Santa’s Little Helper 2009

750 mL, corked, caged and red-foiled affair. $12.99 from Hop City, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Rich looking dark brown pour with a creamy, tan head. Some nice, creamy lace and a thin film forms on the surface and around the rim.
A few cocoa notes and some Belgian yeast in the nose, along with a bit of hop presence.
The beer doesn’t deliver many (if any) typical Dark Belgian character. Outside of the look, it gives a slightly odd cocoa note (that I don’t much care for) and is low on the advertised spices. It also doesn’t really come through on the big, plummy dark Belgian fruit either. Some residual sweetness BUT a surprising amount of hop presence. The hops come through is a strange aniseed like manner which I find less than appealing. Dry character that I suppose comes from the cocoa input. Lacks rich, creamy alcoholic and deep fruit character.
Not a bad beer, but it does not do the job as a BSDA, nor does it deliver a typical Christmas spice character. I’m afraid it does not come together all that well either.

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02/21/2010
Brewery:
Mikkeller
Format:
bottle
ABV: 10.9 %
Appearance: 4
Taste: 3
Mouthfeel: 3
Smell: 3.5
Overall: 3
Total: 3.15
Series Name:
Year:

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