Midnight Paddler
5 Paddles Brewing Company

Midnight PaddlerMidnight Paddler
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From:
5 Paddles Brewing Company
 
Ontario, Canada
Style:
Russian Imperial Stout
ABV:
9.9%
Score:
88
Avg:
3.92 | pDev: 9.18%
Reviews:
7
Ratings:
24
Status:
Active
Rated:
Jul 03, 2019
Added:
May 18, 2014
Wants:
  0
Gots:
  3
No description / notes.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by abkayak:
Photo of abkayak
Rated by abkayak from New York

3.97/5  rDev +1.3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

May 20, 2016
More User Ratings:
Photo of TerryW
Reviewed by TerryW from Canada (ON)

3.74/5  rDev -4.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
Lots of charred malt, coffee, chocolate. A little too much sweetness jars against the overarching bitter character of the beer. Not enough harmony for me. However the booziness at 10% is thoroughly hidden. Rather average overall.
Jul 03, 2019
Photo of superspak
Reviewed by superspak from North Carolina

4.03/5  rDev +2.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
22 ounce bottle into snifter, no bottle dating. Pours opaque dark brown/black color with a 2 finger dense and rocky khaki head with awesome retention, that reduces to a nice cap that lasts. Thick soapy lacing clings on the glass, with a moderate amount of streaming carbonation retaining the cap. Fantastic appearance. Aromas of big dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, caramel, molasses, toffee, dark/brown bread, toasted biscuit, and nuttiness; with lighter notes of smoke, charcoal, raisin, prune, fig, date, licorice, leather, tobacco, herbal, pepper, and roast/toasted earthiness. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of dark/roast/bready malt and light-moderate earthy hop/fruity yeast notes; with great strength. Taste of big dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, caramel, molasses, toffee, dark/brown bread, toasted biscuit, and nuttiness; with lighter notes of smoke, charcoal, raisin, prune, fig, date, licorice, leather, tobacco, herbal, pepper, and roast/toasted earthiness. Light-moderate herbal/spicy hop and roast/char bitterness on the finish. Lingering notes of dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, caramel, molasses, toffee, dark/brown bread, toasted biscuit, nuttiness, smoke, char, dark fruit, licorice, leather, tobacco, herbal, pepper, and roast/toasted earthiness on the finish for a while. Great complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/roast/bready malt and light-moderate earthy hop/fruity yeast flavors; with an awesome roasted bitter/sweet balance; and zero acrid/astringent flavors after the finish. Lightly increasing dryness from hop/roast bitterness. Medium carbonation and medium-full body; with a very smooth, creamy/bready/grainy, and lightly silky/sticky/chalky mouthfeel that is great. Minimal warming alcohol for 9.9%. Overall this is a n excellent Russian imperial stout! All around great complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/roast/bready malt and light-moderate earthy hop/fruity yeast flavors; very smooth and dangerously easy to drink for the big ABV; with the mellowly bitter/drying finish. A lot of rich English malt complexity; nice earthy hop balance, and complementing restrained English yeast character. A very enjoyable offering, and spot on style example.
Dec 23, 2017
 
Rated: 4.5 by RevCraig from Canada (ON)

Oct 27, 2017
 
Rated: 3.73 by Cycle69 from Canada (ON)

Feb 20, 2017
 
Rated: 4.2 by ikidunot from Canada (ON)

Aug 23, 2016
Photo of thehyperduck
Reviewed by thehyperduck from Canada (ON)

3.95/5  rDev +0.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
Bomber received in a trade this past June - thanks Chris! Served slightly chilled.

Now that's what I call head. Three fingers of puffy, beige-tinted foam immediately erupts from the surface, lasting the better part of 10 minutes before wilting down to a more manageable-sized, lumpy cap. The brew itself is inky black in colour; opaque to the light, but with some crimson red highlights 'round the edges. Abundant lacing - it's a good-looking stout, that's for sure. Roasted malts characterize much of the aroma - there's a hint of ashtray, overlapping with notes of cocoa powder, dark chocolate and molasses. Suggestions of prune, licorice spice, cassia, earthy hops and brown sugar.

Tasty stuff - again, the roasted malts take centre stage right from the get-go, supplying big notes of baker's chocolate, treacle and cocoa powder. Hints of raisin and fig mid-sip, with a roasty, somewhat astringent finish that integrates more chocolate flavour with adjacent notes of licorice/anise and earthy, dirty hop bitterness. The alcohol is very well-masked, providing only a subtle warmth into the spicy, roasty aftertaste. Medium-full in body, with moderately assertive carbonation levels that provide a crisp bite with each successive sip. Smooth in texture, with excellent drinkability for a ~10% stout.

Final Grade: 3.95, a worthy B+. Midnight Paddler is ultimately an enjoyable brew, though I feel I must re-iterate something that was already pointed out by an earlier reviewer - specifically, that this Royal Canadian Stout actually falls somewhere in the grey area between a regular Imperial Stout and one of those hybrid "Belgian stouts". It's almost a jack-of-all-trades, master of none situation. The dark roasted malt flavours are present, but not in the intense, concentrated capacity that I have come to associate with the best examples of this North American style. Instead, the limelight is shared with elements of dark fruit and licorice spice (which is where the Belgian comparison starts to manifest itself). Personal preferences aside, this is a pretty damn good beer that I would certainly drink again in the future.
Aug 22, 2016
 
Rated: 4.27 by DaPan from Canada (ON)

Apr 17, 2016
 
Rated: 4.18 by BillT916 from California

Jan 17, 2016
Photo of kevinlater
Reviewed by kevinlater from Canada (ON)

3.83/5  rDev -2.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
650ml bottle into snifter. purchased oct 23 2015, consumed nov 7 2015

a: pitch black with reddish brown glow at the bottom of the glass. light brown head

s: super rich chocolate, cocoa with good roasty coffee and ashy aromas. noticeable citrusy grapefruit and orange hop presence as well as slight licorice, prune, maraschino cherry and strawberry scents?

t: relatively strong grapefruit and lesser orange at first which is followed by the chocolatey, roasty flavours. not much else afterwards, and finishes with heavy lingering roast

m: interesting citric acidity up front. good silky medium mouthfeel with low carbonation

o: it's a good strong stout but i'm not a fan of big hop presence in the style
Nov 07, 2015
Photo of DaveBar
Reviewed by DaveBar from Canada (ON)

3.9/5  rDev -0.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Purchased at the brewery 650ml bottle for $10.00. Served at 10deg C in a tulip glass

A- Opens well and pours a 2" high brown head that lasts for 4-5mins until it films out. Airy looking head. Very dark brown colour

S- Not a lot here. Was expecting some good malt, coffee, etc but it was not there. Very light

T- Medium bodied stout. Has some thickness I like in a heavy stout. Some caramel and toffee hint there. Burnt nuts at the very end. Has some good complexity. Not great but a good base for them to develop on. Needs that last levels of depth in order to get a fantastic beer that is worthy of bourbon barrel aging.

M- Dry and crisp. Has that creaminess at the beginning however it waters out pretty quick.

O- Not a bad stout at all. As these guys get better this brew should as well. Not worth near the $10.00 I paid but it would be at $7.00.

Food Pairing

This pretty good little stout went well with........ Spicey chicken stir fry with oyster sauce, green and red peppers, onion, bamboo shoots, snow peas and all over a bed of basmati rice.

Enjoy
Nov 07, 2015
Photo of biegaman
Reviewed by biegaman from Canada (ON)

3.69/5  rDev -5.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
Midnight Paddler looks much like what someone paddling at midnight would see: total darkness. If the light strikes right ashy brown highlights can be spotted but clarity is out of the question regardless of the angle of inspection. It pours with a rising tide of foam, one that refuses to ever really fade.

In lieu of the usual sledgehammer of coffee and chocolate, this aroma is a little more nuanced and diversified, mixing in black licorice and baking spice. There's also an easy to overlook bed of hops buried in there too, which adds a wickedly resinous, earthy (even spicy?) undercoat to the roasted malts.

Too bad little of that flavour ever develops. There's some dank herbalness but a rich, roasty malt bill distorts much of it. The yeast also chimes in with notes of bruised purple plum and relatively generous doses of clove and anise. The alcohol doesn't exactly go undetected either. Between the booze, pantry spices and considerable amount of residual sugars this recipe is better suited as a Belgian ale.

Indeed, I much prefer Belgian Midnight Paddler to this original base incarnation, mostly because it fully, wonderfully delivers the dark, spicy dessert-like qualities I expect from that style whereas this one doesn't cut it as either Imperial Stout or Black IPA, instead falling into a no man's land in between. It is neither rich and gratifying, nor bitter and blisteringly hoppy. I'm trying to find a positive quality but...

Midnight Paddler is a neat endeavor that, in my opinion, didn't quite turn out. Still unsure as to exactly what comprises a "Royal Canadian Stout" (as opposed to a Russian Imperial Stout), I have some trouble taking this offering seriously. Besides, as stated, it lacks the overt hops and rich, gooey malts to really satisfy/qualify for the already established styles. It's not for me, but maybe you'll feel differently?
Sep 11, 2015
Photo of Phyl21ca
Reviewed by Phyl21ca from Canada (QC)

4.06/5  rDev +3.6%
look: 5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Bottle: Poured a deep black color ale with a nice thick light off-white foamy head with excellent retention and great lacing. Aroma of roasted malt, deep black chocolate notes with some light residual sugar notes. Taste is a pleasant mix of black chocolate with some dry roasted malt with some residual sugar notes. Body is about average with good carbonation with no residual alcohol notes. Not the most complex imperial stout but quite nice overall with great drinkability and chocolate smoothie notes.
Aug 31, 2015
 
Rated: 3.78 by nullbort from Canada (ON)

Apr 29, 2015
 
Rated: 3.56 by AugustusRex from Canada (ON)

Mar 23, 2015
 
Rated: 3.69 by Sammy from Canada (ON)

Mar 08, 2015
 
Rated: 5 by Electros from Canada (ON)

Jan 11, 2015
 
Rated: 4 by Molson2000 from Canada (ON)

Nov 08, 2014
 
Rated: 3.8 by vfgccp from New York

Oct 17, 2014
 
Rated: 3.75 by Hypersomnia from New Jersey

Sep 22, 2014
Midnight Paddler from 5 Paddles Brewing Company
Beer rating: 88 out of 100 with 24 ratings