Port Brewing Santas Little Helper

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

Bottle thanks to Goldtwins. Pours very dark brown with smaller tan head. heavy chocolate malty nose. Flavor has bittesweet chocolate, malt, coffee, smoke and a touch of spice. Nice mouthfeel, the alcohol with catch up with you on this one!

Oily "sound" when pouring into glass. Small head colors the surface of the glass after being poured, the color of oatmeal. Aroma of chocolate, mixed with cinammon. Very nice flavor. Chocolate Malt is most prevelant flavor, chased with alcoho. No major hop character to speak of. Bitterness more prevelant on the palate in the aftertaste. "Thickness" in the body and mouthfeel. Not too heavy, but thick as one would expect a beer of this type. Very nice Christmas offering, though I wish it had a wee touch more sweetness to it.

Poured from a 22oz bomber (2008 vintage) and served in a snifter. This stout poured pitch black with a very thin head of dark tan foam. A small amount of slippery lacing was left behind. The aroma was made up of cocoa, caramel, heavy roast, burnt sugar, rum-soaked raisins, and also some licorice. The flavor included burnt wood, anise, bittersweet chocolate, caramelized sugar, dark fruits, and some warming alcohol. Long, ashy, lingering finish. The mouthfeel was full-bodied and a bit oily. Lightly carbonated. A nice sipper. The long-lasting finish does make it somewhat tiresome to finish a whole glass, though.

(Bottled, 2008 vintage, 0.66l) Very dark brown with almost no head. Sweetish, licoricey-malty aroma with aromatic hoppiness, and the same feel as in Slottskällans Imperial Stout. Roasted-malty, slightly sweet flavor with salty licorice and caramel. Some burnedness in the aftertaste. Quite full, slicky body with low carbonation. A quite tasty and easily drinkable IS for SIS lovers. 689926001065

I’m tired of reading negative stories about todays youth, you could say that I’m on a all pro-teen diet ...2008 edition: drank Monday Jan 19th 2009, 7pm .. A big and bold brew upfront but seems smooth.. light smoke, tar, vegetables, maduro tobacco, aroma’s and flavours ... a nice brew, but lacks any real complexity and is ,maybe to thin and the abv does sneak in, ya i know its 10% but it could be better ..

...I’ll tell you whats ridiculous, the Kaiser! ,somebody should put him on a roll!

2008 Bottle from Binny’s on Clark. Pours typical IS black with brown around the edges. fizzy dark tan head. Nose is floral and sweet, not a whole lot to write home about. This is about as stereotypical an IS one could have. I’m not a huge fan of the generous use of crystal malts as they lend too much sweetness. Taste is bitter and sweet. Slightly roasty, acrid and astringent from the chocolate malts. Not really a big fan of this one. Like I said, mediocre.

(10/30/08) Bottle drank at my hostel in San Francisco. Black-colored with a small brown head. Aroma is roasty, full of dark fruits, also some pralines and liquor notes. Sweet fruity flavor with roasted malt, chocolate, licorice hints, yeast notes and lots of alcohol. Nice thick body. A bit too much alcohol in the flavor and it also seems like the fruitiness clashes with the roastiness instead of complementing it.

Bottle. Pours a deep black with a respectable tan head. Full aroma of bitter chocolates, coffee, and dried dark fruits. Mouthfeel is still a little sharp as it’s pretty fresh but it has a wonderful mesh of bitter dark chocolate, coffee, and burnt malts. This thing is going to taste amazing in another 6 months