Midnight Sun Oak Aged Imperial Chocolate Pumpkin Porter

Brewed by Midnight Sun Brewing Company
Style: Spice/Herb/Vegetable
Anchorage, Alaska USA

22 of the 07; thanks, SuzyGreenberg! Black, virtually headless. Laceless and still. Woody nose, a bit of chocolate, coffee are there too--not much pumpkin left though. Chocolate, coffee, and wood on the mid-palate. Much milder than the base beer, and not as interesting for it. Neutral finish.

Bottle, at BA Throwdown #2. Pours a very dark brown, creamy head, nice lacing. Very spicy nose, allspice, nutmeg, pumpkin, some woodsy notes. Spicy flavor, chocolate, pumpkin, some roast, big notes of allspice, cinnamon, some creamy vanilla. Creamy body, spicy, big roasty finish, medium body, and feels lighter with every sip.

Bottle courtesy gunhaver. Pours black with a small tan head. Huge aroma of pumpkin pie, roasted malt, coffee, chocolate, and a hint of oak. Taste is the same as aroma with a touch of caramel. Medium mouthfeel with a moderate amount of bitterness and smooth alcohol. A very tasty brew.

2008 edition: Molasses brown. Pasty, enticingly creamy cinnamon head. Chocolate malt, fudge cake, nutmeg and black licorice aromas leap from the glass. Mild whiff of vanilla beans and clean alcohol. Snug, feather-soft carbonation. Bottle conditioned. Wonderfully textured malts lend a mousselike denseness and fluffiness to the well-attenuated body. Extremely lush and mouth filling, with pale malts adding vanilla cake accents to the multitude of dark fruit and malt flavors. Emphasis is almost solely on the malt, although, in the wake of the malty richness, dabs of artfully restrained fruity esters and doughy yeast poke through deposit a chocolate taffy note. Borders on the brink of being one-dimensionally soft, however, as it lacks scratchy roast and, with this being barrel aged, wood-derived tannins. Drinkability is through the roof as the alcohol is not remotely a factor. Body suffers after a few gulps as the slickness becomes tiresome and a metallic and unripe plum tingle lightens the weighty malt girth. Structure and definition curiously go by the wayside as it finishes sugary and flabby with a colalike and chocolate wafer sweetness. Sort of a mixed bag. While the spices are used judiciously, and the malt is full and clean, things unravel rather quickly. Decent.

From a 22oz Bottle. Sampled side-by-side with the un-oaked version. Mostly transparent, dark brown colored pour with a thin head of creamy tan. Subtle oaky notes of vanilla present in the nose, but the pumpkin and spice notes of the base beer dominate the aroma. Hints of nutmeg and chocolate, but there’s a hearty baked pumpkin sweetness layered in there as well. Medium bodied, lightly carbonated mouthfeel with a creamy texture. Flavors of milk chocolate and baked pumpkin flesh up front along with some restrained cinnamon and nutmeg spice. Some woody spice and mild vanilla come through in the finish. Like the base beer, the balance between un-roasty dark malts and authentic pumpkin flavors is exciting. The oak dimensions are interesting, but don’t seem to add anything beyond the splendor the base beer already brings. That being said, it’s still delicious. Thanks for sharing, Chris!

Vintage 2007 Pours opaque black, with a thin, tan head. Some ruby around the edges, and the head dissapated quickly. A few errant dots of lacework. Aromatics lead off with chocolate, nutmeg, cinncamon, and pumpkin. A vineous, almost tart note steps forward, and a hint of oakiness. Full bodied, slick, chewy, and velvety. Chewy, lush mouthfeel. Dark chocolate, pumpkin pie spice, espresso, Kahlua, and roasted malts start the pallet. A red-wine-like vineousity pulls through and adds some depth. Alcohol is warming, and the beer is quite intense. Finishes with lingering chocolate, nutmeg, and coffee. Definately the most intense Pumpkin beer, ever. Not in the Pumpkin aspect, but in the Imperial Porter one, with the Pumpkin playing second fiddle. The oak doesn’t really come through though. A bourbon barrel version would be kick-ass.

(22oz. bottle) Pours a black body with burgundy edges and a small beige head. Aroma of chocolate, pumpkin, vanilla, and oak. Flavor of pumpkin, chocolate, nuts, toffee, and roasted malt with a creamy mouthfeel.

22oz bottle, courtesy of jjpm74. Thanks, John! Pours a murky, chocolate-brown color; medium-tan head with solid fine-bubbled lacing. Very toasty: chocolate, pumpkin, and woody vanilla notes in the aroma. Medium-to-full mouthfeel: chewy, toasted oak and vanilla, lightly toasted malts, and soft spices and milk chocolate; very soft, generous spicing and milk chocolate and chewy nougats; excellent, chewy beer; quite similar to the non-barrel-aged version. Lengthy finish: nougat, milk chocolate, and lightly toasted malts. Very good stuff.