“ON THE 12th DAY OF CHRISTMAS A Boy Named Sue GAVE TO ME…”
(RELATED: Nashville Brews You Need from A Boy Named Sue)
12 Beers a BREWIN’! 11 More for drinkin’. 10 percent ABVin’. 9 Ladies Dancin’ (tipsy). 8 maids a moppin’ (after spilling my 4th 10%er). 7 swallows splashin’. 6 er’ I got for guzzlin’. 5 FINGERS HOLDING MY MUG!!! 4 calling lasts. 3 Final rounds. 2 many 10%ers. And a Port (no ridge) Brewing Santa’s Little Helper in ME…!!!!!!!!!!!
THE BELLY-UP GUIDE TO BEER: Chapter 7 by A Boy Named Sue
BARLEY POP #7: SANTA’S LITTLE HELPER Standard and BBA Imperial Stout (Port Brewing – San Marcos, CA)
SANTA’S LITTLE HELPER is the epitome of “it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas (beers)…everywhere you go.” What a wonderful time of the beer season…when all the great Christmas ales, barreled stouts and other delectable rich, dark, malty and scrumptious “huuugge” % ABV seasonal holiday concoctions have been brewed and released to celebrate this magical time of year…the holidays. ANNNNND, after spending any significant time with one’s family whilst laughing, eating, imbibing, unwrapping and ultimately arguing, what better way to ring home the holiday spirit and take a much needed swig of escape, joy and deliciousness than cracking open one of A Boy Named Sue’s all-time favorite beers.
SANTA’S LITTLE HELPER is an Imperial Stout brewed with notes of cocoa and coffee. It drinks a little dryer with a ton of roasty-ness that comforts the soul and coats the tummy in the best of ways. At 10% ABV, one of these poured into a shapely snifter will set the course right for a night of gift giving and getting while sipping on a rich, sensational DARK-as-night beer. SANTA’S LITTLE HELPER comes out seasonally about a month or two before Christmas and it’s a much anticipated fan favorite in the beer drinker world.
But…the best part of SANTA’S LITTLE HELPER is when those naughty brew-elvesters at Port Brewing take this amazing Imperial Stout and head back to silhouetted-Santa’s shop (check out the label on the bottle) and throw this fine libation into big ol’ bourbon barrels for about 8 months of aging. And, voilà!…BBA SANTA’S LITTLE HELPER appears faster than A Boy Named Sue at a Naughty Reindeer sorority mixer! This beer is an even more highly anticipated brew from Port Brewing that is released annually during their “Christmas in July” party. They say Christmas every day, but A Boy Named Sue can attest that this July 25thish release is as good a mid-summer present for the naughty as it is for the nice. The bourbon barrel aging brings this beer to 12%, but it drinks dangerously easy with a lighter body than the standard Imperial Stout. The best part of this beer is the nose and taste prevalence of bourbon…which makes it seem like ya just had the fanciest of fancy of boilermakers. I love this version…and you should too…Ya Filthy Animals!
The crew at Port Brewing are your quintessential kickass brewers…on point, fun, cool kat, good peeps that know how to make all kinds of styles of outstanding beers. Port Brewing is located in San Marcos, CA, which is North County San Diego…a mecca for crazy good beer making. San Diego is undoubtedly one of the original beer hubs of the craft beer blizzard that has blanketed this big, beautiful (believe me) U.S of A. Having been to the brewery a handful of times, it’s a chill tasting room with unique selections often times only released there. If you’re in the town founded by the Germans (Source: Ronald F. Burgundy) on a beer quest, definitely e-brake a sleigh shitty into the parking lot and belly up for some tasty beers.
Is A Boy Named Sue finally feeling some holiday spirit for a long overdue “Cheers”?! Tough luck, because this Grinch that stole your Beer-mas hearts says “Jingle All the NO Way”…Round 8 time!