I really gushingly love Dogfish Head, they're masters at creating absurdly strange beer that always succeeds in being really tasty at the same time. By strange, I mean being approached by molecular archeologists to recreate alcoholic libations found in ancient tombs (see Midas Touch, Chateau Jiahu, and Theobroma - which I can't wait to try). This is strange, bold, impassioned, artisan beer and right up The Goodist's alley, so it goes without saying that I had high expectations when I saw Palo Santo Marron taunting from the beer cooler.
What do you do when you've gone as obscure as you can on what you put in your beer? Start finding obscure things to brew your beer in. Dogfish built a giant 10,000 gallon brewing vessel out of Palo Santo wood sourced in South America to create this huge brown ale (12%abv). Palo Santo is very dense wood once used to age wine in Paraguay, heal stomachs, and create perfume. I want to cook food on it.
Aroma: Port, cocoa, coffee, toasted orange peel, really complex and intriguing
Taste: This is really hard, unlike anything else, bigger than your
taste buds can fathom, but here's my best shot: high end criollo bean
chocolate bar with tart pears and a bit of smoky scotch. The chocolate
flavor sticks to your mouth on the finish and just keeps on pleasing.
The wood adds a toasted complexity to every aspect of the beer.
This is another beer that rekindles my pleasure in being able to spend so little on something so interesting and refined, compared to what it costs to enjoy something like fine wine. Go out and enjoy this!
(Note: Theobroma realeses this month, based on old Aztec libations, look for a review the minute I can get my hands on it)
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