Mikkeller Santas Little Helper 2009
Belgian Ale brewed with spices and cocoa powder.
3.7
216 reviews
Copenhagen, Denmark
Community reviews
Massive Mikkeller pt.2 Out of the three vintages (11’,09’,08’) this one tasted the best. Sweet and very flavorful. Seemed a little more mellow then the others but the flavor was still very in your face. Awesome!
Dark brown blackish. Medium lasting head. Chocolate rum aroma. Taste yeast, chocolate, malts
Brown beer, a good sized head. Yeasty, milky, red fruits, chocolate, spices. Hoped more from this beer. Nothing really inside that makes it interesting, but neither bad ofcourse.
Pour out of bottle is hazy brownish almost black with off white head, aroma has notes of lots of ginger, clove, and cinnamon spices, hints of chocolate, dark fruit, caramel, and toffee in there as well. Taste is spice heavy with clove and cinnamon, ginger notes in there going into some dark fruit and toffee, finishing fairly sweet, alcohol subdued nicely.
75 cl bottle. BBE 06.10.2015.
Originally rated on 20091113.(9+4+9+4+17)
Pours murky red-brown colour with small head. Aroma has lots of plum and dried, ripe fruits. Caramel, wood, spices, mild vanilla notes and hints of liquorice. Flavour of ripe fruits, plum, dark malts, spices, hints of vanilla, some liquorice and caramel. Very complex brew still, though the flavours have smoothened a bit and the alcohol burns through more.
5436
75 cl bottle @ Nurmo
Aroma has raisins, darkened sugar and cherries. Also some hops and hints of spices. Flavour has peppery spices, licorice, anis and some hops. Also some herbs in the finish. Feels a bit like an expectorant. Good and well preserved, the overwhelming hops have been tamed during the two years.
Bottle courtesy of Cheeseman. Compared to the 2008 version this is less herbaceous with about the same sweetness. The cocoa powder shows through on this one, matched with some pepper.
Bottle @ Bull and Bush Christmas tasting. Dark reddish brown appearance with a tan head. Slightly burnt caramel, hay, straw, spicy, a touch fruity aroma. Moderately spicy, ginger, piney, grassy, somewhat fruity flavor.
2009 Bottle at home. Reddish brown color with a thin brown head. Sweet malty aroma, ltos of spices, soem cacao,peach and other fruit. Sweet malty taste, spices, lots of fruits, a flowery note, caramel. Very nice.
Dark red brown body, off white head. Strong sweet aroma of caramel, spices, chocolate, licorice, brown sugar; a bit too sweet. Medium lightly carbonated palate. Sweet malty flavour with caramel, alcohol, chocolate, licorice, some orange and lots of spices.
Bottle at Craft Beer Co tasting, thanks to Matt. It pours murky deep brown, with a thin beige head. The nose is meat, gravy, spice, dried fruit, caramel and brown sugar. The taste is brown sugar, roasted malt, caramel, toffee, cola, chocolate, spice, light alcohol warmth, molasses and toasted brown bread. Medium to full body, fine carbonation and slightly sticky mouth-feel. Nice.
Bottle at 1st CBC Sunday Tasting. Many thanks to Matt. The man is doing great work. Pours dark brown with an off-white head. Mild roast and toast aroma, some spices, leather, meat and gravy, light toasted sugars. Medium to big sweet flavor, nice caramel and toffee, some spice, light molasses, subtle earth, some brown sugar. Medium to full bodied with average carbonation. Decent warm finish, slight spice, some more meat and leather, actually just mild booze presence. Very damn solid stuff.
My Bottom Line :
Cinnamon, nutmeg and clove-y spiciness gives life to chocolate, date squares and caramelized nuts in this beautifully cohesive Belgian-style Kerstbier.
Further Personal Perceptions :
-A slim veil of foam skirts the reddish dark brown.
-The leafy hop bitterness is able to quieten the panoramic dessert flavor display.
-The spiciness is well balanced and never gets tiresome.
-This is a fantastic red meat accompaniment. Could make a nice glühbier too...
-Light alcohol heat, roasted malts and raisins are other nuances this brew can easily share with those looking for complexity.
-This is a fun change of pace in the vast Mikkeller lineup; complexity abounds yet intensity is part of the appeal.
2-year-old bottle.
Brown coloured beer wiht average carbonation and an average off-white head. Very special aorma. sweet fruity zestyand herby fruity aroma. Full palate. Finish is special as well. Fruity herby hinted. Special one.
In short: A rough, boozy, too sweet and very spicy big brown beer. Meh.
How: Bottle 750ml, consumed approximately 1.5 year after the beer release
The look: Cloudy brown body topped by a medium beige head
In long: Nose is spicy and quite sweet with cacao and caramel fudge. Taste has a lot of burnt sugars, rough toasted grainy malts, plenty of cacao, too much spices, earth, toffee, burnt caramel, sweet candies, too much booze, some dried dark fruits. The beer was too sweet and too boozy for my liking but it is the spiciness that I found even more annoying. Star anise, cloves, ginger, cloves, more… This is a very tasty beer that can fair well in a tasting/small serving but I found a full bottle to be a challenge to drink by myself. I have somewhat enjoyed the previous Mikkeller Santas Little Helper but this one just wasn’t for me. Santa was not good with me this year, maybe I have been a bad bad boy, about which I’d I’d say that I might be a drunk, a liar, a scumbag but I AM NOT a registered sex offender. The line to register was just way too long.
Bottle from Alko Arkadia. Originally rated on 28.11.2009. Great beer with a fruity and spicy taste.
750, corked and baled and foiled. Year and a half old or so at this point. Lovely packaging as we have all come to expect from these guys. Pours an opaque dark brown with a sudsy and creamy tan head. Loose stringy lace. Big fruity nose, showing plenty of dates, figs, and raisins. Watery body, almost going a bit thin. Dates, figs, raisins, caramel, molasses on the mid palate. Mild fruity finish. Aging is definitely taking the wind out of the sails of this one, but it’s still a very pleasant and enjoyable big holiday BSA.
Aroma of spices, coacoa, mild hops, malt. Cloudy dark brown pour with a medium beige head. The flavor is very sweet (licorice) with some coacoa and spices. The body is medium with a slightly vinous texture and medium carbonation. Nice.
Flaska Mikkeller Bar 2011: Mycket nötig kolasmak, brända toner och ganska så trevlig.
Bottle, 75cl. A clear, very dark red to brownish beer topped by a finger thick, dense, beige head. The aroma is vinous, with dried fruits, piney hops, a little alcohol and yeast and some chocolate. Bitter, piney flavor, vinous and with chocolate and some berries. A faint note of coffee too. Full-bodied and slightly warming. The finish is of the lasting kind, seemingly lasting forever. A lovely Christmas beer, strong and tasteful. 101229
Bottle. Brownish beer with a tan head. Cocoa and spice aroma with yeast and rich malt. Malt and spice flavor with light cocoa and light yeast. Medium-plus bodied. Light chocolate and light malt linger with light toffee, yeast, and spice.
Bottle. Red amber colour with a beige head. Aroma is alcohol, sugar, malt, fruit, chocolate. Flavour is sugar, alcohol, malt, hop, fruit, chocolate, spices. Very nice beer.
Bottle… Space Coast Craft Beer Festival 2011… Pours very dark brown with a small, creamy, white head. Decent retention. The aroma is mainly of caramel and chocolate, but there are also nice components of leather, funkiness and smoke. Full-bodied and moderately carbonated with a 2%-milk mouthfeel. The well-balanced flavor presents some really nice “imperial brown ale” (toffee, caramel, mocha) features. Bittersweet, dry finish.
I should mention i tasted the last little bit in a bottle being shared by several people which probably effected it’s murkiness and carbonation
brown and murky and looks flat
nose is alcohol and yeast (tart and floral yeast)
med/thin body, flat
dry toast/bready yeast and mild alcohol flavours.
need to try again
bottle at home ... dark brown red ... big bubbly tan head ... soft fruity malty ... almost hint of sourness nose ...soft strong malts ... juicy fruits ... toffee malts ... light yeast... think this bottle is little past it best but still quite nice.
750ml bottle, cavedirect. Initial impressions were whisky shortbread, nothing wrong with that! Deep dark ruby beer, spicy, cherry flavours, off yellow head. The aroma is powerful and hits you even when the nose is well away from the glass. Rich fruit cake flavour, with port in the aftertaste.
Bottle 375ml. Pours hazy amber on a off white long lasting head. Aroma is complex, hoppy and hint of the barrel aging. Taste of malt, little hops. Bitterness in the end. Wonderful beer, don’t only needs to be a Christmas beer in my opinion. Belgium, here I come :)
Bottle,thanks to Curly. Pours hazy toffee brown, thin off-white head; very soft carbonation, lacing is spotty to poor. Nose is cocoa, dark fruit, spice, light "brandy" aroma from the alcohol as it warms. Flavours are reminiscent of Rochefort 6, though the cocoa is very pronounced and the spicy notes more muted. Nice warming in the cheeks, great spice, solid stuff.
Bottle: Poured a cloudy deep brown color ale with a large foamy head with good retention And some good lacing. Aroma of deep caramelized malt with notes of light toffee and light cacao notes are also noticeable. Taste is also a mix of heavily caramelized malt with well balanced sugar and notes of cacao with light traces of alcohol. Body is quite full with good carbonation and light apparent alcohol. Very nice beer with good amount of complexity and good drinkability factor.
500 ml bottle. Clear, dark amber with a dense tan head. Aroma is malt, dry fruit, chocolate and spices. Flavor is malt, sweet matured fruit, hops and spices. Very nice.