Midnight Sun Arctic Devil Barley Wine

07/09/08. - - Courtesy of tpd975. Pours amber with tan head. The aroma is big and inviting with caramel and rich dark fruity esters of grapes, plums and sweet berries before it heats up a bit. The taste is rich and yummy but does have some alcohol welling up. I get creamy caramel candy and some nutty roasty malts. Then the big dark fruitiness comes in and rides into the finish along with a warming alcohol sensation. Leaves a sweet lip smacking feeling behind.

Sampled at the O-Town throwdown. This beer has a nearly opaque copper color with thin tan head. The aroma is pretty big with lots of dark fruitiness and with hints of caramel and sweet malts. There also seems to be some whisky and alcohol in the background. The flavor is delicious barleywine dark and shriveled fruit flavors with a whisky and sweet caramel under currents. It ends sweet, syrupy and rather nice.

I was fortunate enough to have had this beer at the brewery. It was a gold medal if Im not mistaken at the 2006 Great Alaska Beer and Barley wine Festivle. Can these guys make a bad beer I think not!

Bottle... O-Town Throwdown... Murky brown ale with a vinous, earthy nose. Notes of sherry, caramel, wood and ethanol. The flavor is all sticky-sweet melted caramel and port wine. Full-bodied with mild carbonation. Caramel, cotton candy, warming finish. Kudos to boboski for sharing this one!

From a 22 oz. bomber bottle with a bottling date of November 2005, sampled at cellar temperature in a snifter. Poured a caramel barley wine brown with a small foamy light tan head that settled into a fine lacing, very minimal amount of sticking. Aromas of brown bready caramel, fruity esters, figs, raisins and berries, oaky vanilla that meshes with spicy alcohol, molasses and hints of pine. Good, moderate carbonation and a dry, crisp, alcoholic slick, velvety sipping medium-full bodied mouthfeel. Tastes of grain breads, toffee and caramel malts that combines with the molasses flavor, fruity, plums, figs and sour berries, woody alcohol that is very warming in the back of palate, earthy, pine herbal leafy hops emerge in the end, a soft, smooth bitterness, and a dry yeasty, malty finish. Definitely a sipper, a very nice English-style barley wine with a few American characteristics, one of the better ones I’ve tasted, a must try for any barley wine fan.

Thanks to SpringsLicker (& footbalm) for sharing this bottle at the Nashville tasting. Poured an amber color with an off-white head. Nice aroma of fruits, milk chocolate, and a light hint of alcohol. The flavor found vanilla, milk chocolate, caramel, and some cinnamon. Full body with a sweet aftertaste. A real nice slow drinker!

Thanks to footbalm for sending this to Springslicker and thanks to him for sharing it at the Nashville tasting. A hazeed deep brown pour with a slight lacing. A huge aroma of raisins and fruit with a nice presense of malt. A raisin flavor that is rich and smooth. This beer is still a little harsh. I could only imagine what it would be like to have several to try each year. A rich complex beer that was a pleasure to drink. A very good offering. thanks Jay

22oz. bottle, Nov. 2005 bottling date. 10% abv. Powerfully enticing and intriguing aroma, plenty of dark caramel and candyish, sugary sweetness blended with a touch of oak, nascent medicinal alcohol, faint whiskey, vanilla, nutty malts and hints of red grape, dried apricot, cellar must and coconut further in the background. Deep, dark garnet color, the head settling to a very slight tan ring around the rim of the glass. Flavor profile is full, complex and predominanty malty, with suggestions in varying degrees throughout of sugary, sweet, dark and toasty maltiness, spicy hop bitterness, woody bourbon, peppery alcohol and a rich fruitiness that contributes an undercurrent of raisin, date and black cherry. Palate is warming, smooth and expansive with suitably minimal carbonation felt and a massive body to support the myriad of flavors. An impressive beer and at seemingly just the right age. Perfect choice for a cold winter’s night. This one had also been on my wishlist for quite some time. Cheers, herb!

Many thanks to footbalm for sending this beer that has spent such a long time on my wants list. If this were more readily available, it would remain there, but this is a rare gem that should be shared. This pours a deep clear amber that produces a fleeting off-white head. Big caramel dominated complex aroma. Plenty of dried fruits and caramel characteristic of a good English Barleywine. Sweet and very smooth. Delightful sipper.