Port Brewing Santas Little Helper Barrel Aged

Brewed by Port Brewing/Lost Abbey
Style: Imperial Stout
San Marcos, California USA

Serve in Snifter

Original rating 12/25/11. Pours hella dark, pretty well black, with pretty well none existent head, yet the few bubbles there are quite brown. Smell is tons of oak, like there’s dark chocolate, some dark molasses and slight coffee, but the woodiness from the barrel ageing is huge. Little bit of nutty astringency, slight alcohol, but tons of wood. Tast is again, quite powerful in the wood. chocolate, roast, char, tobacco, but the oak is really what stands out here. Its medium-full bodied with very little carbonation. quite a bit of coconut kind of astringent taste in the finish, and some bourbon depth; though the alcohol is noticeable it’s not at all burning.

Appearance on this bottle wasn’t so super. No head, pours a clear brown but is darker in the glass. Aroma is chocolate, raisins and lots of sugar. Taste and palate are a bit sticky sweet, but it does have some nice s’mores in there. You do get some good barrel character in there to balance out some of the sweetness as well. The previous bottle I had was better appearance and less sweet, I feel. Over all, pretty good to sip on during wintertime. I think there is definitely some variability on these bottles.

A good bourbon taste with a nice finish, but not great. Milder than some of the other BA beers that I have had. More sweetness in the aroma than in the actual taste. The appearance wasn’t as appealing as many other stouts.

65cl, Vintage 2011, at 12%Vol, exclusive American brew, from De Hopduvel Gent, complex Stout, alcoholic/roasted and slightly spicy/sweet, too heavy, not balanced, cloudy, nearly no head, good X-Mas brew, yet very expensive!

courtesy of Toni Flükiger - pours a pitch black beer with absolutely no foam left; rich aroma of vanilla and milk coffee; licorice, figs and with a thick and sticky malt backbone; some sweetness below and with a very strong bitterness above; long hoppy finish with notes of cold coffee, chocolate and figs and with warming alcohol notes

Bottle side by side with 2008 regular version, bottle is from 2011. Pour is thick black with nice creamy tan head, goes away but a nice lacing around the side and some nice bubbles, aroma brings notes of slight alcohol, some vanilla, bourbon, toffee, milk chocolate and caramel notes, slight hints of roast and wet coffee grounds in there as well but fairly muted. Taste is sweet vanilla, bourbon notes, hints of sweet caramelized sugars with toffee, molasses notes, slight roasted coffee, hints of sweet chocolate and bakers bitter chocolate, touch of booze in there but not overwhelming, finishes nice and dry, slightly sweet. Nice brew, could use a few years but still nice stuff.

Black pour off white head ... aroma is of bourbon and oak, vanilla, roasted and chocolate .... taste is of oak, vanilla, bourbon, chocolatey, roasted ..... mostly vanilla and bourbon with a nice dry oak .... finish is very dry and oaky ... lovely stuff abv hidden well

22oz bottle in a snifter. Pours black with a lacy, light tan head. Aroma of roasted malts, chocolate, coffee, oak and vanilla, some light bourbon, and some spiciness. Flavor about the same, with a lot of bourbon and roasted malts. Thick texture. A really good beer.