Midnight Sun Cohoho Imperial IPA

22 oz. bottle from Liquid Solutions. Immediately began foaming out the top as soon as I opened it. Poured cloudy, opaque copper-bronze color with a giant, foamy beige head that left nice lacing as it diminished. Rich fruity malts in the aroma, dried apricot and plum, citrus and spruce hoppiness with a little bit of spice evident as well. Sweet, rich maltiness in the flavor as well, a bit of caramel along with the dried fruits, more spiceiness - some pepper and a piney hop bitterness in the finish with a touch of alcohol too. Full body and very gentle carbonation. Pretty good, but much more mellow than I was expecting for an IIPA.

Pour is deep ruby amber with a nice big tan head...smell is sweet with dark fruits, alcohol, and piney hops...a little thin in the mouth...watery...taste is sweet with some prunes and a slightly bitter alcoholic finish...

Bottle. Reminds me of Bigfoot for some reason. Dark amber, bordering on brown in color. Nice off-white head, good lacing. Malty aroma. Initial flavor is sweetly malty with a long hop bitter buildup and finish. Decent.

22oz bottle: pours a slightly cloudy orange/brown with a thick tan, meringue-like head. Big yeasty hoppy aroma. Flavor is hoppy, barleywineesque, malty, slightly sweet and fruity. Bitter hop finish. Really a nice beer.

The Lure:
Yeasty caramel and orange-flavored maple syrup invoke a rich and malty barley-winish persona at times. Citrusy and grassy hops concur, and the dive of the lips is met with considerable anticipation.

The Festivities:
Caramel and oranges are plentiful, and rest upon a freshly-cut piece of bark. Lots of grassy hop flavor and bitterness undermines the balance, but this is a Double IPA! Unadulterated hop glory, this is.

Transcendence:
A bit too much snow fell on the elegantly-decorated tree, but the charm remains.

Bottle courtesy of Footbalm, the Grand Puba of trading. Pours your standard medium brown IIPA color. Very good head retention. Aroma is dominated by piney hops, as well as the flavor. Only hints of malt. Aftertaste is a bit malty though, like a filmy amber ale taste. Give this a big kick of sweet caramel malt, and the score would jump to at least a 4.

Hugely fruity (pear, apple) aroma with herbal, resinous, American hops and some mild chocolatey notes. Opaque tan-brown with a decent, off-white head that covers persistently with some lacing. Strong grapefruit hop flavour with a pear-like over-all character and fairly sweet supporting malts. Large bitterness suffuses the taste buds and lasts in the after-taste. Medium body with a fairly dry finish and strong carbonation. Snifter glass, allowed to warm from fridge temp. Bottle enjoyed with Claude, MartinT and Rastacouere.

Cloudy copper pour, beautiful color. Gentle full off-white head slowly receds to a sticky cover. Heavy malt aroma unleashing maple and graham cookies components. Mellowed by a good level of sweetness and yeasty undertones yet concentration worthy. Not the most complex, but the hop profile is displayed gracefully, coming out soapy, woody. Pleasant rich caramel maltiness. Almost bready yeast undertones, at times hinting at butter. Diplomatic yet growing bitterness, sand-like, highly earthy, orangey and dry. As other Midnight Sun beers, the carbonation is prominent, though not disturbing unlike in their other brews. It is very well rounded, full bodied, airy and bubbly which seems to bring two sub-effects: A warming and filling sensation and a shorter flavor than it could have. I definitely can’t say it is for the worse on the other hand. Among the pack that closely follows the lead in the world of I2PAs and probably my favorite of the couple of Midnight Suns I’ve tried.