Midnight Sun Obliteration II

Formerly brewed at Midnight Sun Brewing Company
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Anchorage, Alaska USA

22 oz. bottle - clear copper with quickly fading white head; minor lacing; massive hop aromas that are sweet at first and becoming a piny bitterness; flavors are all hops and extremely bitter

A brilliantly clear, bright copper hued beer is topped by a frothy, slightly sticky, initially two-finger thick, pale tan colored head. The aroma is pungently hoppy; thick with sticky notes of sweet citrus and a sharp, dank, herbal component. The hop aromatics produce aromas of grapefruit zest, apricots, orange blossoms and tropical fruit as well as notes garlic chives (the Summit hops for sure), resinous pine, something akin to spicy sea urchin and a pungent, spicy hop reek. The malt clearly plays a supporting role here, but if you dig for it there are notes of soda crackers in the finish.

Lightly sweet tasting, but the resinous hop character almost completely engulfs any residual sweetness before you can notice it. Just before the hops take over one notices a soft, lightly caramelized malt sweetness. Gripping, bitingly bitter, with a tongue flagellating assault of over-the-top hop notes, the beer is clearly all about the hops. This is so astringently hoppy it is really almost harsh in character; if you are not a total hop head you will probably find this undrinkable. Somehow a toasty malt note is noticeable in the finish, it is wrapped up in and surrounded by scathing hop flavors, but does provide a softer, slightly calming influence in the onslaught of hop notes. The citrus / fruit hop flavors take a back seat here (most likely due to the lack of malt sweetness to carry them), but up front one can get hints of apricot, tart grapefruit and even a pungent citrus oil component noticeable throughout. Really the notes that are biggest are those similar to turpene-like herbal notes, garlic, green onions and a huge menthol like, resinous pine flavor that really sticks to the palate and lingers on in a really long, astringently bitter finish.

I am not sure I remember having a beer that is so unbalanced towards the hop side of the spectrum. Even for this hop head, this really needs substantially more malt sweetness to make this brew work. Not a horrible brew, but it is a bit too unbalanced for my palate & the typically harsh summit hops seem to dominate the mix a bit too much.

Bottle: Orange hued caramel, on the darker side, some haziness, large rocky off-white head, sticky lacing.   Hops, hops, and more hops on the nose.   Very aromatic.   Seems like some pine and citrus peel as well.   So far we are starting off on the right foot.   Certainly flavorful on the tongue, very hoppy, good dose of bitterness, some citrus peel, but the one thing is missing are the malts!   Definitely heavy on the hop, light on the malt.   Seems a bit unbalanced, even if flavorful.   Body and mouthfeel are moderate, and certainly not on par with the heavy doses of hops used in this one.   I was really looking forward to this one, thinking it would be a bit thicker, and at $10 a bottle I figured it should be damn near a Barley Wine.... but nope, its a 1½ IPA as far as I am concerned.   Very flavorful, but seems like a robust IPA to me.   Needs to be malted up, provide a bit of sweetness to counter act the very flavorful hop bitterness, and then we’re talking.   Damn... just too unbalanced to give it higher marks.   Thanks for the bottles Bill!

Bottle form Degarth/Secret Santa. Very dank hop aroma. Flavor has nice cherry, leafy mint notes. Pure yellow hop flavor with almost no noticable malt backing, just like I like it. Good complexity and finesse in this one, a fine example of a west coast IPA. Thanks, Joey!

Thanks to TomDecapolis for sharing this... Appears a transparent light gold that fades into a small white cap and collar. Spotty lacing is left around the glass. Tiny bubbles rise to the top. Smell is of spicy cat piss, herbal notes, pepper...seems to have been overtaken by the Amarillo hops IMO. Taste is of the mentioned aromas with the same overkill of herbs and bitter grapefruit peel going on. Mouthfeel is bitter and herbal and in need of more balance.

Amber pour with off-white head. Big pine hoppy nose. Flavor is more Simcoe than anything, with a true over the top on the hops. Medium body with decent carbination. Finish is nice and bitter. This maybe one of the most hoppy ales I’ve ever had. Very nice!

(Bottle thanks Degarth) Pours amber with a creamy off white head. The aroma is strong of green hops with tones like pine, grapefruit, blood oranges along with some floral and earthy notes up front. Some fresh sweet malt in the background with hints of cookies and caramel. Undertones of tropical fruit juice, nettles, some spiciness, cucumber and green peppers. The flavour is quite balanced in the beginning but the finish is super dry, heavily bitter, peppery, resiny and grapefruity. Also quite floral and piny with a touch of tropical fruits. Maybe a bit on the weak side malt wise. The mouthfeel is hoppy tart with a light crisp carbonation. Medium bodied. One of the bitterest beers ever. Nice.

Courtesy hopscotch. Pours a fairly clear orange, with a small white head. Smlls of big, juicy citrus hops, some pine, and grapefruit were noticeable too. The taste, as expected, was of pretty big hops and that patened grapefruit citrus tang. The bitterness was quite high in the finish and the aftertaste as well, which was a good sign for this beer. Pretty solid double IPA. Not really many flaws to point out.