Midnight Sun Arctic Devil Barley Wine

Brewed by Midnight Sun Brewing Company
Style: Barley Wine
Anchorage, Alaska USA

Bottle shared by bockyhorsey at hellbilly’s holiday tasting. Deep amber brown pour with a small foamy head. Caramel malt, raisins, brown sugar, hops and alcohol make up the aroma and flavor. A bit sweet, but an overall good barleywine. Thanks Bill!

Okay, so I was a bit hasty. I was just so eager to finally crack open the bottle of Arctic Devil that I made no note of its production year. Now, this beer was received in a trade waaay back in early 2008 (mid-February, IIRC). So, if we suppose it was, at the time, a current bottle, it was from the November 2007 release, making it a 2007 vintage. Let’s roll with that! 2007 Vintage. Appearance: Pours a delicately hazy, deep, russet-hued body with a thin, wispy, ecru-colored head. Smell: Strong, sweet-smelling malt aroma with plenty of dark caramel, toasted toffee, and brown sugar. While there is a ripe plum and dried fig fruit character, it’s simply bursting at the seems with a rich cherry fruitiness. There’s even room enough for vanilla, damp oaken barrels, and some nose-tingling alcoholic wafts. Taste: Thickly sweet and oh-so delectable dark caramel ice cream topping flavor garnished with a pinch of hearty cinnamon and brown sugar. Plenty of fruitiness, and, as with the nose, it’s big on the cherries! Drizzle of Grade A maple syrup straight from Vermont. Touches of vanilla and lightly tannic oak wood. An earthy bitterness melds in well with the rest of the brew. Now, mind you, there’s an ample amount of alcohol warmth coursing through this brew, but, thanks to the assertive maltiness, it prevents it from coming across as overly hot. Finishes long with plenty of drying alcohol and an enduring maltiness. Mouthfeel: Medium-full body. Medium carbonation. The mouthfeel is both silky and smooth. Drinkability: Another skillful release from Midnight Sun. Barleywines are addicting enough on their own, but Arctic Devil takes it to a whole new level of hedonistic indulgence. Overall, an exemplary brew!

22oz bottle, thanks Keith! Pours a really dark, black-looking mahogany with a creamy head. Really nice retention in this one. Nose is heavy on the malt with a large dose of dark fruits and brown sugar... very nice. Explosion of flavors on the palatte, this is one good barleywine. A little burnt malt, burnt tobacco going on, which lends an elegant air to it. I don’t really like the long, bitter finish brought about by the hops. A definite bourbon edge to it..was this aged in bourbon barrels? It’s really flavorful, rich, and elegant, but it just has that lingering hop bitterness I don’t care for.

22 oz. Cloudy orange/amber pour. Nearly no head, just some swirling cream bubbles. Sticks to the glass. Just looking at this one you know it’s going to be full of malty goodness. Brown sugar, malt, toffee, raisin and a fair amount of booze in the aroma. Also hints of piney hops. Taste has an abundance of malt, caramel, vanilla, yellow raisins. Little hop presence, but it is faintly there. Solid sticky body. Gets a little warm as it warms, but the flavors also pop as it warms. This is a meal, not sure how much of this I want to drink, but you could polish off the bomber before you realize it. Top notch Barleywine that has some hints of Old Ale. Unfortunate that so many are going to the hop bomb American style, this is a must try for those who like a barleywine the old English way.

Shared by psprings with the Phoenix Crew at hellbillys banjo hootenanny. Pours a nice caramel brown with a small whiet head. Aroma is caramel, hops, rasins, and a tad boozy. Flavor is caramel, malt, rasins, faded hops, a tad sweet but not too cloying. Really well integrated barleywine.

Brown, no head. Aroma is alcohol, toffee, thick caramel, light prune juice. Taste is toffee, light alcohol, caramel, light chocolate.

Bomber from Liquid Solutions. Nose of raisin pie, toffee, and a hint of molasses; really malty! Cloudy brown with a big, light cinnamon tan head. Flavor is toffee, dried prunes, and mild alcohol which lasts to the finish with a slight bitter hint!

A- Pours a muddy dark brown hue with little to no head. S- Hints of fig, plum, raisin, brown sugar, and light hints of alcohol. T- Light citrus notes (orange and tangerine), pine, deep fig and brown sugar notes that have a sharp start, full middle and very dry finish. M- Thick with medium carbonation. D- This is a great barleywine to sip on on a cold day.