{"id":7525,"date":"2018-01-01T20:35:59","date_gmt":"2018-01-02T02:35:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theaposition.com\/tombedell\/?p=7525"},"modified":"2018-01-21T09:01:49","modified_gmt":"2018-01-21T15:01:49","slug":"12-beers-of-christmas-2017-8-port-brewing-santas-little-helper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/tombedell\/golf\/lifestyle\/7525\/12-beers-of-christmas-2017-8-port-brewing-santas-little-helper","title":{"rendered":"12 Beers of Christmas 2017 \u2013 8: Port Brewing Santa\u2019s Little Helper"},"content":{"rendered":"\"SLH<\/a>\n

Here\u2019s to a fortuitous 2018 for all! And on the eighth day of Christmas, a beer I\u2019d originally intended for Christmas Eve\u2014when Santa could use a little help\u2014albeit he always seems to get the job done anyway.<\/p>\n

Somehow the internal chaos here prevented any holiday beer being seriously tasted that night. The pandemonium was happy enough\u2014greeting an influx of relatives, downing copious amounts of pizza, decorating the tree and, once finally stashing grandchildren into beds, stacking presents under it. There was the end of \u201cIt\u2019s a Wonderful Life\u201d to attend to, some last minute wrapping to be done, and then finally settling down for a short winter\u2019s nap.<\/p>\n

By Christmas dinner we were, as noted yesterday<\/a>, ready for more, loaded for bear. By we I mean my familial tasting panel, who chimed in with sleigh full of impressions on this 10% ABV Imperial Stout: molasses, sugar cane syrup, brown licorice, dates, prunes, with a boozy aroma, chewy mouthfeel and a touch of sour pucker at the finish.<\/p>\n\"SLH<\/a>\n

My son-in-law, barbecue restaurateur Glenn Brunetti, said, \u201cIt\u2019s a straightforward brew in that there aren\u2019t a lot of hidden characteristics; and it\u2019s delicious.\u201d Tautly put.<\/p>\n

Lilah, at 11 my youngest grandchild, was the sole dissenter after she took a sip: \u201cThat\u2019s worse than the one I had two years ago, the one that tasted like barf!\u201d At her advanced age, or overcome by alcohol, her memory plays tricks on her. It was three years ago, when she was eight, and she described the Petrus Winter #9 Ale<\/a> as tasting like \u201ccinnamon and barf.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nate, at 17 my oldest grandchild, hasn\u2019t developed a taste for beer, despite a recent semester in England. He wouldn\u2019t even try it. I was never able to interest Nate in golf, either. All my influences seem to have gone for naught, although the poor, misguided young lad has expressed a desire to be a writer.<\/p>\n

But why go on when Tomme Arthur himself can talk all about this beer and its summer cousin, which is the same beer but aged in bourbon barrels before its release in July? Meaning, more from the batch we just drank is even now conditioning away in barrels:
\n