Midnight Sun La Mâitresse du Moine

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

Very big head. Ruby brown. Sweet fruit aroma. Nice drinkable beer. More like a thin java stout. Smokey chocolate flavour. Slightly sour.

Thanks So Very Much to rater Kinz for sending me this allusive brew! I have been wanting to sample this beer for over a year now!

Rating # 570
Bottle dated 1st week of September 2003
This beer was carbonated like none other! I popped the cap and FSSSSSSIT, a loud gust of carbonation. Pours a shadowy dark amber body.. almost brown in color. The head is a massive and rocky kaki foam. The lacing is ridiculous… it cloaks the inner glass with the finniest film and lacey bubbles.
This beer is nothing like I was expecting! Actually, I don’t know what I was expecting but I don’t think it was this? The aroma is sweet with chocolate, toffee, and molasses and lightly smoky… Fruity notes of figs, dates, and chocolate covered orange sections. Man, you don’t have many Belgian Strong Ales with such a character of a porter style beer. I’m finding large notes of coffee in the flavor but with that yeasty, spicy and doughy flavor that typifies the BSA’s. There are such immense suggestions of chocolate and vanilla in the brew… it’s incredible! There are also big suggestions of raisins, black pepper and tangerine zests. Honestly, I think this could be a Belgian style Imperial Stout!
The palate is very sticky but velvety. I don’t know what was done differently to this beer but the carbonation is as awesome sensation! The finish is filled a smoky molasses…. Yeah, this is a superb brew!

22oz bomber: This pours with a big, huge foamy tan head. The color is an opaque brown. Nice aroma. A bit of a fruity smell, with notes of raisins and plums. Also a bit of caramel in the bouquet. Suprisinly, a hint of roasted coffee in the taste. Medium bodied, with some fruit, yeast and caramel taste also. Very Good!

Chestnut brown pour with a decent tan head. Medium full body. Good, full dark fruit body. Figs, dates and raisins. Medium/light body. Nice brew, not sure I'd consider it top 50 but still very solid. Thanks to jcalabre for the oppurtunity to sample this one.

The head wanted to billow with the pour. Opaque deep brown, fast moving streams of tiny bubbles. Creamy, frothy, super-dense carbonation clinging to the glass to form a parabolic shape in my glass. An aroma from a foot away, rich sweet caramel, roasted cocoa, grape, fruits and malts in weird combinations. The palate was a mouth explosion, though with a few thin spots as it warmed, a half-life decay. The alcohol drives too much of the flavor, though it remains fruity and malty in abundance. A real accomplishment of a beer. Fabulous.

Dark brownish red (burnt sienna crayon) with ample head when poured that settles to the margins. Anise and butterscotch in the nose along with tart apple/grape peel and molasses. The best smelling beer to grace my nasal crevasses. The flavor is strong apple/grape peel, minus the sour, mixed with very earthy yeasts and a hint of bitter like hard water but very balanced and an almost inpercievable sweetness. The carbonationis excellent. There are hints of cinnamon roll and the palate could not be smoother. A water clean finish that leaves the mouth tingling. I especially enjoyed the small island of head that centers itself in the middle of the glass and maintains the whole way down. Bottom line, world class, thick clean and crisp.

Bottle. Grabbed a bottle of this because of the high ratings. Pretty tasty i have to say, just not what i’d hoped i guess. Pleasant Belgian style, candy sugar/caramel/light chocolate, some brown sugar. Quite carbonated and yeasty. Some warming alcohol in the finish, some acidity in their, smooth-ish.

Now this was a great beer, and I retroactively give it the honor of celebrating the Pistons’ victory over the "Lost" Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals. Hallelujah. OK, the beer...it poured a deep brown with orangey highlights, very much like a dunkel, with a medium light tan head. Very perfumey and fruity aroma with banana, raisin, toffee, spices, and perhaps raspberry. The flavor began with a potent yeasty, intensely bready aspect that led to a tart, strong prune and raisin fruitiness with caramel, cherry, and a touch of chocolate before finishing with ethanol (which enhanced the complexity nicely) and a dash of cinnamon as well as candi sugar. This was quite a complex beer and extremely satisfying, being one of those beers that rewards a savoring of every last sip. Delicious.