Sockeye Red IPA - Midnight Sun Brewing Co.

loren01

Oregon

4.2/5  rDev +10.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A: Pours a dark amber color, nice frothy white head good lacing down the glass
S: Bready malt followed by floral hop scent
T: Much like the smell, bready malt followed by citrusy floral hoppiness
M: Medium bodied, finishes slightly dry
D: This is a great beer, would buy this again for sure.

Serving type: bottle

02-02-2011 22:02:49 | More by loren01

SpdKilz

Illinois

3.55/5  rDev -6.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Appearance - Pours into my SA Perfect Pint with an amber color. About a finger of head is achieved that quickly dissipates leaving very little lacing.

Smell - Heavy floral hops, slight citrus, and a caramel malt backbone.

Taste - Quite herbal, floral, almost medicinal. I get some citrus and pine at the tail end, and also a slight malty backbone, but overall, this seems (reminds me somewhat) of the Saison de Buff from DFH in the fact there is too much herb/floral going on here (spices, etc.). Not really feeling it.

Mouthfeel - Medium bodied, decent carbonation.

Drinkability - Ehh, won't pick this up again. Just not really what I expected.

Serving type: bottle

02-02-2011 03:47:27 | More by SpdKilz

Rutager

British Columbia (Canada)

4.45/5  rDev +17.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Appearance. Deep amber with 1 finger off white head and some nice lacing.

Smell. Citrus fruit, some bready malt. Some ...under-ripe bananna?

Taste. Good hop flavour and just enough bitterness. Citrus fruit and a little pine tree sap. Some light malt to balance, but not take away from the predominant hoppy goodness. Very little sweetness and it works great. Good stuff.

Mouthfeel. Medium carbonation and just a little thin.

Drinkability. A great drinker. Refreshing and crisp.

Serving type: bottle

01-28-2011 00:17:49 | More by Rutager

KevinBrewer

California

3.83/5  rDev +0.8%
look: 5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A- Clear dark reddish copper hue with a billowy tan head that last forever and leaves tons of sticky lacing on the glass.

N- Pungent, earthy hops with accents of grapefruit, pineapple, and melon.

T- Sweet toasty malt supports herbal and grapefruit hops. There is a light tropical fruitiness along with twangy grapefruit bitterness in the middle. The bitterness tastes sort of medicinal to me, I guess powdery would be the closest word to describe it. Grapefruit rind, grassy bitterness, and some mineral in the aftertaste.

M- Medium-light body with a bone dry bitter finish.

D- Nice tasty red IPA. The medicinal quality of the bitterness bothers me a little. I think the beer would be an A+ if it were less bitter and had more of the fruitiness. I might change my mind after trying this beer a few more times. I'll find out as I plan to buy a few more bombers.

EDIT: Holy shit, this beer is so hoppy it turns your tongue yellow!

Serving type: bottle

01-11-2011 05:05:01 | More by KevinBrewer

jsprain1

Minnesota

4.2/5  rDev +10.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

A- Pours a deep red/amber. Head was a thin finger that didn't persist all that well but left some wisps of lacing.
S- slight toast and lots of pine and resiny hop aromas. slight bit of eh... "special herb" aroma in there as well.
T- Definitely hop forward. Starts with pine/resin hop flavor with notes of tropical fruit. Slight caramel malt. A bit of a strange finish. Slightly medicinal. Not terrible but just a bit disjointed.
M- Medium body, on the dry side.
D- A solid IPA that I could definitely revisit and have a few of without any problem.

Serving type: on-tap

01-09-2011 07:41:22 | More by jsprain1

beertunes

Washington

3.13/5  rDev -17.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Poured into 10oz glass. Poured a very nice copper color with an inch of light tan head that had very good retention and decent lacing.

The aroma was a nice blend of floral, pine and weed scents. The flavors were sort of similar, but there was a weird metallic finish.

The body was decent, a bit thinner than I like. Drinkability was good, but that weird finish took a lot away. Overall, a decent enough beer, not special, but worth trying if you see it.

Serving type: bottle

01-07-2011 22:39:00 | More by beertunes

strictlyrocks

Alaska

5/5  rDev +31.6%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

One of Earth's most exceptional products. Sockeye Red IPA tastes like Alaska. It's B+ average rating is akin to "There Will Be Blood" averaging an 8.2 on the IMDB - an indictment of the system. Of course there has to be some leverage for personal preference, but any rating that dips beneath an 'A' means they almost certainly didn't understand it.

Serving type: bottle

01-03-2011 04:57:48 | More by strictlyrocks

DeanMoriarty

California

4/5  rDev +5.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Picked up a 22oz bomber for $6.99 (wow - pricey!) at Olive Tree Market here in OB and poured it into a tulip glass.

A: Pours a clean reddish/copper hue with a solid one-finger head that sticks around a while leaving a thick coat of lace in my glass from start to finish.

S: Fresh and hoppy - floral citrus earthiness, fermented cherries with nice sweet carmel malt to round it all out.

T: Good bitter hop upfront with a big citrus bight and tons of earthy resins and piney flavors, balanced well with tasty sweet roasted malt.

M: Medium-bodied but definitely on the lighter side of it, pretty dry for an IPA, well carbonated but not too much with a lingering bitterness from the hop.

D: These are easy to throw back, but man i'm trying to figure out how they justify charging $6.99 - just doesn't seem right if you ask me.

Serving type: bottle

12-21-2010 02:55:11 | More by DeanMoriarty

Xul

California

3.95/5  rDev +3.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

A: Translucent dark golden with major ruby highlights, capped by two fingers of frothy off-white head. Retention is moderate as the head settles slowly to a thin layer of foam.

S: Piney hops up front, followed by some slightly stale citrus - orange and pineapple mainly - backed by a big caramel base. It doesn't smell exceedingly fresh, but it just hit San Diego...confusing.

T: Tastes fresher than it smells, opening up with moderate pine presence and light citrus. Caramel base shines on the mid-palate before the hops return, building up to a rather strong, hoppy finish of pine, oranges and pineapple.

M: Medium to full bodied with moderate carbonation, has a great creamy smoothness.

D: Rather refreshing and easy drinking...good IPA, but certainly wouldn't become an everyday choice for me.

Serving type: bottle

10-31-2010 02:21:11 | More by Xul

lacqueredmouse

Australia

3.98/5  rDev +4.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Yeah, so it's somewhere between a red ale and an IPA, obviously. The colour is not quite the bright and burgeoning mahogany red of a proper red ale, but it's slightly too dark for a real IPA. Head is extremely light white, very bright and very clear. Some lacing, but it's minimal. Looks reasonably good.

Nose is wonderful, a big tropical apocalypse of fruity and pungent West Coast hops. Big pineapple notes, with citrus rind and a little crushed grass to accentuate the sharpness. Very sweet and robust. If it's missing much else, it can be forgiven; these are the characters you want in an IPA.

Taste is nicely done. Big hop character on the front, which dissipates quickly after dropping a dollop of fruity hop resins. It clears very quickly, with little on the mid palate before a slight oily bitterness asserts itself on the back. Overall hop character is restrained, but there's little malt on it whatsoever, so there would be little body to back up the hops if they were more dominant. Overall, it feels rather well balanced. Feel is clean and crisp, what with the light body, but it fits the beer.

Very decent IPA, but the Red in the name only hints at a slightly deeper colour to the appearance. There's certainly no greater grain or malt character to it, and while it's a little thin, that probably aids the drinkability. Not the best example I've had, but it's tasty enough.

Serving type: bottle

10-29-2010 17:21:34 | More by lacqueredmouse

Overlord

California

3.13/5  rDev -17.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

Wow, I didn't think I'd be disappointed by a midnight sun brew, but this did the trick.

Pours a reddish amber color. Huge white foam head.

Smells faintly of pine, strongly of ... hmm.... strongly of nothing. Just some pine, maybe a faint hint of stale citrus. Just kind of ... flat and stale.

Taste is ... just ... old. This was supposedly a fresh shipment, and my take kind of matches some other reviews, so I don't know ... just kind of a flat, stale malt flavor, a bit of bittering pine. Not much going on here.

Really carbonated.

Serving type: bottle

10-14-2010 08:08:39 | More by Overlord

dubinsky

California

3.73/5  rDev -1.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

A - Copper with an amber tinge and very good clarity. Nice and soapy two finger tan head.

S - This beer is rather old. Oops, fell into the abyss of my beer fridge and i saw it and realized it needed to be drunk ASAP. Perhaps the age on this beer has diminished the smell, since its rather faint for an IPA, but i am smelling pine cones, citrus and floral hops with virtually no malts.

T - Great blend of piney hops, citrus rinds, pineapple and malt. I surprisingly really enjoyed the taste given the age of this one. Great bitter finish.

M - A moderate to low carbonation. Perhaps this is a factor of age, but it was rather flat.

D - An enjoyable beer, but at the price of this bottle, $6.49 i think i will stick with Green Flash Hop Head Red.

Serving type: bottle

09-17-2010 03:50:44 | More by dubinsky

Docer

Washington

4.13/5  rDev +8.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Snagged up a bottle at By The Bottle here #inthecouve Vancouver, WA.... nice to see more Midnight Sun brews...

- Nice thin white layer of foam with a rather large ring around my tulip... Very clear reddish copper ale... looks pretty.

- Hops galore... pine, grapefruit, grassy.... light grain, biscuit..

- Wonderful light grainy flow of hops... balanced, and yet the flavors are hop prominent... grapefruit, pine, bitter bite... bready grain, smooth caramel...

- Medium to light bodied... carbonation is near perfection...

- Very drinkable red ale.. I do prefer a little more grain, oats, and roasty touch to a red... but this is what it is... a more red IPA... and certainly is more bitter up front... but yet finishes with great hop aromas... what seems to be various hops...

Serving type: bottle

09-15-2010 01:59:06 | More by Docer

hooliganlife

Missouri

3.98/5  rDev +4.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Pours a deep ruby copper with hints of brown. Nice inch high head and amazing lacing.

Lots of sweet citrus and floral hops with sweet candy malts.

Tons of hops come out at you with a nice bitterness of pine and citrus. Hints of spice. Nice light sweet malt presence.

Moderate carbonation with a medium to light feel. Not thin by any means but a bit light.

This was a delicious amber ipa. Tons of flavor and very fun and interesting. Perfect ABV made this 22oz easy to kill.

Serving type: bottle

08-14-2010 05:11:58 | More by hooliganlife

SanDiegoBeerLove

California

3.85/5  rDev +1.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Bottle dates 04/01.

A - Amber color with about a finger and a half of light tan head average lacing.

S - Smell of Caramel, Pineapple, Citrus, Candied sugar and hint of Rose wine.

T - Tastes of Citrus, Hops, Tart Raspberries, sweet stawberries, and a mineral water finish.

M - Medium body with a crisp bite.

D - Overall a very good and drinkable Hoppy Red Ale. I will be buying this one again hopefully a little fresher.

Serving type: bottle

07-22-2010 04:34:22 | More by SanDiegoBeerLove

Georgiabeer

Georgia

3.55/5  rDev -6.6%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Hmmm. A gusher, and its labelled 6/10 at the store. Pours reddish amber with a huge rocky head. Smells a bit grainy, and a little old. Some light sourness in the smell, but I don't think its infected, just a bit from the grain. The taste is hugely bitter with piney and earthy hops and grapefruit pith. A little one dimensional. The malt body can't stand up to the hops, and seems thin. Out of balance, and not in a good way. They've done much better- or maybe its just a bad bottle- but consistency counts as well.

Serving type: bottle

07-21-2010 07:12:13 | More by Georgiabeer

mgbickel

Pennsylvania

3.93/5  rDev +3.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Straight from the great state of Alaska; brought to Pittsburgh by my wife's best friend and the godmother of my youngest...if you ever read this Erin, thank you so much!

Poured from a 22oz bottle into a Perfect Pint glass. A massive, 2 ½ fingers of sandstone head formed on top of the clear, rusty amber body. The thick layer of foam slowly dissipated, mounding in the center like Mt. McKinley, leaving a huge amount of froth on the side of my glass.

The nose has a lot of sweet aromas...caramel, roasted malts, and milk sugar. There are some hops present, but not what I would expect from an IPA...they linger in the background more so...

Well, the shy nose hops sure as hell don't follow the rules on the palate! They hit hard and fast, coating my mouth with a piney resin that sticks around throughout the entire drink. The caramel/malt notes are still there, but (totally opposite form the nose) they play a secondary role.

The mouth is on medium bodied, oily and decently carbonated.

Drinkable for sure...wish it was available in my region. Worth a try if you are in Alaska (or CA, or wherever else it is dist.)!

Serving type: bottle

06-30-2010 00:23:58 | More by mgbickel

augustgarage

California

3.73/5  rDev -1.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Poured from a 22oz bomber into my Dogfish Head shaped pint glass.

Rust colored body with faint glimmers of yellow peeking out around the edges. Decent clarity despite the dark color. Immense rocky beige head with thick merengue-like lacing and superior retention.

Earthy, herbal, almost smokey hop aromatics merge seamlessly into the caramel from the malt. Fresh and hemp-like.

Bitterness seems high initially but the forest floor flavors dominate into the finish, accompanied there by a lingering lightly toasted malt flavor with a whisper of smoke. Mid-palate is a different story, as the sweet buttery caramel flavor seems out of place and doesn't contribute anything positive to the profile, and clashes somewhat with the small amount of citrus that I can taste.

I would have guessed that there is a substantial addition of Chinook hops to this brew, but it seems what I am getting is more a combination of the Centennial and Cascade that they used (though I would never have thought they used Simcoe).

Medium-bodied, rich, with prickly carbonation.

A potent albeit imperfect NW-style IPA, which I think would pair well with Gruyere de Comte or maybe a smoked cheese...

Serving type: bottle

05-23-2010 18:00:07 | More by augustgarage

Gobzilla

California

4.18/5  rDev +10%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A: poured amber colored with a finger head and a little lacing.

S: citrus fruit sweet malt and not as much hops as I thought it would have. I get a slight caramel aroma as well.

T: good hop bitterness but crisp and dry finish with a good malt balance to even this brew out. I also like the citrus fruit that accent the fresh clean flavor.

M: crispy meduim bodied beer with great carbonation to enhance the overall hoppy based brew.

D: definitely a better than I expected coming from the land of the ice.

Serving type: bottle

05-13-2010 08:15:27 | More by Gobzilla

beachbum1975

Ohio

4/5  rDev +5.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Picked this up yesterday at City Brewing in San Fran. Per the owner at City Beer, they just started carrying Midnight Sun a short time ago - woot for me!

Pours a crystal clear reddish brown with tan highlights. Gorgeous to look at, but it would be nicer if the light tan head lasted longer.

The nose is very pleasing. Floral, almost rose-like qualities mixed with citrus and a mildly sweet caramel.

Light to medium bodied with higher carbonation. The hops are much more powerful when tasting. The amount of hops bring a nice crisp and bitter freshness...

Very refreshing and enjoyable. I'd have this again if it was available to me in Cincinnati...

Serving type: bottle

05-10-2010 04:43:57 | More by beachbum1975

barleywinefiend

Washington

4/5  rDev +5.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A true NW style IPA. Some love it, some hate it and I happen to dig it.

A: Nice copper color with good carbonationa nd a big white head

S: Lots of fresh, earthy hops, fuits, mainly a light citrus, tropical

T: Nice citrus, tropical fruit taste, earthy undertones, finish is a sting of very light booze and hop bitterness with some malt.

M: Has a sharp, short lived hop bite, earthy, malty and syrup feel.

D: Pretty darn good.

Serving type: bottle

05-04-2010 03:58:47 | More by barleywinefiend

womencantsail

California

4/5  rDev +5.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Bottle courtesy of ipa247. Thanks Jeff!

A: The pour is a red-orange/amber/copper color with a rather fluffy off-white head.

S: The nose is quite heavy on the bitter grapefruit, pine, and even some mild floral notes. There's still a bit of bread and caramel malt in the background.

T: The beer has a wonderful and sharp bitterness to it which I found very enjoyable. The hops are quite piney and have plenty of bitter grapefruit as well. The malt stands out a bit more than I generally like, but not sweet by any means.

M: The body is on the lighter end of the medium spectrum with a moderate carbonation and a pleasant bitterness.

D: This was a very nice beer from Midnight Sun. A bit of a mix between an IPA and a hoppy amber ale which worked well. I'd taste this one again.

Serving type: bottle

04-01-2010 17:37:30 | More by womencantsail

BrewerB

California

3.03/5  rDev -20.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 2.5

Reddish-copper. Great clarity. Formed an off-white, sticky foam with great retention. Hops dominating in the aroma. Pineapple/tropical fruits perch atop a moderately-rich caramel maltiness. Would appreciate more hop character in the flavor. Medium-dry finish. Medium bodied with a moderately-high carbonation. Glad to have tried it but unlikely to purchase a second bottle.

Serving type: bottle

03-29-2010 02:40:24 | More by BrewerB

bcm119

California

4.13/5  rDev +8.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A reddish amber color with a substantial frothy head. Wonderful PNW hop smell with some sweetish caramel hints. Hops are very prominent, and bitter. They are fresh, green, and permeate the palate with citrus rind bitterness. Delicious. The malt is substantial, and has a caramel flavor, but thankfully isn't very sweet, and its overpowered by the C hops anyway. While I normally don't like malty IPAs, this one's hop profile is so strong, green and fresh it really works well. Finishes clean and fairly dry. All this flavor in a 5.7 abv beer... I love it. If it were only cheaper I could drink this all night. A very nice IPA. I'm glad Midnight Sun is distributing around here now.

Serving type: bottle

03-12-2010 03:30:01 | More by bcm119

popery

California

4.33/5  rDev +13.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Bottle, home. Very good IPA. The beer is a bright reddish amber, translucent, with a big, creamy off-white head. The aroma is intensely hoppy with a nice caramel malt backbone. I'm a sucker for hops, particularly Simcoe, and this beer has gads of them. It's a pretty even mix of normal American hop notes: grapefruit rind, floral, pine/spruce. There's a relatively big malt presence, but the beer seems relatively dry. It's a bit hard to tell under the bushel of hops that dominate each sip, not that I mind. The feel is really the only thing that tips off the relatively low abv of this beer. It's not bad or anything, but the aroma and flavor wouldn't be amiss in a DIPA. I wish that the price was a bit lower, so I could drink this beer more often. Great.

Serving type: bottle

02-26-2010 05:52:14 | More by popery