Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron

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

Bottle courtesy Nolankowal - thanks! Pours a deep brown with a thin tan head that gives glimpses of a reddish tint. Aroma is warm and inviting...there’s a heavy dose of alcohol, some yeast, roasted malt, black licorice, dark fruits, and I’m picking up a hint of smoke. Flavor is more muted than I would have expected, but it has a very nice lifecycle. Begins with a warming note, and is very malty, but then quickly has a period of burnt coffee, tobacco and some smoke, but then mellows out with lots of lactic, milk chocolate qualities, with a dose of vanilla in there as well. Heavily roasted throughout, the alcohol is not nearly as evident in the flavor as in the aroma, and this is a great sipping beer. Also a nice dose of some fruit at the end, that, well, I can’t quite put my finger on...maybe plum or raisin? Palate is nicely done...this one has all the makings of a thick, heavy beer, but the palate is surprisingly manageable. I came away from this beer very impressed...or should I say ’surprised’ at how much I enjoyed this one...

12oz. bottle. Very dark malt aroma, notes of cola, black bread, molasses, plum, licorice and old wood. Dark brown color, opaque and nearly black, head fades to non-existence. Flavor is roasty, malty and sweet, toasty and mildly chocolatey, with notes of dark, dried fruits and mild coffee in the background. Very low in carbonation, body is richly full. Rather nice version of a strong brown ale.

The bottle pours cola brown with vanishing chestnut colored head. The aroma has a very bright note of candied fruit, vanilla and roasty with some alcohol. The flavor is the same, intensely chocolate with lactic sweetness and mild roasted bitterness, syrupy with adequate carb. It’s a delicious sweet stout-like beer, but so "dense" in flavor (for lack of a better description) I don’t feel the full complexity quite makes it to the surface. Still... DRINK IT! Wonderful and alcoholic.

On Tap at DFH brewpub. The nose of this beer screams wood, while it tastes of roasted malt, vanilla, and dried fruit. This beer is quite sweet and serves well as a post-meal sipper. I second the Imperial stout relation comment. This is another example of DFH blurring the line between beer and...well...wine.

First things first, there’s no way this is a brown ale like it says on the bottle. Getting that out of the way though, this poured a lovely dark brown color and had a nice aroma of malt and maybe bourbon I’m thinking. Very strong roasty flavor and you get a real sense of the wood it’s aged on in the mouth. This ain’t no beechwood, that’s for sure! Dried fruit in the taste as well, maybe plums or even figs? Very interesting beer, not shocking since it’s from DFH.

Getting notebook online. Bottle. Pours a dark mahogany. Great woody aroma and alcohol. Has a bit of a wine quality (not uncommon to Dogfish Head). Wood flavors very pleasant. Raisin, plum, and malt all blend nicely in the flavor profile. Tasty beer!

4pk thanks to Sprinkle. Man this was a nice surprise. Thick dark burgandy color. Almost like a wine. It is meant for sippin. Nice dried fruit and low carb. Alcohol is present, but it wasn’t overpowering like other dogfish beers I’ve tried. Very nice

bottle. Pours stout dark with a small tan head. Big aroma of sweet malt, caramel, bourbon and alcohol. Flavor packs a wallop, but is a simply magnificent blend of roasts, wood, darker malts, and a touch of dried fruit. Mid-palate and finish showcase more of the woody, roasted, even chocolate flavors which are attractive. The body in this beer is excellent, a full-bodied mouthfeel with a perfectly extended finishing note. Yes, there is alcohol. But I really can’t agree that it overpowers the other flavors present. Everything just blends so easily together, quite a feat given the ABV of Palo Santo. If I have one complaint – and this may be dismissed as a personal bias – it is that Dogfish may have overdone the sweetness of this brew. But overall, this should rank high on the growing list of big American beers.