Midnight Sun Monks Mistress Dark Strong Ale (Cabernet)

Formerly brewed at Midnight Sun Brewing Company
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Anchorage, Alaska USA

04.28.06 Bomber, via trade with DarkElf, shared at Paul’s Pre-TAPNY. So much tobacco! This beer looks, smells, and tastes to me like a juicy and engrossing rich pipe tobacco. Also of note are flavors and aromas of creamy dark chocolate, dry woods chips. Dry and tannic finish which must be attributable to the barrel aging. The stuff is rich and massively complex, almost too much so, and tetering on the brink of perfection.

it flowed from the bottle capturing specs of red light from the air and settled in the confines of the glass a burnt bloody brown with whispy sheets of gray froth. The fumes that arose were woody and like liqoure with waves of smoke, port, and heavily matured malt. Mesmorizingly complex flavors follow and I’m talking about "HOLY SHIT" type flavors..complexity needs now to be redefined. Wood, port, spice, cake, chocolate, smoke, alcohol and the thickest, most complex mouthfeel to date. MIDNIGHT SUN IS GOD!

Bottle shared by goldtwins, courtesy of DarkElf, many thanks!: Pours a very dark mahogany with a frothy, nicely-lacing tan head. Very complex, enticing, sweet dark Belgian malty aroma has good oaky cabernet notes with a hint of dates and bready yeast. Body starts with a nice sweet dark toffee maltiness and some Belgian yeast before the full cabernet oaky and dark fruit finish. Very complex, incredibly balanced, sweet and semi-tart body. An amazing beer. I sure hope Midnight Sun brews this again!

Poursa deep brown hue with a halo of a head. Aromas of raisins, prunes, dates, dark fruit and oatmeal. Flavors----mouthfeel is medium bodied.....oaky with flavors of prunes, chocolate, raisins, dates with a touch of honey.

Bottle... This beer rocks!... Clear, very dark, ruby ale with a small, frothy, khaki head. The aroma is vineous, fruity and earthy. Notes of molasses, chocolate, seasoned oak, dried plum, soy and red wine. The flavor is a nicely balanced medley of dark chocolate and dark, dried fruits, deeply roasted malts, red wine, dry oak and light smoke. Full-bodied and silky with lively carbonation. Finishes smokey, rich and malty. World class effort. Thanks go out to DarkElf for the bottle!

Poured a dark plum color with a small, light tan head that left nice lacing on the glass. Aroma of vanilla oak, raisins, caramel malts, chocolate, some nuts, tart cherries, and light alcohol as well. Taste of dried fruits, notably cherry skins, some more raisins, sweet caramel malt, and lots of vanilla oak. A nice vinuous character balances this brew out nicely.

22oz bottle acquired in trade with DarkElf (thanks a ton for this one!). Poured a dark brown with a very small sized off white head. Aromas of oak, vanilla, almonds, some dark fruits and port. Vinous tasting with oak, almonds, dark fruits, vanilla and caramel. I really like this one. We opened it up the same night as the Great Lakes BA Blackout Stout and this one was overall better.

Vintage 2005 as reviewed on 6/29/2008. This version of the Monk’s Mistress was aged in Cabernet oak casks. 9.5% abv. Pours dark mahogany with amber edging. A small head of almost a quarter-inch was short lived. A few errant lines of lacing above a mostly placid surface. Aromatics lead off with a myriad of complexities. Plump raisins, musty grapes, chocolate drizzeled apples and cherries, and oaky tannins. As the brew warms and breaths a large Port quality steps forward. Alcohol is warming, and there’s a ton of vineousity. Medium bodied, but chewy, tacky, and lush. A light tartness drys out the mouthfeel on the back of the tongue. Rich malt, dark chocolate, and red wine start the pallet. Ripe cherries, red grapes, and port-soaked raisins step forward. The intense vineousity rolls out, and the melange of cocoa, fruit, and wine become quite balanced as it lingers. Quite dry and lightly tart. Finishes with an almost boozy alcohol, plenty of Cabernet essense, ripe fruit, and a shadow of Oak. Wowza, what an intense beer. The Cabernet aging adds an incredible depth of character. The oak is pretty subdued, but drys out the beer nicely. This would be a great beer to have with a juicy, thick Porterhouse.