Midnight Sun Mammoth Extra Stout

I first had this beer in Fairbanks, but I’m glad it made it down here so I could try it again. This stout features Pale, Special B, Biscuit, Black Patent, and roast barley with Magnum and Fuggle hops.

Stats:
Foreign Stout. 7.8% ABV. 50 IBUs. Alaska.

Very, very dark brown with an amazing head.

Soy sauce, chocolate, caramel, vanilla, and roast. Hits all your stout bases, but I could do with a little less soy sauce.

Mouthfeel is big and bold.

Soy sauce, roast, green apple, vanilla, and brown sugar all flood the palate. The mid-palate shows some of that roast with a bit of sweetness then finishes on a vanilla note.

It’s a lovely stout, but I could do without the soy sauce. That may or may not bother people, but it bothers me. Otherwise, this hits all the spots of a sweet stout. 88 points.

Midnight Sun Obliteration VII

Midnight Sun’s Obliteration Series is all about the hops. Almost all the beers in the series have been double IPAs, but this one is an imperial stout. This beer features Pale 2-row, Black malts with roasted and flaked barley. The hops include Warrior, Magnum, and Nugget, and is dry-hopped with Nugget.

Stats:
American Imperial Stout. 8.5% ABV. 100 IBUs. Alaska. Limited Release.

Very dark chocolate brown. Fluffy head on here.

Soy sauce comes through pretty big. Some chocolate also comes through with earthy hops.

Mouthfeel is very nice here. Medium to full bodied.

Hops hit the palate big time bringing a fairly earthy quality. It mellows a little bit towards the chocolate, but the hops come back with bitterness that’s on the high side of a stout. After the bitterness fades, the most amazing coffee and chocolate length emerges.

It’s a hoppy mother of a stout, but damn, it’s got attitude that you have to try. 91 points.

Midnight Sun Mayhem

Here’s a Belgian style double IPA from Anchorage’s Midnight Sun. This beer features all Pilsner malt with Simcoe, Columbus, Summit, and Amarillo hops.

Stats:
Belgian India Pale Ale. 8.2% ABV. 100 IBUs. Alaska.

Nice, hazy, burnt yellow color. Fantastic head.

Deliciously hoppy nose with a citrus tang. Lots going on in here. I love the strawberry and honey component that I’m getting.

Mouthfeel is very nice here. Actually medium-full bodied with a higher carbonation.

Hops hit first, then the yeast characteristics come into play. Quite citrusy, with a bit of a tart character. The yeast is pronounced, but still balanced with the hops. There’s a slight tobacco note and vanilla.

Tasty! A very nice example of the style 90 points.

Midnight Sun Meltdown

Continuing with the Alaskan kick, I’ve got a double IPA from Midnight Sun in Anchorage. It doesn’t say what hops are used. I’ve actually had this beer before and liked it quite a bit, but never reviewed it. So here it goes.

Stats:
Double India Pale Ale. 8.0% ABV. 80 IBUs. Alaska. Spring Seasonal.

Burnt orange color with a fantastic, fluffy head.

Nice hoppy nose with a bit of pine, but there’s a nice sweetness to it. It’s got a vanilla/custard type of thing going on, mixed with a hint of orange peel and just a slight hint of cocoa and mushrooms.

Mouthfeel is on the full-bodied side of medium. It’s a hearty beer.

Nice shot of pine resin and mushrooms, but then followed by a bit of vanilla and orange to balance out the flavors. Long finish of vanilla and pine.

Another delicious beer from these guys. 90 points.

Midnight Sun Old Whiskers

I definitely needed a change of pace, and it has been awhile since I’ve had a hefe, so this really hit the spot. This beer features 50% 2-row Pale and 50% wheat malts, but they don’t tell you what hops are used.

Stats:
Hefeweizen. 5.0% ABV. Alaska.

Cloudy yellow-orange color. Nice, fluffy, white head.

Lovely nose. Very fruity with a banana and orange coming through, and of course some wheat and yeast.

Mouthfeel is pretty nice. On the light side, but still has some body.

Nice banana, clove, and orange flavor here which transforms into apple, wheat and yeast flavors.

Pretty delicious beer. It’s got those nice fruity esters balanced with the wheat. Just what I needed as a little pick-me-up. 89 points.

Fairbanks Trip

Hey folks. I just got back from a few days in the town of Fairbanks, Alaska. It was cold…like -30F cold. BUT I got to try some new beers. There’s only a few breweries in Alaska and only one in Fairbanks. Apart from Alaskan in Juneau, there’s Midnight Sun and Anchorage Brewing in Anchorage, Kassik’s in Kenai, and Silver Gulch in Fairbanks.

Kassik’s is a new one for me. They’ve got some slightly dirty labels, so that’s always cool. The Beaver Tail came home with me, so you will see a review for that soon. The Morning Wood IPA wasn’t all that spectacular, but the Moose Point Porter was a delicious brew with a lot of chocolate and coffee coming through.

One of the breweries that I’ve been trying my hardest to get is Anchorage Brewing. The brewer left Midnight Sun, which is a great brewery, to start his own…and he’s doing 100% barrel aged beers. That takes some balls. I’ve only had this Tripel from them, but it’s the best Tripel that I’ve ever had. It’s been aged in French Chardonnay barrels with Brett. It was full of flavor and amazingly complex, but like a great beer, showed an amazing amount of balance. Just an amazing beer. If This is on par with the other beers this guy is producing, they can rival Russian River.

My girlfriend and I went to Silver Gulch Brewing for New Years Eve. This is the only brewery in Fairbanks and they put out a more upscale dinner menu. I had a chance to try three beers from these guys and was really impressed by the quality. They have 4 year-round beers that are bottled, but they have about 8 seasonals/special release beers. I tried the Snow Hook IPA, which was okay. It was strangely sweet. My girlfriend got the Dark Lady chocolate milk stout. That was a great beer. Huge flavor without being too sweet.

And of course, I had to try the Fairbanks Lager. I was pretty excited to see that they make a couple lagers in addition to all the ales. I got to try their Cold Foot Pilsner earlier in the day, and thought it was a decent brew, but not amazing. But the Fairbanks Lager, pictured above, was a delicious Vienna Lager. Nice hint of toasted malts and a little bit of sweetness in a very drinkable package. It’s no Chuckanut, but still a damn fine beer.

Fairbanks is an interesting place to visit, if you ever get the chance. There are some super friendly people up there and if you’ve never drunk whiskey at 30 below, I recommend you try it once. I hope everyone has a great New Year. Cheers.

Midnight Sun TREAT

This is an Imperial Chocolate Pumpkin Porter. Doesn’t that sound amazing? If you are wondering what TREAT stands for, and why wouldn’t you be, it’s The Royal Eccentric Ale Treatment. This beer features Pale, Carafa, and chocolate malts and Fuggles hops with pumpkin, cocoa nibs, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves.

Stats:
Pumpkin Ale/Porter. 7.8% ABV. 30 IBUs. Alaska. Fall Seasonal.

Dark chocolate brown to black in color. Not much head on this one.

The nose is just like a pumpkin beer with all the spices coming through, but has a nice chocolate component, too.

Mouthfeel is actually a little light. I’d like to see a bigger body with less carbonation.

Just like the nose, it’s got the spices with a nice bit of chocolate. If I had this totally blind, I wouldn’t even think it was a porter. It’s doesn’t have much roast on it.

Not a bad beer, but doesn’t blow me away. The chocolate is pretty light and drowned out. Reminds me a lot of the Pumking with a little bit of cocoa. 87 points

Midnight Sun Kodiak Brown Ale

I’m not normally a big brown ale fan, but this is Midnight Sun. Most of what I’ve had from them has been pretty good. This brown features caramel and roasted malts with Perle and Willamette hops.

Stats:
English Brown Ale. 5.0% ABV. 24 IBUs. Alaska.

A bit darker than most browns, getting to a light porter color. Head didn’t last all that long.

It smells pretty much like you’d expect, but on a darker side of things, with a lot of chocolate coming through and a little bit of coffee. Nice nose.

Good mouthfeel, medium bodied. Just a hair too light for me, but no big deal.

Brown sugar, vanilla, this amazing cinnamon apple thing mixed in with just a ridiculous amount of chocolate, and coffee also makes an appearance. Now, this beer is definitely “American” with a hop profile that I’ve never seen in a brown. This gives it a bitterness on the back and cuts some of the sweetness.

This is straight up the best brown I’ve ever had. This is a brown ale with attitude, and I’m loving it for that. 89 points.

Midnight Sun Arctic Rhino Coffee Porter

Here is the 3rd beer that I got from Midnight Sun. This one is a coffee porter. I’m sometimes wary of coffee beers because they can tend to be overwhelming or one-trick ponies. But when a coffee beer is good, I’ll love it!

Stats:
Porter. 5.0% ABV. 20 IBUs. Alaska.

Black with chocolate brown hues. Dark tan head that fades.

A lot of coffee on the nose. Reminds me of Goosebump. There is also a considerable rich chocolate aroma. I’m surprised how strong it is.

Surprisingly light mouthfeel, too light.

Some stale coffee flavor upfront and a hint of chocolate. Wow, flavor completely dies in the mid midpalate, havn’t had that in awhile. Ends with a slight tobacco and coffee flavor, but pretty light flavor.

I loved the Sockeye and the Panty Peeler, but Midnight sun didn’t get this one right. Way too light, the flavor dies. They need to rethink this beer. Even the stale coffee flavor isn’t that appealing. 79 points.

Midnight Sun Sockeye Red

My girlfriend was kind enough to bring me back 3 beers from her native Alaska. I got this beer, the Arctic Rhino (which you will see tomorrow), and the Panty Peeler. No review for the Panty Peeler as that was my weapon of choice for GtwF! This beer features plenty of hops including Centennial, Cascade, and Simcoe.

Stats:
India Pale Ale. 5.7% ABV. 70 IBUs. Anchorage, Alaska.

Brownish red in color with a lasting head and some decent lacing.

Very hoppy nose. Lots of citrus and pine. There is definitely a pine forest in this glass. Reminds me of Hop Rod Rye.

Lowish carbonation, but good mouthfeel.

Again, very hoppy, very piney, and very citrusy. Hint of diacetyl, but not bad. Fantastic length, leaves you with a apple, orange, and pine.

Lovely beer, but for hop heads only. Reminds me a lot of Hop Rod Rye and just about as good. This might be a difficult one for most to find, but if you do, get it! 91 points.