Bar Fly - Midnight Sun Brewing Co.

dsgolovin

California

4.5/5  rDev +1.1%

05-25-2012 18:08:25 | More by dsgolovin

DefenCorps

Oregon

4.53/5  rDev +1.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.5

Thanks to Kyle and Todd for bottles of this elusive beer.

Midnight Sun brews stouts that are incredibly pleasing to the eye, and this is no exception. Jet black, with a thick, dark brown head with excellent retention and lacing, this is a gorgeous stout. The nose is great. The smoke character here is delicate, moderately earthy and a little meaty, and the wine barrels are an inspired choice. Pairing well with the robust chocolate, roast and espresso of the base stout, the fruity vinous notes are excellent. Mildly jammy as well, the wine character is expressed very well .

The palate is truly unique. Very jammy and fruity from the wine, this is among the fruitier imperial stouts I've had. Flavors of blackberry and black cherriy come to mind, before the base stout, powerful in depth and balance, takes over. Plenty of dark chocolate (85%ish?), heavily roasted malts and a mild smoke character are present. The smoke character is really mellow here, most noticeable as an earthy, smoldering wet wood bitterness and flavor that's present towards the finish. A moderate spice character, anise being most prominent, is present as well. The finish is long and excellent, with a great blend of roast, bitterness and chocolate, with the unexpected (but wholly welcome) fruitiness from the wine. Oak character is minimal here. Medium-full in body with soft, creamy carbonation, this feels really great on the palate - so soft and so supple! Highly recommended.

Serving type: bottle

06-10-2013 04:07:54 | More by DefenCorps

sliverX

S. Georgia & S. Sandwich Isls.

4.75/5  rDev +6.7%

05-28-2013 00:23:21 | More by sliverX

ChugginOil

Illinois

4.5/5  rDev +1.1%

05-02-2013 18:29:57 | More by ChugginOil

JAHMUR

Connecticut

4.25/5  rDev -4.5%

03-10-2013 01:19:05 | More by JAHMUR

buzze40

Illinois

4.75/5  rDev +6.7%

03-03-2013 01:51:44 | More by buzze40

enelson

Illinois

4.5/5  rDev +1.1%

02-21-2013 15:01:41 | More by enelson

oregone

Oregon

4/5  rDev -10.1%

01-22-2013 16:53:45 | More by oregone

unclekeith

Alaska

4.25/5  rDev -4.5%

01-21-2013 06:13:50 | More by unclekeith

thagr81us

South Carolina

4.5/5  rDev +1.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Big thanks goes out to beeruser and funkydelic for sharing this one at a past Random Sunday Tasting! Served from bottle into a Mikkeller taster flute. Poured pitch black with a minimal brown head. Maintained excellent lacing throughout the glass. The aroma was comprised of sweet malt, caramel, dark fruit, sweet alcohol, wood, spices, and smoke. The flavor was of sweet malt, caramel, roasted malt, dark fruit, dark chocolate, wood, smoke, spices, and molasses. It had a heavy feel on the palate with mild carbonation. Overall this was an excellent brew. How had I never tried this before this??? Wow! This beer was definitely on a whole new level as it was quite enjoyable while being very complex and challenging. All of the right flavors were there for the style and were all there in a nice intense but not overpowering amount. This made it quite easy to drink and very enjoyable. Really glad I got the opportunity to try this one and I suggest you dig in your cellar to do the same. You won’t regret it.

Serving type: bottle

01-15-2013 11:59:45 | More by thagr81us

spycow

Illinois

4.5/5  rDev +1.1%

01-12-2013 06:07:21 | More by spycow

starrdogg

District of Columbia

4.75/5  rDev +6.7%

01-10-2013 14:03:12 | More by starrdogg

tewaris

Minnesota

4.25/5  rDev -4.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Insanely dark, among the darkest beers I have had and equally thick --- thick enough to stain the glass at the sides. Vanilla, sweet booze and spice, subtle smoke, dark fruit in volumes, roast at the end. Pretty darn good. Silky feel and medium carbonation.

Thanks Dan.

Serving type: bottle

01-08-2013 10:39:49 | More by tewaris

WeisGuy

New York

4.25/5  rDev -4.5%

12-17-2012 00:51:55 | More by WeisGuy

teddyarrowhead

Oregon

4.75/5  rDev +6.7%

12-16-2012 06:14:53 | More by teddyarrowhead

ReeseMax3

Alaska

4.25/5  rDev -4.5%

11-24-2012 01:26:07 | More by ReeseMax3

surlytheduff

Michigan

4.5/5  rDev +1.1%

11-13-2012 18:20:18 | More by surlytheduff

GrumpyOldTroll

New Jersey

4.75/5  rDev +6.7%

10-31-2012 02:08:46 | More by GrumpyOldTroll

t0rin0

California

3.5/5  rDev -21.3%

10-29-2012 00:55:21 | More by t0rin0

popery

California

4.75/5  rDev +6.7%

10-16-2012 18:30:19 | More by popery

MattMew

5/5  rDev +12.4%

10-03-2012 04:26:30 | More by MattMew

tarheels86

California

3.63/5  rDev -18.4%
look: 5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

651mL thanks to CaptainCougar. Pours an ink color- used motoroil. Opaque with a large, dense, deep brown head. Yessss. Nose...apples and similar to CCB Hunahpu nose. Cocoa, dark chocolate, red apple. Taste is rich, mild smokiness and bacon, big sweetness, small lemon, big strawberry and brown sugar. Sort of a disappointment with not much smoked character. 7/5/7/4/14=3.7

Serving type: bottle

10-02-2012 16:18:59 | More by tarheels86

Luk13

Quebec (Canada)

4.45/5  rDev 0%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5

Huge thanks to Kyle for opening this one. One of the most intense and balanced imperial stout I’ve had. Molasses, chocolate cake, vanilla and oak. Alcohol join the sweetness and intensity from the malts and brings this beer to a whole new level. Some dark fruits in the taste. Very rich and lovely palate.

Serving type: bottle

09-23-2012 18:32:17 | More by Luk13

fiver29

Ohio

4.48/5  rDev +0.7%
look: 5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Bottle shared by Mike. Thanks! Pours thick jet black with than head. Aroma is roasted malt and smoke. Dense and creamy mouthfeel. Almost as if it was made with oats. Taste was very nice meld of smoke, peat, coffee, roasted malt, and an herbal note. Very nice beer.

Serving type: bottle

09-11-2012 12:10:29 | More by fiver29

cosmicevan

New York

4.45/5  rDev 0%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5

massive thanks to vitese for the kind trade. enjoyed from a midnight sun tulip. Notes from 8/29.

a - dark and thick, like motor oil with a thin creamy head and streaky lacing. looks like a stout aught to look.

s - smoked indeed. some peat. some oak. some char. more porter than stout from the smokiness. good chocolate fruity roasty notes.

t - Wow...that's GOOD! really perfect amount of smoke. chocolate malts. some peat and smokiness from the wood. the roast is great. doesn't feel like red wine barrels, but it is a stout so haven't had many aged in red wine barrels, but upon realizing it was aged in red wine barrels, i can definitely believe it. there are some nice dark fruit notes in there which very well could be from the red wine barrels.

m - thick, rich, velvety. highlight of the beer is the mouthfeel. the ABV is totally invisible. i was shocked to see the number tied with the ABV.

o - overall, one of the best smoked beers i've ever had. really great chocolate notes intermingling with a perfect amount of smoke. this is what a smoked stout should be.

Serving type: bottle

08-31-2012 03:51:39 | More by cosmicevan