Blue Ridge (SC) Santas Little Helper (2007-)

Good tasting beer with a strong bitter taste. I enjoyed it immensely but it was still harsh to handle in a minimal amount of time. My advice would be to portion the cough syrup off to your beer party friends and share the wealth.

Appearance: Pours a black, near still body, with only a little blip of carbonation trying it’s damndest to form a head. Smell: Dark malts with a slight roastiness and a rich scent of dark chocolate. Mild spicy hop notes. Taste: Great dark chocolate flavor with a medium amount of complimentary sweetness. Hint of spicy hops emerge right about the earthy bitterness kicks in. Bittersweet chocolatey finish. Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied. Mild carbonation. Drinkability: You know what? I like it. It’s a rich, flavorful beer just made for wintertime drinking.

Name: Santa’s Little Helper
Date: December 15, 2007
Mode: Growler
Source: Tasting, Cellar Party
Vintage: 2007
Appearance: black, headless, distant points of lace
Aroma: sweet dark caramel and chocolate malt aroma with a a touch of spicy hops
Body: big body
Flavor: rich chocolate flavor, bitter sweet dark chocolate character, touch of peppery character that may include alcohol

Name: Santa’s Little Helper
Date: December 17, 2007
Mode: two day old growler
Vintage: 2007
Score: 3.6 to 3.7
Appearance: black, fine tan head, lots of speckled lace
Aroma: sweetness has faded from the aroma allowing the dark chocolate and spicy hops to come out
Flavor: spicy alcohol has all but faded from the flavor leaving lots of bitter dark chocolate to take the lead, still a bit of spicy hops remain to offset the bitter dark chocolate

Aroma: 7/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 7/10; Overall: 15/20
Rating: 3.7/5.0
Drinkability: 8/10
Score: **4

Name: Santa’s Little Helper
Date: February 06, 2009
Mode: Draft
Source: Brewpub
Vintage: 2008
Appearance: black, fine tan head, sheets of lace
Aroma: dark roasted aroma
Flavor: big hoppy flavor, lots of dark malt to balance the hops, dark chocolate starts off light and gets richer as it warms, lingering roasted finish with a touch of bitterness

Aroma: 6/10; Appearance: 8/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 6/10; Overall: 15/20
Rating: 3.5/5.0
Drinkability: 7/10
Score: **4

Complex flavors, slightly sweet with coffee/chocolate finish. Great dessert beer.

Growler: Pours a barley transparent dark copper mahogany with a thin ring of off-white head. Aroma of earthy semi-sweet dark caramel and chocolate with some roasty coffee notes. Starts fairly full-bodied with some big roasty bitterness and rich dark chocolate notes. Has a drier bittersweet roasted finish. A pretty nice porter.