Port Brewing Company Santa’s Little Helper

“Alcoholic heat in the nose obscures hints of roasted malt, chocolate, and caramel. Booze carries into the flavor, stripping away more subtle complexities. Roasty, smoky, with pleasantly malty profile.”

**Aroma:** “Caramel nose with a bit of chocolate—reminds me of Sugar Babies candy. Some oxidation, divided between sherry and cardboard. There’s also a bit of a spicy phenol that reminds me of pepper and dried oranges. Cherry fruity notes up front with a bit of chocolate hiding in the background. High sweetness.” **Flavor:** “Sweet and malty. Toffee, chocolate, and caramel. Still get Sugar Babies candy, but more malt complexity. Moderate sweetness with fruity cherry and plum notes. Roast malt is restrained, but present. Tastes more like an old ale than a stout. Slight alcohol warming, just enough to let you know it’s there. Light hops toward the end of the sip.” **Overall:** “Tasty and easy drinking. Not a challenge at all, but still interesting. Very drinkable beer, but I wouldn’t put it in the stout category. The fruity esters and the oxidized notes seem more like an old ale. Very sweet and a rather heavy body, but it would make a good fireside sipper or desert beer.”

**Aroma:** “Big dark chocolate and coffee aroma. Big plum, dates, moderate cherry, light acidity, moderate caramel, light umami, light earthy hops, some brown sugar notes. A backbone of bready malt. I’m sitting by the fire with a snifter of...not barleywine, but this beer. Rich malt complexity with sherry, dried figs, and raisins, and warming alcohol. More caramel than roast, but the coffee and chocolate are there.” **Flavor:** “Lovely complex malt sweetness—like chocolate-covered Fig Newtons, or maple syrup, with a touch of earthy hops to help balance. Like a shot of strong expresso, no cream. Complex and deep, but a bit intense so sessionable is not part of this section. Big cherry, light plum, big chocolate, moderate coffee, light hops bitterness, touch of alcohol, moderate caramel. Aftertaste: big chocolate, touch of coffee, light bitterness. Starts out like a thinner-bodied barleywine, but the hops and roast bitterness crack that illusion. The promise from the nose is here, but it doesn't quite mesh as well in the flavor because the lingering hops and slight astringency add some harshness. Hops flavor is as big as the roast. Sherry, malt, dried fruit and esters are still nice, though.” **Overall:** “Very tasty, but could use a bit more carbonation to help the flavors pop. Love the fruitiness. Fun dark-fruit dominated imperial stout. The chocolate, caramel, and roast notes are present throughout with just enough hops to balance. It is fairly well carbonated, but that works to bring out the brighter fruit notes. The nose had me, but the flavor not so much.”