It wasn’t too hard for the guy at Brewery Creek to sell me on a Palo Santo Marron, seeing as I had heard good things about Dogfish Head Brewery and I love a beer with a story.  This brown ale gets its name, which literally translates to “Holy Tree Brown”, from the fact that it is aged in Paraguayan Palo Santo wood fermentation tanks, which at 10000 gallons happen to be the largest wooden brewing vessels used since prohibition, or so they claim.  Check out this video showing how they make it.

I was surprised to see that the beer poured out jet black in colour.  It was this, coupled with the high alcohol content (12%), that got me a bit scared, not that I wouldn’t like the beer, but that it would be too strong for me to finish!  I hate wasting beer.  The beer itself smells and tastes great, very flavorful.  Rich caramel and vanilla malt flavors were present and I greatly enjoyed the taste the wood imparts on this brown ale.  What I didn’t like about this beer was the strength.  The alcohol content really comes through, that and the heaviness of this beer have me estimating that one 12 ounce bottle is potent enough to satisfy a team of hearty beer drinkers (4-6 people).

I don’t recommend this beer for the average beer drinker, but I do recommend that a serious beer drinker share this with fellow enthusiasts.  It is quite the ride through flavor town, but one bottle it is too much for one.  That being said, I can see this beer rounding out over time.  I am pretty sure that this is another one I should have aged!  One day I will learn.

Cheers,

Chris