Mikkeller Santas Little Helper 2011 (Barrel Aged Speyside Edition)

Mikkeller
Formerly brewed at De Proefbrouwerij
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Copenhagen, Denmark

Serve in Trappist glass, Tulip, Tumbler

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Bottle. Great aroma of corky wood, red wine and whisky. Tastes equally clearly of whisky with a good sweet and bitter balance. Aftertaste with a great balance, but maybe a bit too alcoholic. Beer is black with a little head, which disappears quite fast.

Bottle. Dark brown colour with a beige head. Aroma is alcohol, whiskey, coffee. Flavour is alcohol, whiskey, coffee, oak, vanilla, chocolate. Too boozy smell, else a nice beer.

375ml bottle. Black ringed with a yellow tan halo. Harshly spiritous aroma with hints of Christmas pud, whisky-dipped malt loaf..er, massive throat-burning whiskey of the blended, inexpensive kind. Flavour totally engulfed by crap whiskey. Hints of blackcurrant and liquorice if you really go digging. Yuk. A great beer ruined. At a tenner a bottle will drink the lot on principle but I’m afraid this is totally one-dimensional, moving towards the plughole and seriously not for me.

Black brown colour, no head. Aroma of roasted malts, whisky, chocolate and molasses. Roasted malts flavour, whisky, caramel, alcohol. Light sour touch. Full body, quite a bit of CO2, finish chocolate and whisky.
OK beer, but expected more.
(from 37.5cL bottle @ 18th Kerstbierfestival, Essen)

From Voldby, DK. Bottled, 201212. Brown with small head. Aroma of malt and spices. Flavour with dried fruit and wood.

37.5 cl bottle @ home. Pours black with a tan head that leaves very little lacing. Aroma is harsh (to say the least) with whisky, wood, liquorice, and glue. Flavour is wood, whiskey, and glue. Basically nothing left of the original – and sadly not in a good way.

A black colored beer, with a beige head. The aroma of whisky, wood, raisins and prunes. The taste of dark fruits, alcohol, wood, raisins and some whisky. The aftertaste is soya sweet with alcohol and a little dry.

375 ml. bottle sampled @ 18th Christmasbeer festival in Essen // side-by-side with the White wine version. Dark brown / black, mocha head only on the sides. Smell is sharp heavy wood, some whisky malts, apples, woody. Taste is lots of wood, apples, getting some cider apples as well oddly, glue, more wood, herbal, bitter coffee, mocha, roasted, light smoke. Bit lower carb. touch sticky. Not bad despite the score but not special. I dug the white wine quite a lot more.

15/XII/12 - 75cl bottle @ Kerstbierenfestival (Essen) - BB: n/a (2012-1360) Thanks to the Belgian/Dutch ratebeer crew for sharing our beers!

Pitch black beer, aery brown head, little stable, bit adhesive. Aroma: coffee, spices, mouldy cellar, mildew, Scotland (just don’t ask, ok?), banana peel, rotting fruits, sugary, vegetables. MF: soft carbon, medium body. Taste: bit sour, alcohol, spicy, grassy, yeast, dry, herbal, some coffee, bitter. Aftertaste: alcohol, dry, woody, coffee, dark chocolate. Not as good as I had hoped for.

Bottle sample @ 18de Kerstbierfestival, Essen 2012. Side by side with the White Wine edition, and most of us at the table could have sworn we were drinking the exact same beers. Couleur noire foncée, col beige moyen. Arôme est malté, caramel avec une note douce, sucré grillé presque de Spéculoos. Palais est malté, noisette, profil caramel doux sucre brun et un Speyside léger avec pour moi quasi aucunes notes de tourbe typique de ce Single Malt. Le tout reste agréable, se boit presque plus comme un stout impérial que le style décrit ici. Sympa, mais je peine à trouver le Speyside.