Palo Santo Marron (Dogfish Head)

I had this brew at Beer Geeks. They were having a farewell to DFH of sorts with 9 of their beers on tap. While I live close to a state that still has DFS distribution, I couldn't pass up the farewell taps. I started out with this DFH brown ale that I had yet to try.

General Thoughts
Look and Smell: This dark brown brew had a little, coffee-colored head.  It smelled almost smoked or something; I couldn't put my finger on it. I could smell a roast though.

Taste: It was very cold, but I kept writing my notes as it warmed. I could taste the alcohol and wood. It was making my mouth water. There was roast and a sharp flavor that I couldn't put my finger on. As it warmed I started tasting a prune taste, not in a bad way. The aftertaste was dry.

From the DFH site:

An unfiltered, unfettered, unprecedented brown ale aged in handmade wooden brewing vessels. The caramel and vanilla complexity unique to this beer comes from the exotic Paraguayan Palo Santo wood from which these tanks were crafted. Palo Santo means "holy tree" and it's wood has been used in South American wine-making communities.

This beer is a 12% abv, highly roasty, and malty brown ale aged on the Palo Santo wood.  It was a huge hit at our Rehoboth Beach brewpub when first released in November of 2006, Palo went into full production at the end of 2007.

At 10,000 gallons, our Palo Tank is the largest wooden brewing vessel built in America since before Prohibition (and we have two same-sized Oak tanks right next to it).