Midnight Sun Cohoho Imperial IPA

22 oz bottle from BottleTrek.com. I guess I am going to go against the grain on this one, but I thought this was an excellent DIPA. Pours a dark ruby with a frothy head with big lacing. Aroma is huge. Floral and citrus, mainly grapefruit, sting the nose. Flavor is similiar with the addition of pine, but with a nice caramel malt balance. A long dry bitter finish. ABV is undetectable. This is very easy to drink, great beer.

10/07 Another Midnight Sun procured by, and shared with, my brother. Clear orange pour with a medium white head that persisted nicely. Very inviting aroma of caramel, pine, citrus, some spiciness. LIghtly carbonated, medium body, and a resinous quality on the palate. Caramel and brown sugar sweetness up fornt, followed closely by a spicy and citrus peel bitterness. Satisfying dry finish. A quality brew.

220z bottle: Pours a clear dark amber to almost brown. Fine 1 finger tan head that leads to nice lacing. Aroma is sweet with some light citrus. Flavor is sweet and malty almost masking the hop character that you would expect from a double IPA. The mouth feel is well weighted but with a hint of effervescence. Good but not great DIPA would be better as a Double Red or American Strong.

Date: 03/26/2004
Mode: Bottle
Source: Whole Foods Market, DC

clear dark amber, thin tan head, strong hop aroma on top of sweet carmel malt, dry malt flavor, lots of bitterness, not much character
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Date: 02/01/2008
Mode: bottle
Source: tasting
Score: 2.9 to 3.8

sweet crystal malt aroma with lots of floral and citrus hops and a touch of piney sweetness, huge sweet crystal malt flavor, tons of balancing hops with citrus and pine in the forefront, light bitterness adds balance without detracting from the hop flavor, fresh is best

Aroma: 8/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 6/10; Overall: 16/20
Rating: 3.8/5.0
Drinkability: 8/10
Score: **4

Darker amber color with a medium off-white head. Aroma has some floral hops mixed with some sweet and bready malts and honey. Flavor is very sweet and malty - perhaps to its detriment. Hop flavors and feel are there, but not prominent enough. Seems a bit off for a DIPA. I would consider this to be a run of the mill American Strong Ale. I’m hoping to find some Midnight Sun beers that I enjoy more than this and the Sockeye Red IPA. This one is sweet and pretty tasty, just not what I was hoping for.

Aroma is not overly strong, seems floral, maybe a bit of citrus. Reddish amber color with a beige head that stays awhile. Medium bodied. Creamy carbonation. The hop is not super strong, and seems to be be citrus. There is medium roasted malt sweetness. The impact overall is a bit harsh rather than smooth. Nice retention of bitter into the finish, but it may never be very balanced at any one point. Finish is not all that dry at first. Very nice impression though. Heat is never very noticeable. Leaves the palate fairly clean.

Bottle Pours a clear deep chestnut color. rather darker than I expected. Very big, thick creamy off-white head with lots of blocky persistant lacing. Aroma is malty and woody. Hops are definately there but not very bright or citrusy. Flavor is big and lots of rich deep malt flavor. A bit ddissapointed on the hoppiness. Or lack of. Some bitterness is there but cant quite counter the malt profile. Likely I have a several month old bottle that has faded a bit in this area. ABV is noticeable but appropriate for the big flavor and the big rich heavy palatte. Feels great going down. Creamy and soft with just the right modest carbonation. Nice big beer.

22 oz bottle, via puzzl. Pours a dark copper to amber colored body under a fluffy craggy beige head. Tons of fat sticky lacing and lots of fine visible carbonation. The aroma is quite pungent with lots of citrusy and piney hops and a quite apparent hefty malt content. Minimal alcohol vapors with a light tea accent. Very aggressively hoppy and bitter flavor up front with a ton of sprucy pine pitch. Finishes slightly sweet with a toasted and caramel maltiness and lingering bitterness. Noticable but not overly hot alcohol emerging on the finish as well. Mouthfeel is full bodied but thankfully not sticky or cloying. There is some resiny stickiness but overall, pretty well attenuated. Clearly a hopheads delight. Midnight Sun delivers another great beer!