Review - Pizza Port Brewing Company's Santas Little Helper
"Everything but the kitchen sink…Great Western Premium Two Row, Wheat, Carvienne, Caramunich, 95-115, 135-165L Crystal Malts, Chocolate, Roasted and Black Barley and Pale Chocolate. We also add some Brown Sugar and some Dark Belgian Candi Sugar to boost the Original Gravity. The beer is hopped with East Kent Goldings, Mt. Hood, Liberty, and Challenger. It is unfiltered with an OG of 1.094 and 10.0% ABV. Proprietary Ale Yeast." -- Port Brewing Company
Pours a dark brown crude oil color producing a finger of tan colored fizzy head. Quickly diminishing head, leaving a very thin ring of lacing. Aroma is sweet with some slightly roasted malts, and is slightly creamy but not overly aromatic, with some soft dark fruit notes. Initial taste is ultra-complex with significant alcohol burn behind some sweet sugars and light roasted malt qualities. Finishes with a malty sweet smoothness that does little to mask the alcohol. Medium bodied, it has a dominant alcohol burn with a creamy body, an oily palate, and copious amounts of roasted malt.
Medium bodied stout, it is powerful and will NOT sneak up on you in any way. This is certainly not meant to be balanced and, if it is, they failed. It\'s in your face and enjoyable in very small quantities.
Reviewed on December 14th, 2008.
