Bad Santa
Pelican Pub & Brewery

Bad SantaBad Santa
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From:
Pelican Pub & Brewery
 
Oregon, United States
Style:
Black IPA
Ranked #88
ABV:
7.5%
Score:
87
Ranked #16,857
Avg:
3.87 | pDev: 9.04%
Reviews:
61
Ratings:
159
Status:
Active
Rated:
Jan 06, 2024
Added:
Jan 03, 2008
Wants:
  6
Gots:
  23
You'd better watch out, you'd better not cry, you better not pout and here's telling you why—Bad Santa has arrived. Brewed for a limited time each holiday season, this mysterious dark nectar is filled with complex flavors and aromas. Toasted malt and roast character blends seamlessly with the alluring herbal hop aroma that comes from copious amounts of Fuggle hops. Bad Santa doesn't care if you’ve been naughty or nice as long as this beer is on your list.

16° Plato
Bitterness: 65 IBU
Color: 60 SRM
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by gefinley:
Photo of gefinley
Rated by gefinley from California

3.75/5  rDev -3.1%

Dec 10, 2014
More User Ratings:
Photo of MichaelInMA
Reviewed by MichaelInMA from Massachusetts

3.06/5  rDev -20.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
Very dark, barely any red around. Little head that left very little lines.

It tasted like a7.5% beer. The alcohol taste was right out front and drowned out and almost killed other flavors. Underneath you could find a nice beer but you really had to search. The alcohol taste was even there in the after taste but less. The after taste let the flavor of the beer come through.

Overall a very average high alcohol beer
Jan 06, 2024
Photo of NickSMpls
Reviewed by NickSMpls from Washington

3.81/5  rDev -1.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
Very dark pour, almost in impeerial stout territory. Nose is indistinct, light beer-y aroma. Taste is very much a IPA bent, with upfront hops, lots of flavors through to the finish. Overall it's a clean taste, with a roasted grain base, in the background. Let this warm up just little bit.
Dec 19, 2022
Photo of bv51
Rated by bv51 from Washington

3.98/5  rDev +2.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
Carmel colored, Smooth
Nov 30, 2022
 
Photo of DefenCorps
Reviewed by DefenCorps from Oregon

3.69/5  rDev -4.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
Bottle from TJs.

Black with dark brown highlights, this beer is capped with a light brown head with good retention and lacing. The nose is more porter-like with the Fuggles hops lending an earthy, spicy , herbal hop character to complement the moderate roast and mildly creamy malt flavor. A complex sweetness is present, with brown sugar and a little caramel. The palate opens bitter and roasty, but also strangely thin, with herbal spice hop character, a little candied citrus and light sweetness. The mid-palate has a blend of dark caramel sweetness and hop bitterness before a long, drying, fizzy finish thats a shade watery and seltzer like. Solid.
Dec 28, 2021
Photo of BobMagruder
Rated by BobMagruder from Oregon

4.03/5  rDev +4.1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
Nice dark reddish brown, smell is malt with a touch of citrus hops. Light on body for a CDA and nice heavy hop bite to the end
Dec 24, 2021
 
Rated: 3.79 by bumchilly25 from Canada (BC)

Dec 21, 2021
 
Rated: 4 by BEER88 from North Carolina

Dec 13, 2021
Photo of Limazulu
Reviewed by Limazulu from Idaho

4.1/5  rDev +5.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
A-lighter than typical black IPA, modest head. Looks more like root beer. Maybe that's a subtle distinction they're making, calling this a cascadian dark ale and not a black IPA.
S-hoppy caramel, roast notes
T-I'm not familiar with the "fuggle" hop, so having a tough time picking up the unique flavor notes. Maybe black pepper and caramel. Average (+) sweet, above average bitter.
M-light (+), not as much body as I prefer in the style
O-different, enjoyable, but no where near the head of the class for the style which I am a self-proclaimed fan boy of.
Dec 10, 2021
 
Rated: 3.99 by arini10 from Oregon

Nov 25, 2021
Photo of Scotchboy
Reviewed by Scotchboy from Idaho

3.75/5  rDev -3.1%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
2023 Editing scores: This is a consistent and solid Black IPA. Very roasty, lots of impressions of coffee and earthy characteristics, some sticky hop resins and good bitterness.
___

2020 Review: 12oz bottle from the 2020 bottling, poured into a nonic.

A: Dark brown/black pour with caramel-colored light showing at the edges; khaki head has tight bubbles and laces OK.

S: Surprisingly roasty nose of dark malt, combined with hoppy notes of citrus peel and a touch of pine. Was expecting more hops but no problem, this is nice.

T: Again, mild orange/citrus peel character with a healthy dose to roasty bitterness from the malt profile, with impressions of coffee and even dark caramel. Somewhat earthy in the hop profile as well.

MF: On the lighter side of medium with that present bitterness and touch of dryness.

O: A nice example of the style, certainly nothing overly special but not bad either.
Dec 22, 2020
Photo of BNSlums
Reviewed by BNSlums from Germany

3.99/5  rDev +3.1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
L: A mighty impressive 2-3inch cocoa head reaches tall atop a pitch black body, lingering and fizzing for a while.

S: Initial deep roasted barley followed by a mellow caramel and lastly chocolate. Each scent is very rich and overall complex, but there is little presence of background notes, straightforward.

T: Crème brulee almost. Like a fresh smore, toasted marshmallow chocolate and caramel. Boozy finish. The high bitterness is not concealed beneath these heavy tastes, however, rendering the palate bolder.

F: Lighter than it would appear to be on the tongue, but still coating. Medium-full bodied and carbonated, ending smoothly.

For how one sided winter time ales can be, I found Bad Santa to be rather balanced by the undisguised bitterness. There was generally more going on on the palate than nose, and I appreciated the graham cracker roastiness accompanying the sweetness. I would recommend this as a winter ale for someone who is into rich chocolate cakes and sweets without spices.
Nov 14, 2020
Photo of TheBricenator
Reviewed by TheBricenator from Oregon

4.1/5  rDev +5.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Look: Jet black in the pour and ruby-red when held to light with a determinately forming beige head that retains well and leaves great lacing
Aroma: Herbaceous hops, earthiness, and wafts of roast and chocolate that greatly strengthen as it warms
Taste: Roast hits hard out of the gate, joined quickly by a punch of herbaceous hops and baking cocoa. Some earthy notes cut some into the roast and chocolate in the middle before being joined by more herbaceous hops on the finish. A decent hop bite is evident as well
Mouthfeel: Full, a little chewy and slick, medium-high carbonation, and good dryness on the finish
Overall: I dig it. I’ll always be a sucker for this obscure style and glad these folks kept theirs around as a seasonal as it is a good representation of a black IPA/CDA. Nice roasty and chocolate notes highlighted alongside a hefty hoppiness that in this case is uniquely herbaceous rather than citrus dominated. Delicious and recommended
Nov 05, 2020
 
Rated: 3.94 by evergreen_machine from Washington

Oct 29, 2020
Photo of RedBalloon
Reviewed by RedBalloon from Washington

3.69/5  rDev -4.7%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
12oz bottle dated 9/16/20 poured into a Teku.

Pours a 2" light tan head with large bubbles. An opaque black color. Looks like a cola.

There's a faint smell of coffee, chocolate, and caramel. The aroma seems to be all roasted malts. I don't pick up on any particularly hoppy scents with this one.

Taste is roasted malt flavors just like the aroma. Coffee and chocolate. There's some bitterness in the finish and a little bit of a hoppy bite.

Mouthfeel is effervescent and light-bodied. Thin and bubbly.

Much less hoppy than I'd expect from a "Black IPA." It has the flavor and aroma of a stout with the mouthfeel of an ale. I definitely wanted more of the alluring hop aroma that was promised.
Oct 18, 2020
Photo of Reen
Rated by Reen from Washington

3.72/5  rDev -3.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 4
I really like this beer. After hunting it down at the grocery store I bought all they had left.
Dec 21, 2019
 
Rated: 3.84 by davidsonte2 from Washington

Dec 17, 2019
Photo of StonedTrippin
Reviewed by StonedTrippin from Colorado

3.8/5  rDev -1.8%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
drinking new (to me) flavors from pelican is always such a treat. i love and respect them, and i am almost always as stoked leaving the experience as entering it, like they always live up to the lofty expectations that exist for them in my head. not enough black ipa types in the world, lets all just agree on that. nothing christmas about this beer though aside from the name and the label, a little misleading really, it could work well any time of year, and those expecting spice and booze for the holidays need to look elsewhere. sure this is a little strong, but its mellow and drinkable too, way away from winter warmer, barleywine, and old ale classes. its dark and hoppy, with notes of pine and black pepper in nose and taste, lively as heck too, with some roast, tobacco, and dry cocoa on the grain side. pine tree and juniper notes in the taste, even a subtle and weird green kool aid lime element, but nothing lingers, no palate coating hop bite or any of that, none of the northwestern oily intensity, its just clean and dry and gone on the swallow, super weird trajectory for a stronger example of the style, but its true. neat that this is so mellow in taste yet so strong, a different and relaxed hop layering, but a good and true example of the style overall too. loving me some pelican right now, all of their beer is great, truly!
Dec 04, 2019
 
Rated: 3.73 by BirdsandHops from Oregon

Nov 13, 2019
Bad Santa from Pelican Pub & Brewery
Beer rating: 87 out of 100 with 159 ratings