Port Brewing Santas Little Helper Barrel Aged

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

Serve in Snifter

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The pour is dark and black with a non existent head. The nose is whiskey, vanilla, chocolate, coconut, wood and cherry. The taste is sweet with great bitter balance. The mouthfeel is crisp at first but goes smooth and creamy, the body is heavy and the finish is long. ---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone

Pours dark with a soapy tan head that fades to a ring with limited lacing. Aroma of chocolate, bourbon, and wood. Big chocolate, butterscotch, and bourbon notes in the taste with lighter notes of vanilla, cocoa, and oak. Well balanced and very satisfying.

Bottled. Dark color, medium brown head. Aroma of lovely bourbon, chocolat and malt. Strong malty taste, quite bitter, slight alcohol, thick chocolat. Great stuff.

Bomber from the Lost Abbey warehouse/bar. Pours really black with a few slight dark tan bubbles. Aromas of oak, vanilla and scorched malt. Full bodied with mildly foamy carbonation. There’s just a bit of heat. The flavor is smooth burnt malt, chocolate, vanilla, oak and brown sugar? There’s a lot going on in this. Finishes mildly chocolate sweet with some balancing bitter. I’m sure there’s hop, but isolating it is beyond me. This drinks deadly easily.

UPDATED: FEB 25, 2012
Name: Santa’s Little Helper 2009, BA
Date: August 08, 2009
Mode: Bottle
Source: Tasting, Ticker
Appearance: opens with a light pffft, black, scant head, thick and viscous with legs
Aroma: sweet bourboon aroma, roasted and dark chocolate, touch of vanilla
Flavor: sweet bourbon flavor, balancing roasted malt, vanilla adds additional sweetness, rich dark chocolate, candy caramel, roasted comes out as it warms, gets pretty boozy as it warms as well
Overall: chocolate with sweet caramel and vanilla makes for a good bourbon candy

Name: Santa’s Little Helper 2009, BA
Date: November 14, 2009
Mode: bottle
Source: cellar stock
not much change in carbonation level, picking up more chocolate character as the bourbon receeds a bit,

Name: Santa’s Little Helper 2011, BA
Date: September 09, 2011
Mode: Bottle
Source: Hop City, Atlanta
Appearance: black, fine tan head, streaks of lace
Aroma: strong bourbon and dark chocolate aroma, touch of vanilla
Flavor: rich chocolate flavor, lots of bourbon, touch of oak, dark chocolate bitterness, just a hint of oaky sourness
Overall: good bur not quite the bourbon chocolate candy character from earlier vintages

Aroma: 7/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 6/10; Overall: 15/20
Rating: 3.6/5.0
Drinkability: 7/10
Score: *** /4

Name: Santa’s Little Helper 2009, BA
Date: February 08, 2012
Mode: bottle
Source: cellar stock
Score: 3.7
still can’t buy a bubble, bourbon and chocolate, just a tuch of roast, alcohol has faded away and taken a lot of the sweetness with it,,

Aroma: 8/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 8/10; Palate: 7/10; Overall: 18/20
Rating: 4.2/5.0
Drinkability: 8/10
Score: **** /4

Bottle, thanks to _angst_. Black beer with a small but lasting beige head. Malty vanilla aroma, woody, oaky, whiskey, caramel, cedar, grapes, vinous, chocolate, cocoa powder, raisins, plums, prunes, pine notes. Vanilla flavor, caramel, raisins, prunes, mint, chocolate, oaky, warming alcohol, cedar, plums, creamy, hay notes. Great beer, sweetish but in a good way,

Black colored brew. Roasted malts, bourbon in the aroma. Flavor is very nice. Sipping. Good balance of sweetness, bourbon, roasted malts and hops. Good aged brew,

Bottle at home. Pitch black coloured with a small beige head. Sweet and roasted aroma of bourbon, dark chocolate, dried fruits and vanilla. Sweet and roasted flavour of vanilla, dried fruits and liquorice. Sweet and roasted finish. Nice, but too sweet.

Bottle 65 cl. Pours an opaque black with a small light brown head. Distinct warming bourbon and alcohol burn in the nose. Very full-bodied, loads of hard roasted malt and sweet vanilla accents. The oak and Bourbon really shines, but the beers finishes smooth and mellow. A very pleasant and fulfilling brew. 070709

It’s pitch black with a dark brown and creamy head. The aroma has notes of bourbon, wood, roasted malt, vanilla and chocolate. The flavor is sweet with notes of bourbon, wood, roasted malt, vanilla, chocolate and the finish has some warming alcohol in a nice way. It’s a great beer.