Monk's Mistress (Cabernet)
Midnight Sun Brewing Company in Anchorage, Alaska, United States 🇺🇸
Belgian Style - Strong Ale Regular|
Score
6.96
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Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7
A dark brown beer with a yellowish head. The aroma is sweet malty and very roasted, while the flavor is sweet malty and with an acidic note from the hard roasted malt.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
Pre-TAP gathering at Dickinsonbeer’s house, bottle provided by somebody(sorry, Got it, WillBlake, thanks). Poured into large mouth glass. Color is dark brown, murky, can’t see through the beer. Smell is complex, numerous aromas come out. Very malty, very bready, and alcohol present. The taste is great, smooth, no bitteress. Again bready and malty, some chocolate, well balanced. Each sip stays with you for a while.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7
2005 bottle HUGE thankks to OldGrowth for the opportunity. Consumed on 1/22/2006.
Purple-magenta tinges throughout a garnet to mahogany brown. Head is off-white, medium in size, receding quickly to cover but retained there. No lacing. Quite clear, having settled out in the bottle nicely, with plenty of sediment on the bottom. Head is foamy/creamy and bottle conditioned. Smells right away, of intense cabernet notes. Very grape oriented and as it warms and breathes, the oak character emerges and dries it out. The beer characteristics are last to emerge, but once they do, they form a more complete picture. Prunes, raisins, and a touch of alcohol dryness, very elegantly apparent. Rich chocolate and toffee and sweet dates, with a light Belgian yeast apparency, though rather reserved in that aspect. As it warms and breathes further after 20 minutes, the aroma is soft and inviting. Plenty of dry grapes and wood, but yet tons of soft maltiness. Flavor is full of cab grapes turning to dry wood and gaining a yeast dirtiness, unfortunately. More vinous notes and some barley. Light bits of caramel, minor drying alcohol warmth but no alcohol flavor or sharpness. Finally, chocolate, raisins and prunes. Chewy toffee and yeast dryness combine to provide a balanced finish. Never gets very sweet, being very attenuated. Alcohol masterfully hidden. Carbonation is low, bottle conditioned and quite engaging. As with the regular maitresse, the texture is just a bit too lean, IMO. I think it would benefit from some chewier maltiness and a more supple texture. Though, to its credit, it is no where near over the top in sweetness, yeastiness, or alcohol (the barrel character is overdone, though). Quite drinkable on account of the lean body.
Having Cambridge’s wine-barrel aged Blunderbuss has made me rethink my rating, showing me that even young, the wine does not have to be as overpowering as it is here. It really is about 75% of the aroma, perhaps more, whereas the blunderbuss is incredibly subtle, yet still noticeable enough to add a very pleasant aroma and flavor.