Mikkeller Santas Little Helper 2009

Mikkeller
Brewed at De Proefbrouwerij
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Copenhagen V, Denmark

Raisin and caramel. Some toffee. Moderately sweet. Pours a nice brown color. Belgian in style, for sure. Too many beers between versions of this so I can’t compare off the top of my head this year’s to a previous. Very nice beer overall.

0,75l bottle. Long lasting thick foamy light brown head. Deep brown colored, cloudy. Served 12°C. Sweet spicy aroma of raisins, citrus, apricot, ginger. Oilish semithick palate. Complex hard to describe flavor. Medium bitter, ginger, yeast. Sour and some metal at the end.

75cl bottle. Dark copper to reddish-brown beer pours with a thin blond head and nice lace. The aroma is quite peculiar. Sweet fruitiness, roasted malts, toffy and rather heavy spiciness and aroma hopping. Spices have sweet ginger bread cookies, cinnamon and aniseed. A Good punch of resiny and slightly herbal hops. Sweetish apricot, winegums and light charcoal-roastedness. Some alcohol in the finish. The taste is bitter all the way, sweetish at first, finishing dryish with milky sourness and roasted malts. The palate is medium bodied and a bit thin. Bitter and carbonated to an enjoyable level. Maltier body would do good, now the spices and hops are somehow unbalanced. It really took a while to like this brew but it is actually good stuff when at right temperature. DO NOT drink this TOO COLD, or you´re gonna end up sipping a whole bottle as over-spiced alco-charcoal-mess with a way too thin body!

Very nice winter ale. A dark ruby pour, frothy head with nice lacing. Unique flavors, citrus and spice, with a very dry, almost astringent finish with a roasted finish. Tasty.

750mL bottle. Poured clear, deep garnety-brown with a tall cap of beige head.. sticky lacing as it descended.. looked great! The aroma picked up warm, toasted toffee and cocoa notes accented by airy earth, figs, and dark fruits.. spicy earth and pine showed with warmth.. very well presented. The flavor found rich cocoa and toffee at the core, with the cocoa riding all the way through the finish.. tart dark fruits and sweet molasses around.. finished with tart fruits and peppery yeast.. warm and tasty. Heavier-bodied and spicy on the palate with plenty of wintery notes.. just a little sharp at times.. I’d drink this again.

750 ml bottle. Hazy dark reddish brown colour, thin but persistent light brown head that leaves some lacing. Sweetish aroma of dark fruits, spices, hops and a hint of alcohol. The flavour is sweetish malty, spicy, with a little chocolate and a warm and bitter hoppy finish.

On tap at Carlsens. Brown with a red tan and a dense head. Very sweet and malty aroma with further notes of spice and some citric nuances. The flavour is skillfully balanced, ranging from a sweet malty base to a spicy cinnamon-like middle and a citric hoppy ending.

Tap at Capones. Pours a murky deep brown with a smaller off white head. Aroma and flavor were very similar. Malty sweet, caramel, lightly toasted malt, fruity Belgian yeast notes and light Holiday spices.