Midnight Sun Sockeye Red IPA

Brewed by Midnight Sun Brewing Company
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Anchorage, Alaska USA

This is a classic IPA, not extraodinary in any way, but certainly solid, from start to end. Smooth. First IPA I’ve had from an Alaskan brewery and I like the results. Re-rate: 4.3 Great hop aroma.

Pours a deep bronze color with a loose head. Restrained but quality hops aromatics (a bit flowery perhaps) along with some roasted malt in the aroma. Dark, smokey malt flavors abound along with caramelized citrus peel. Medium bitterness and a fairly light but well-balanced mouth feel.

Couleur orange foncée, énorme mousse dense et crémeuse dessinant des reliefs de montagnes sur le dessus du verre. Écorce d’orange, résine de pins et vaste de champs de fleurs engraissées à la terre noire sous une solide base de malt biscuité. L’équilibre des houblons utilisés est très bien réussi, même malgré la présence du cascade qui pourrait facilement devenir ennuyante et ininspiré. Malt légèrement grillé et caramélisé offre une brève distraction sur les saveurs pleinement parfumées. Gomme baloune au melon d’eau et parfums synthétiques à la framboise sont certainement une source d’intrigue et de nouveauté. Texture crémeuse, moyen niveau de carbonatation, finale amère mais toujours bien dosée.

On tap at the brewery. I’ll agree with braudog on the dominant flavor here: "grapefruit soap." Beer was very bitter with little extra flavor to compliment it. A decent IPA.

Bottle from Liquid Solutions. Pours clear, dark-reddish copper color with a large, thick, creamy off-white, long-lasting head that leaves very nice lacing. Aroma of brown sugar, spice, - anise and a bit of ginger - citrus, floral and hints of pine in the hops. Flavor is a little thinner than expected but still good, sweet caramelly malt backbone, a bit of soured fruit, clover and bold citrus hops with a lingering grapefruit finish. Thick, smooth body and creamy carbonation. Very nice beer overall.

Into the growler at the brewery then into my belly 7/8/05: Poured a dark chestnut amber with a giant rocky head. It has a big hopy/citric aroma. Unfortunately the flavor disappoints a bit ... "grapefruit soap" was my very first impression ... sour mash tones kinda made this a downer for me, but its OK ... their Cohoho is WAY better.

Bottle in Sep 04: on sale at Marty’s in Newton, MA for $2. This may not have aged very well but still not too bad. Poured brownish-red with a large beige head Mostly malt aroma with a touch of hops. Malty, mildly hoppy flavor. Finishes pretty dry. Decent but nothing special. Maybe it’s better if fresher.

Copper color with heavy bitterness and fresh piney rather than fruity hops flavors. Great on those hot Interior Alaska summer midnights! The 22 oz single bottle was just right. I’ve had this twice in the last week, which says a lot since I don’t often double dip.