Santas Little Helper - Bourbon Barrel

A pitch black, a head is small and brown. Aroma has salt liquirice, riped fruits and raisins, strong notes of bourbon that’s hiding the other nuancees. Taste has salt liquirice, bourbon, raisins and some chocolate. Smooth, almost full bodied, enjoyable. This bourbon barrel aged Santas Little Helper is not even close the marvellous basic version, even this is a good beer, the bourbon is just too dominating.

Svart med fingerhøyt lys brunt skum. Kjenner godt bourbon lukten, noe svisker og mørke frukter er også der. Fyldig. Kjenner noe alkohol, mørke frukter, salt lakris og sjokolade. Salt avsluttning.

Poured from a bottle, vintage 2010. Aroma is moderately chocolate forward with light roast notes. A bit of oak character with some light anise notes and lighter dark fruit. A bit of leather and tobacco. Medium light alcohol spice. A hint of cardboard and honey. Pours black and a bit oily with a faint, pretty much nonexistent mocha head that recedes quickly. Faint lacing and moderate legs. Flavor is moderately sweet with a large amount of chocolate upfront. Medium light roast notes with some light oak character. Some moderate dark fruit character with plum and prune. Light anise notes. Light honey notes and sherry with a touch of cardboard. Sweeter than the non oak character. Mouthfeel is medium full bodied with low carbonation. Low astringency and medium low alcohol warmth. Overall, in some ways a better beer than the non oak version but in other ways worse. The lack of carbonation and extra sweetness isn’t great, but the fruit and malt notes are better. The alcohol is oddly enough, better hidden than the non oak version. The astringency and ash notes seem lighter as well.

Draft at Port Brewing / The Lost Abbey. Poured a very dark, almost black color, rich and creamy. Aroma was lots of bourbon, vanilla, woody oak, chocolate, roasted malts, and dried fruits. Flavor was a sweet chocolates, coffee, malts, and dried fruit. Very smooth, nicely balanced imperial, rich and smooth. Easy drinking.

Lukt: Duft av frukter, lakris, kaffe og kanel.
Utseende: Sort farge.
Skum/kullsyre: Tykt brunt skum.
Smak: Smak av bourbon og bek.
Hvor: Nydt@Lokal hjemme tasting hos Bryne
Medium: Flaske@650ml, ABV@12%, Når@02.01.2015

This brew pours an inky black color with a medium tan head that burns away steadily. Sticky patches of lacing on the glass. The aroma consists of roasted malt, bourbon and dark fruit. Full-bodied and slightly over-carbonated with flavors of oaky bourbon, dark malts and vanilla. The finish is boozy with a bourbon and malt aftertaste. Pretty good all around.