DFH Palo Santo Marron Clone

[jpalarchio]

I'm a fan of Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron and wanted to brew something that has some of those flavors. I know it won't be a complete clone but I was looking for that roasty vanilla type flavor.

I brewed up 10 gallons of an imperial brown ale, pretty similar to a clone recipe of DFH Indian Brown Ale that I've used previously.

I used a pound of organic Sucanat from Whole Foods in the recipe; if you look closely you can see DFH using this exact product in the YouTube videos on the beer.

I also picked up 4oz of Palo Santo wood online which is quite a bit more aromatic than I would have ever thought. This wood will have the whole room smelling in no time; my wife put the package out in the garage it was so strong. If you're around it too long, it actually begins to make your eyes water.

So I'm really questioning how to handle the wood. I was figuring I would only use it in 5 gallons in case it's a complete bust. I was thinking I'd try and use it to taste in the secondary and then blend back the wood-less version if it's too much.

Any recommendations or experience in this area?

I've never used any wood products before, leave it to me to start here as opposed to a simple wood chip addition...

 

[ultravista]

jpalarchio - please post your DFH India Brown recipe.

 

[Oldsock]

With oak I rarely go over 1 oz in 5 gallons, so I would certainly start with less of the Palo Santo than that (maybe .25 oz?). Give it a quick steam to sanitize it, then drop it into secondary. Give it a taste every few weeks until you like the flavor. If you aren't tasting it at all in a month, add another .25 oz.

Hope that helps, interested to hear how it turns out.

 

[Patirck]

I am trying to come up with a clone of this as well. There is nothing I have found online. My best guess so far based on an imperial brown ale:


MALT OR FERMENTABLE
%PPG °L

72% 20 0 American Two-row Pale 37 1
14% 4 0 Wheat Malt 39 2
11% 3 0 American Crystal 20L 34 20
2% 0 8 Chocolate Malt (US) 28 350
1% 0 4 American Black Patent 26 127
27 12

Batch size: 5.5 gallons edit

Original Gravity 1.121
Final Gravity 1.035
Color 23° SRM / 45° EBC (Brown to Dark Brown)
Mash Efficiency 65%

hops
USE TIME OZ VARIETY FORM AA
boil 60 mins 1.25 Warrior pellet 15.0
boil 30 mins 0.75 Cascade pellet 5.5
boil 15 mins 1.0 Palisades pellet 9.5

Boil: 7.5 avg gallons for 120 minutes

Bitterness 65.1 IBU

yeast Wyeast Scottish Ale (1728)


Alcohol 11.5% ABV / 9% ABW
Calories 401 per 12 oz.

 

[klowry777]

so how did it turn out and what did you do with the wood? I would like to do a clone as well.

 

[b33r_br3w3r]

I'd also love to know what ended up happening and what recipe you used.