was recommended by my local liquor store beer guru but the price deterred me. I finally picked up a 4-pack from Jungle Jims in Cincinnati. This looked very much like a porter. The aroma was unusually strong apricot along with alcohol and amber malts. This was a very interesting beer with a lot of flavors to enjoy. The flavors complimented each other well and neither blended into unanimity nor dominated. The sweet apricot was the first thing I noticed due to aggressive flavor and uniqueness. I have always believed that an alcohol flavor adds depth and character and this beer had just the right amount. A bitter almond or high coco content chocolate flavor was the last thing I could reasonably identify before my mouth was overwhelmed by complexity and slightly numbed by alcohol. This was a great beer and one of my favorites from Dogfish Head and probably in the top ten or twenty all time beers.

12oz Bottle. Thanks Sylvia and Fran! Interesting musky vinous nose that carries a far amount of sugar cane char, a deeper edge of chocolate and some light notes of almond and fig. Dark and spicy. There are distinctly new and enjoyable flavors here, but they’re a bit hard to pull out. Pours a dark purple-brown, with a froth in tan. Flavor is sweet, but not cloying. There’s a lot of vinous tannins, some wheaty malt sugars, and a nip of fig pudding. Dark. I really pick up a brisk, bitter edge of hard roasted chocolate. The alcohols don’t kill, but they give a good punch. Then come the peculiar aspects of the wood. Earth, plants, humidity, and some blood. Vibrant. An interesting thoughtpiece that’s quite flavorful.

A very warm, stoutlike beer, with hints of chocolate, licorice, molasses, toffee, hazelnut and vanilla. This has big barrel written all over it. Portlike, slightly sweet, with a dry finish.

12 oz brown bottle with no bottled on date. Appearance: Opaque and black/brown. Almost no head and a slight lace of tan foam around the edge. Nose: Soy, dark-roasted coffee beans, a whisper of smoke or heavy fresh cream. Smells almost stout-like. Palate: Very little carbonation. Candy sugar is immediately noticeable, licorice, bitter coffee, umami (soy sauce), moss, herbal notes as if I was in an herb shop like lavender and dried teas. There’s also notes of cola and dried wheat stalks. A slight fruitiness is on the finish and fights with the coffee and soy and moist wood notes. I also think of this "Alternative smoking blend" that I bought at an herb store that may have contained mint, sagebrush and mugwort. Notes: This beer is uber-complex on the palate, and it feels like it’s harmonious although somewhat random. All of the flavors are competing for center-stage, but it’s not disjointed. It’s like they all share the limelight and take their proper turns. This is perhaps the most complex beer I’ve ever tasted and I’m Wow-ed by it. Two pints way up!

Bottle. Finally got my hands on one after reading one of Sam’s many articles. Aroma was sweet dark fruity, almost portish. Poured a nice dark brown almost stout like in profile. Flavor was sweet, port like malts and coccoa. Palate was smooth and warming. Overall I liked it very much.