Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron

Pours a visibly viscous oily black with a thin mocha head with decent retention. It has a smokey, meaty nose with hints of molasses, oak and citric hops. The flavour is decadently rich and full with coffee, soy, oaky vanilla, meat, spruce-like hops, dried fruits and heavily roasted malt. The palate is syrupy and sticky, but not chalky. Booze is well hidden for the abv and the palate duration is very long. Well-matched tingly and soft carbonation. Whew its complex and intense. A quality sipper

Smell is vanilla, wood, malts, smokey, meaty, chocolate, and coffee. A lot going on. Black in color with a decent beige head. Taste is malts, roasty, meats, smoke, wood, and alcohol.

Reviewed 12/25/2008 (bottle): Pours an extremely dark black brown colored body, tan colored head, somewhat lasting. Alcoholy aroma, dark fruit like plum and raisin. Very strong aroma. Coffee aroma too, wood and toffee. Sweet spiciness. Coffee taste with a strong roasted coffee aftertaste. A little alcohol, wood and roasted flavor, some chocolately sweetness.

20090105 12oz bottle from RB Spirits. Dark brown beer with sticky tan head of loose tan foam. Boozy aromas with clear DFH house character, there are subtle notes from the wood aging, though I could not pick palo santo wood from a thousand other woods, I am sure. Lots of dark fruits, prune, molasses, and harbinger notes of burnt toast. The beer is much more bitter than expected, clashing somewhat with what could be a mellowing woodiness. Maybe it is the wood that gives the tannic bite. Mostly a syrupy mess with potent alcohol present throughout. Grapey, twiggy, sweet, bitter, cloying, and astringent. Weird, and weirdly loved, this one has not done it for me after a few tries. While I can appreciate their cavalier attitude toward experimentation with the unique and historic, it would be great to see DFH get back to a focus on their hoppy brews and barley wine type stuff, and away from this kitsch.

[1746-20081002] 12floz bottle. Sweet floral molasses and light broccoli aroma with light perfume and heavy malt. Murky, dark brown body with a medium-lasting creamy brown head. Boozy heavy roasted malt flavour has lots of wood and something hoppy making it a little acidic? Full body. Very nice brew.
<i>(c/o GregClow, w/ him, blankboy, jerc)</i>

Dark brown black with a thin light brown head. Smells of caramel and wood. Flavor is interesting with a taste of toffee, vanilla, with a hoppy finish. If it is 12% alcohol it is very well hidden.

Pour is a dark brown with an average tan head. Aroma is wood smoke with some cherry an holy mother of god alcohol. Flavor is sweet at first then some chocolate, vanilla, coffee and cherry hit you in that order. Alcohol is there in the end to leave a burning on the tounge and a warmness in the belly. A truly different but tasty beer and a hot one at that.

Deep brown black with mild chocolate head. Sensational aroma of malts, light woodiness, caramel, toffee, and a strong presence of vanilla. Complex flavors of toffee, caramel and vanilla roll over the palate. Stunning symphony of tastes. Moderate roast malt. Dangerously drinkable as I would hardly reckon the ABV is more than 6.5% though it is stated at 12%. Superlative craftmanship.