Midnight Sun Épluche-Culotte

Brewed by Midnight Sun Brewing Company
Style: Abbey Tripel
Anchorage, Alaska USA

Bottle. Hazy golden colour with a big white head. Malty, spicy, fruity aroma and taste. Medium body with a sweet finish.

Bomber. Dated second week of June 06. Beer gushes out of the bottle. Yeast coating in neck. For all of the mess, the beer itself is just a touch murky. Light golden brown with a large, white, frothy, diminishing head.<P> Before the head diminishes, the aroma is heavily tainted with the smell of dirty metal. Once that fades (mercifully) things clean out and open up. Becomes malty with moderate notes of toasted bread, toasted grain, caramel, cookie; Hoppy with moderate notes of lemon, herb, light note of pine; Yeasty with a light note of basement, a trace of dough; Light notes of coriander and spicy alcohol.<P> The flavor is moderately sweet, lightly bitter, lightly acidic with a long, warm, lightly bitter, lightly-to-mofderately sweet finish. Hoping it would be bolder.<P> Lovely mouth feel. The body is full, the texture is velvety and the carbonation is lively.

22oz from Liquid Solutions. A nice copper pour, with a big frothy head. What really leaps out is the huge aroma, with orange peel, a tad of cinnamon, and caramel coming out immediately. As the beer warms and you get the feel of the taste, different characters emerge - a faint hint of spice, a big buttery presence, and more fruit (even an occasional hint of apple). This is a bit too sweet and syrupy to get the highest of marks, but it’s a superb American tripel.

Bottle: Caramel colored, large spritzy off-white head, dies extremely quickly, sparce lacing.   For prior pours the head was quite nice, but this last pour seemed to die all of a sudden.   Soft floral nose, rich breadiness, pale fruit as well.   Sweet bready start, soft floral and fruity aspects.   Very slight alcohol, but well mannered given its 9% ABV.   Body is quite nice, mouthfeel is full to moderate.   Comes across as a quasi Belgian-American Triple, and it works rather well.   Floral being Belgian, bready being American.   Warming finish, slight caramel/toffee lingers.   More amazing stuff from Anchorage!

Wow...I was expected a lot more from this beer. First, it is way too carbonated. I cound’t keep it in the glass. Then, it smells just like a Euro Hefe. The flavor is much too sweet, and way to estery. From my way to limited experience with Belgian beer, they are known for their sublty and complexity. This is like getting hit over the head with tutti-fruity Kool-Aid. I’m sorry kids, but I’m rating to style here. And if you say Belgian Trippel, you better bring your A game. (And actually, I think that this is a witbier). Re-rate on 1 June 2008. I must have had a bad batch before. My second experience was much more a tripel, with a decent balance of esters, malt and hops with a dry finish. Pretty good. Re-rated to the middle.

From a 22oz Bottle, 2003 Vintage. Pours a slightly hazy orangey amber color with a tall layer of soapy white head. Fruity aromas of pineapple and apricots blend nicely with a twist of bourbony lime. Definitely a healthy addition of orange peel and coriander, which is quite prominent in the nose. Medium bodied, prickling carbonated mouthfeel. Lots of spice. Flavors of plantain flesh, nutmeg, orange skins, and a touch of coconut husk. Sweet, but the spicy characters and full carbonation keep it from becoming overbearingly heavy or cloying. A bit of a nutty character comes out on the backend, along with some more yeasty spice.

Nice deep golden color, spicy aroma and flavor. A little hoppy for a tripel, has a little thinness that isn’t quite right, but overall it’s a nice rendition of a Belgian tripel.

I haven’t seen this in stores in a long time, so I was quite suprised to see it available again, although by taste I think this may be older bottles that were just found. Slight oxidation shows, though the character of this beer was strong enough to begin with to cover it up. Very strong spiced nose with corriander, clove, and citrus. Starts sweet with a faint oxidized note, earthy and meaty flavor, and juicy fruity finish. Finish tastes like orange candy with a nice blend of spiciness to keep you wanting more. The carbonation held up great over time and this beer still tastes very nice.