Arctic Devil
Midnight Sun Brewing Company in Anchorage, Alaska, United States 🇺🇸
Barley Wine - Barley Regular|
Score
7.93
|
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Malt: Marris Otter, Caramunich
Hops: Fuggles, Amarillo
IBUs: 20 Int'l Bittering Units
ABV: 13.2% Alcohol by Volume
Available: Special Edition
Arctic Devil Barley Wine, aptly named after the ferocious wolverine of the north, is an English-style barley wine that ages to perfection in oak barrels for several months before being blended, bottled and released in the fall. This highly acclaimed and awarded barley wine is a classic annual release of Midnight Sun, where a deceptively simple grain bill turns into big bold flavors hosting hints of caramel, vanilla, slight fruitiness, and strong malt sweetness that claw to the surface with every sip.
Hops: Fuggles, Amarillo
IBUs: 20 Int'l Bittering Units
ABV: 13.2% Alcohol by Volume
Available: Special Edition
Arctic Devil Barley Wine, aptly named after the ferocious wolverine of the north, is an English-style barley wine that ages to perfection in oak barrels for several months before being blended, bottled and released in the fall. This highly acclaimed and awarded barley wine is a classic annual release of Midnight Sun, where a deceptively simple grain bill turns into big bold flavors hosting hints of caramel, vanilla, slight fruitiness, and strong malt sweetness that claw to the surface with every sip.
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7.2/10
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Appearance 4
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 6
Overall 8
(Bottle 65 cl) Pours a clear, reddish brown with tiny impurities. Small, off-white head. Vinous oak aroma. Solid body again with lots of oak, overripe fruit and caramel. Some sherry-like accents. Surprisingly subdued bitterness. 130806
Tried
from Bottle
on 15 Aug 2006
at 11:42
7.8/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
No head (impossible) on a fully hazy dark brown beer. Very alcoholic, estery nose with fusels, vinous, wood, portwine. Very nutty, woody, alcoholic taste, but rather well integrated with dark malts, and of course fruity, cherry- or plumlike esters and lots of fusels. Slight suggestion at sourness. Aggressively alcoholic, but it is a true sipping beer, so that’s OK with me. Now this I can learn to like. Midnight Sun, leave Belgians to Belgium, and do your own thing.
Tried
from Can
on 18 Apr 2006
at 06:11
6.9/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7.5
Cloudy brown-amber colour. Balanced, chewy, earthy maltiness. Big chewy malt, big dry hoppiness. This clash of palate titans works very well here. It’s a straightforward two-step but both are well done and results in a muscular brew. I need one of those bombers to dip into this beer a little more seriously.
Tried
on 21 Mar 2006
at 23:19
8.5/10
—
Appearance 10
Aroma 9
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
2005 bottle shared by OldGrowth on 1/22/06.
What a nose!!! It’s like a fresh revival of Harveys Elizabethan or Bluegrass Old Pats Barleywine. Just immense amounts of rich English toffee delicately and perfectly placed next to a dry prune and raisin note. Light yeastiness, thick caramel backbone and hints of chocolate and port wine. Oak aging, truly gracefully done, adds light whiskey, almost peat-like notes. Intense, strong, lasting and supremely sniffable. Hardly any hops but with this elegant oak aging, adding just a hint of sharpness (as OldGrowth says), you don’t need em! The flavor is thick, rich and malty, full of caramel and toffee, with more bittering hops than flavoring hops. Sticky, lightly floral (mostly floral actually) with hints of oak and dry woodiness. Chewy to the extreme, with some acidity and light vanilla. Carbonation is low and very tight, alcohol is warming, at this level it’s inevitable, but nothing past that. Very full bodied. Looks the part Spotty lacing, near opaque, low filtration, bottle conditioned, large head, slow to recede. Auburn notes throughout a mahogany chestnut body. Perhaps a bit syrupy, this would age WONDERFULLY! Funny having this after Leviathan 2002. That one seems so wise, and I’m sure this one will develop that. I will certainly revisit.
What a nose!!! It’s like a fresh revival of Harveys Elizabethan or Bluegrass Old Pats Barleywine. Just immense amounts of rich English toffee delicately and perfectly placed next to a dry prune and raisin note. Light yeastiness, thick caramel backbone and hints of chocolate and port wine. Oak aging, truly gracefully done, adds light whiskey, almost peat-like notes. Intense, strong, lasting and supremely sniffable. Hardly any hops but with this elegant oak aging, adding just a hint of sharpness (as OldGrowth says), you don’t need em! The flavor is thick, rich and malty, full of caramel and toffee, with more bittering hops than flavoring hops. Sticky, lightly floral (mostly floral actually) with hints of oak and dry woodiness. Chewy to the extreme, with some acidity and light vanilla. Carbonation is low and very tight, alcohol is warming, at this level it’s inevitable, but nothing past that. Very full bodied. Looks the part Spotty lacing, near opaque, low filtration, bottle conditioned, large head, slow to recede. Auburn notes throughout a mahogany chestnut body. Perhaps a bit syrupy, this would age WONDERFULLY! Funny having this after Leviathan 2002. That one seems so wise, and I’m sure this one will develop that. I will certainly revisit.
Tried
from Bottle
on 22 Jan 2006
at 20:39