Midnight Sun Monk’s Mistress

Brewed by Midnight Sun Brewing Company
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Anchorage, Alaska USA

Serve in Trappist glass, Tulip, Tumbler

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06.25.05 22oz bottle thanks to footbalm. Label claims bottled in second week of July, but no year mentioned (probably 2004). Truly dirty dark brown pour with a naughty khaki head that insists on making me wait to smell and taste the brew. Damn is it ever worth it! Rich is the word of the day with deep prune, rum, vanilla, nougat, and cocoa aromas. On top of that, and behind it, I smell burnt bananas, bourbon soaked cherries, cookie dough, and 5:AM in a bakery. Damn, I didn’t expect it to be this good. Flavor is full of veggies and old fruit. But the one flavor/aroma I can’t shake is some kind of candy I’ve had--I’m not sure what it is, maybe Charleston chew, maybe Three Musketeers, maybe Almond Joy (there’s certianly a hint of coconut if I think about it). Whatever, it’s outstanding. I can only imagine Chimay aspiring to be a sweet, balanced, tasty, and smooth as this Alaskan concoction. Kudos! I had no idea what to expect with this brew and had not indulged in reading any of the reviews before sampling, but I’m not too surprised to see that the main cirticism was sweetness while I tend to love sweeter beers when they have good balance. My only complaint is that there’s more carbonation than it needs, but smaller sips and higher temps seem to elude that ’problem’. Thanks a million to Eric for this surprise nectar!

22oz bottle in a tulip. Pours very dark brown with a lacy, light tan head. Aroma of roasted and chocolate malts, a little spiciness from the yeast, some dark fruits, and a good amount of floral hops. Flavor the same with a nice blend of everything. Smooth texture. A really good beer.

Bottle pours a brown purple. Nice head smells tastes roasted malt dark fruit chocolate spices booze yeast. Not bad at all kind of dry finish. Reminded me of bells hell hath no furry a bit. Pretty good but don’t know if I would buy it again.

Bomber Bottle. Thanks to a friend out West. Pour is dark purple, awesome tan head, lacing was minimal but present. Aroma is dark plum, belgian spice, molasses, peanut brittle, red wine, chocolate, vanilla, sweet malt, smoked almond. Everything working together was similiar to a mary jane candy if it was dipped in some good vino. Insanely delicious and complex beer from a brewer that is fast becoming one of my favorites.

Originally reviewed: 10/28/11. Vintage 2009. Bottle received in a trade awhile ago. Cellared since. Split and shared with a friend. Poured my allotment into a tall tulip. A dark mahogany pour that is turbid and thick. No light getting through at all. Small dirty ivory head. The nose is spicy with notes of cinnamon, sweet spices, and a bit of a yeasty twang. Lots of carbonation backing to this beer. Very rich mouth. The yeast character is toned down with some age. Flavors of molasses, toffee, syrup, wet oak. Very solid brew. Even after a couple years in the dark, this is a great sipper. I dig it.

Deep dark brown coloured body, almost black aside from the bottom - which is nice and brown. Good two centimetre tall light brown head that fades to about 1cm after a few seconds. Aroma of alcohol, grapes, raisins, toasted malt, nuts, alcohol and way more grape scents - strong and very nice. Medium to Full-bodied; Sweet prune, plum, raisin and grape flavours at first with a good malt balance, some nuts and a bit of bitter flavours followed by a strong and pungent deep alcohol burn. Aftertaste shows a lot of character with a ton of sweetness, malt, yeast, nuts, earth and a ton of deep pitted fruits. Overall, a nice and complex beer that shows a lot of fruit, alcohol, malt and some pleasant yeast. Definitely nice to try if you can find it and keep it for a while to mellow out the flavours a bit. I sampled this 65 cL bottle purchased from The Olive Tree Marketplace in San Diego, California on 08-February-2011 for US$6.99 sampled at home in Upstate New York on 20-April-2012.

22oz Bottle, purchased at Whole Foods - Bowery. This beer has a been a long time coming, so glad to finally get my hands on it. Strong carameled raisin aroma. Lots of Special B and caramel malts. Flavors roll out their own red carpet, with juicy plum, rich booze-soaked fruitcakes, and gentle spice. Faded mainland hops bring up the finish. This is good, damn good. The creamy texture is really something special. I’m blown away that this is 11.5%, it really doesn’t feel like it. There are some vagrant flavors that almost seem a bit off, like greenwood, oxidized dust, and a bit of pine sap. I haven’t had anything quite like this is a while, a fun adventure.

pours a dark cola brown almost black with a tight dirty brown head. The nose is very sweet, light sweetness up front with a fair bit of chocolaty cake and biscuity malt underneath. Loads of sweet dark berries and a tinge of booze soaked in the back. The taste is more malt forward with the chocolate cake note more pronounced. The berries are melded in a bit better than the nose with a touch of booze and heat. the malt lingers. The malt body also reappears and hangs through a long finish on a heavy carbonation. The body is heavy and a bit grainy, may be a touch more sugar left over.

Bottle from Healthy Spirits in San Francisco. Served in a Midnight Sun goblet. Pours a very dark brown color with a moderate off-white head with a bit of lacing on the way down. The nose carries some nice dark fruit esters plus a touch of malty sweetness. A slight touch of roast and anise in the background. The flavor is fairly sweet with some light roasted malt in the background as well some dark fruits. This reminds me of fresh Russian River Salvation. There’s a roastiness coming from the dark malts that I haven’t experienced in many Belgian versions of the style. Still, it’s fairly enjoyable. Body is medium with moderate carbonation and a smooth creaminess through the finish. Lingering aftertaste with a touch of sugar. Pretty good; one of the better American versions of the style that I’ve had.

Very dark brown colour, almost black. Raisiny nose with lots of chocolate and coffee. Belgian yeast with fruity esters. Sweet roasted malts. Strong and really complex.

30 mar 2012, bottle. Dark ruby/brown. Nose is tart black coffee. Thin body and fizzy. Mossy, barky, earthy stout. Dark chocolate bitterness. Okay. ---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone