Midnight Sun Arctic Devil Barley Wine

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

A classy barleywine from start to finish, teetering between English and American classification. Murky dark amber pour with a medium sized tan head and splotchy lacing all over the glass. Warming and smooth with a chewy body. Upfront caramel/toffee with a floral bouquet along with mixed berries, toast and wood.

Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 9

2010 bourbon barrel aged...boozy and complex. loads of vanilla from the barrels, dark malts, and bourbon in the aroma and flavor. slight hop presence barely noticed. delicious brew, if a bit overpriced at 17.99.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 10 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 9

I don't know. Maybe it's your, your lifelong pattern of random assault. .. lots of molasses, dark dark rum, and brown sugar also aged malts and port .. . very sticky and full .. . "what is a biscuit bottle?" .. . Jan 8th 2009 for Stu's birthday .. . Really? I mean, don't get me wrong, *I* thought it was funny, but I'm surprised *you* guys did, because, uh, you got your asses kicked!

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

2008 release; Sampled January 2009
Served at around 60°F / 15.6°C. The beer pours into my 25cl tulip glass with a three-finger thick, amber tinged, full tan colored head. The beer is a dark, concentrated amber color that shows a brilliantly clear, deep cranberry hue when held up to the light. The aroma first hits with sticky hop aromatics but is soon backed by a solid malt note. Up front there are notes of grapefruit zest and pine needles, but the sticky, candied malt character seems to slowly win out over the hop character. Malt aromatics of brown-sugar crusted raisins, toasted-toffee-glazed pastries, perhaps a hint of cherry notes and a light, toasted nut note that because of the sweet malt reminds me of candied nuts. The hop character is never totally subsumed by the malt, it seems to add a sort of green, sort of herbal vegetation type thing to the nose.

Very sweet and rich feeling, up front there is a solid herbal hop note as well as a reasonable bitterness in the finish, but this beer is really about the malt. Rich notes of toffee, brown sugar and a touch of cocoa along with a deep, toasted malt note make this quite the chewy beer. The finish has a bit of warm alcohol to it that along with the sweet malts reminds me a bit of a dark rum; the alcohol warmth is brought out by some spicy oak notes and there also seems to be a touch of vanillin noticeable underneath the sweet malt. There is a touch of toasted, not quite roasted grain here, it adds a touch of almost bitterness that couples with the astringency from the tannic oak, both of which provide some balance to the dominant sweet malt.

After noticing the oak in the flavor, I can now pick it up in the aroma; it adds a soft spiciness and probably exacerbates the green hop notes a bit as well. The hop character though seems to completely fade into the background after this has breathed for a bit; much of the sharp, un-integrated character was likely from the barrel, and it still is a bit jarring. Somehow, despite not being the most well integrated beer, this just oozes potential. Part of the charm of this beer for me is the fact that I can just see this aging so well.

I am disappointed in myself for not getting two bottles of this. The hop character in this fresh example are really a distraction, despite how slight they are (though they are magnified a bit by the sharp oak character), I want this beer to be all about the malt and I have the feeling that a bit of age will make this beer fantastic; the hops, and even the oak character should round out considerably and the beer should turn into heaven in a glass.

Purchased: Liquid Solutions

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

NorCal tasting July 07 - Is it possible that no one has rated this beer on BP in over 2 years? Thanks to beerguy101 for bringing this (I think). The beer pours out a deep copper/amberish color, almost zero head (only wisps of foam here and there). Aroma is clearly raisins and figs with a heaping dose of hoppy pineage but there is some subtle brown sugar, caramel and some alcohol. Mouthfeel is sticky, mildly syrupy but solid. Obvious caramel-like sweetness in the flavor department with just enough hops to keep it from being overly one-sided. A nice touch of brown sugar in the finish as well. A really nice b-wine!

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 9

2004 bottled version. Deep red gold color. Large sized beige foamy head. Aroma is brown sugar, molasses and more brown sugar. A full-bodied barley wine. Malts are fruity (cherries and plums) and sweet. Lots of molasses and brown sugar flavors. VERY sweet, yet its not at all cloying. Talk about your liquid candy, this beer is it. Smooth taste, hides the 10% alcohol very well. Reminds me a little of La Maitresse du Moine. A nice big malty barley wine. Mouthfeel is full and round. Finish is clean and smooth. Aftertaste is sweet.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 9

Poured a murky brown color with a thin, quickly diminishing light tan head that left very light lacing on the glass. Aroma of caramel, vanilla, dark fruits, and citrus hoppiness. Very complex taste of vanilla, toffee, dried fruits, light roast, caramel malts, melons, apples, light hop bitterness, and a touch of alcohol.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

Pours with a burgundy body topped by a thin to medium thick head with some lacing. The aroma is sweet, malty and caramelly with lots of bitter alcohol esters and a touch of wood. The flavor is very similar with a touch more vanilla. Full bodied and smooth.