Santa's Little Helper 2017
Mikkeller ApS

 

Not too bad, considering this isn’t my usual style of beer that I enjoy. Looks great, darker amber-rust color with loads of fluffy white head and spotty lingering lacing. Smells of malt, cinnamon, nutmeg, yeast, clove and a hint of banana. Tastes similarly, but with a fairly smooth, mild and silky mouthfeel. Good carbonation, good texture. Didn’t remind me that much of Christmas and maybe this beer wasn’t fresh enough, but I felt that at least the usual strong Belgian yeast flavors were tempered down.

If I have decifered the bottle code correctly, this was bottled in August of 2017

Appearance - body is mahogany with a dense tan head

Smell - cola, fig, plum, raisin, cinnamon, cherry

Taste - smell was better than the taste - cola, raisin, molasses, fig, tobacco

Mouthfeel - medium bodied, lower level of carbonation, dark fruits upfront, middle has cola and molasses, finish is ashy/hint of tobacco

Overall - decent BSDA here, the finish left something to be desired. Probably would not re-visit unlesss I could get a hold of a fresh bottle

Price Point - $5.99/11.2 oz bottle

This beer was poured from an 11.2 oz. bottle that I purchased at a local craft beer store. It poured a cola color with a foamy beige (almost tan) head that was two finger-widths thick. There was ample lacing.

The aroma was cocoa, dates, nutmeg, and cinamon.

The initial taste was subtly sweet with some dart fruit, but the real kick is in the middle where there is toasted malt and a really smokey taste. The beer finishes with a little cinamon.

The mouthfeel was crisp and a little dry.

Overall, this was an interesting beer. The subtle flavoring is complex enough to make 5he beer interesting. A very good example of the dark Belgian Ale style. I would definitely get this one again.

Nice appearance & smell, but remarkable fail in taste and feel.
Lack of body, spiciness, mouthfeel, carbonation. Much worse than lots of Belgian analogues.
Satan's little helper.

 

 

-deep red-brown bottle pour is mostly clear with yeast pods in suspension. The fine, tan foam head is 5 cm tall and sculpted. The aroma is of sweet candi sugar and is boozy. The flavor is soda-like, very sweet, with toffee and a hint of butterscotch.The Belgian yeast is noted, and spice flavors include a touch of clove. This is not my favorite version of this ale, but it is worth a try when located.

Poured on the 12th of February to a Brouwerij't IJ tumbler glass.

A: THe body is brownish black having not much opaqueness but having real dark hues, the head is light brown to beige and shows great retention and lacing.
S: The aroma is very strong of roasted barley, cinnamon, toffee and ginger. I actually thought of this as a Christmas Ale but when I was drinking it I thought how close to a BSDA this could be, specially due to the high alcohol content on it.
T: The taste started off just a bit sweet from the toffee and roastiness but changed suddenly to a strong alcoholic tone, ending in a bitter-coffee-like roastiness becoming a good and long end on this beer. It's savory as decent Christmas beer but it's really like, as I've seen one day after drinking it, a BSDA.
M: Body was medium. Carbonation was crisp and good. Alcohol was way over the top, having a bit nauseous touch for how big and prominent that it was. Sweetness was mild.
O: It's a good Christmas BSDA, I could have it again easily as it is probably one of the best celebratory Christmas beers I've had so far. Again, would just wind down the amount of alcohol in here.