Midnight Still
Holy Mountain Brewing Company

 

 

 

 

 

 

2020 version poured from a bottle into a snifter. This is nicely thick with a strong fudge flavor.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Poured oily black with a brown head. Most of the head disappeared pretty quickly, but coated the edges of the glass like the ring of a solar eclipse. Aromas of leather, pipe tobacco, coconut pudding, black cherries.
Flavors are rich, with a ton of dark chocolate, oaky bourbon, and charred marshmallow.
Mouthfeel is full, and the dense carbonation smooths it out. Finishes dry with dark chocolate bitterness on the palate.

2020 vintage (released on 2/14/20, so presumably bottled within a few days of that date); consumed on 2/4/21

Pours a glossy, motor-oil black body topped with a barely-formed, mocha head, quickly fizzling to a spotty array of paper-thin islands of cap, expansive, creamy collar, and the occasional strand of short-lived, webby lacing clinging to the walls of the glass.

Aroma expresses dulled notes of brownie batter cut with boggy ethanol as a slight black raspberry accents upfront; dark chocolate, caramel, and touches of pipe tobacco develop sparingly against a core focused intently on rawer bourbon tones and distinctly wet oak barrel; some molasses and burnt brown sugar factor in toward the back end.

Taste bursts intently with waves of silky drinking chocolate, refined and creamy while leveled with a slight nuttiness; molasses progresses as the bourbon character deepens, forming notes of caramel brittle, burnt marshmallow, and brown sugar over the mid-palate as coffee bean meets bittersweet, malty char on the back end; a slightly smoky, ashy char finishes.

Mouthfeel brings put a fluid medium body elevated with a timely, fluffy burst of carbonation rounding into a silky grit over the mid-palate; heavy roast expands on the back end to counterbalance a growing bitterness with ample char, while a slightly sticky character gently coats the palate into an otherwise moderately dry finish.

From initial impressions of muddled heat and subdued malts, a level of forward, confident brilliance is expressed in equal parts sweetness and roast; the final product is an amazing flow of enveloping character, seemingly unending in its influx of intrigue and detail despite any apparent shortcomings.

2020 vintage - split with jrc1093 because wowweeweewoah what a champ he is.

Pours a seemingly fluid deep midnight black. A very minimal dark mocha head recedes fast leaving a persistent bubbly collar. The beer clings to glass, draping down and staining it brown. Oil spill.

Nose: Aroma opens very strong and saturated. Notes of bourbon-soaked brown sugar, drippy molasses, burned soft caramel, English toffee, demerera sugar, encapsulated by very heavily charred oak. The roast lends some milk chocolate, cacao nib, and a deep burnish character. Some bramble dark fruit and current highlight brightness, with ethanol fumes are quite apparent, and paired with this densely musty, sopping oak character, detracts from the otherwise rich depth.

Palate: Waves of rich, silken, malt-driven fudgy roast, caramel, toffee, cacao nib, burned brown sugar, and molasses lend an initial sweetness that is rich and decadent, before an almost unrealistic degree of flame-charred, bourbon-soaked oak barrel comes in and cuts it down quickly. Big burly bourbon notes, with toffee, coconut, pipe tobacco, vanilla caviar, and an almost bark-like tannin structure. The barrel and roast overtake the sweetness, and pair together for an exquisitely lengthy finish.

Mouthfeel/Body: Shying away from the thick, vicious, chewy theme, Midnight Still manages to deliver all the fudgy richness from the malt, with the sweetness fading by the finish, and replaced by dense, oily barrel. A nice fluidity allows it to remain drinkable, without ever approaching cloying, surrounded by a soft, fluffy carbonation.

Overall: There's so much going on here that seems so unique to this beer. This is not a replica of another - it is not a waxed Bourbon County. This is a beautifully seamless execution of balance between malt complexity and full-on bourbon barrel assault, with the only real thing dragging it down is the ethanol and musty earthiness in the aroma. This is one for the books.

2020 Edition. Bourbon Milky Creamy Delicacy.

 

 

 

 

 

Had this Sep 3, 2016 as part of corpulent's birthday jam. Drank this at that golf course I can't remember the name of up at Lake Tahoe.

Has the requisite 'used motor oil' kind of pour in viscosity and appearance. Aroma went hard on the bourbon and ashtray. Behind that you had some chocolate like fudge notes and an even smaller vanilla quotient.

Once again, bourbon dominates the taste, but it manages to push one of the biggest bourbon portfolio's without being too boozy or by eliminating all other beer aspects. As if KBS was less coffee and chocolate but more bourbon. Drinks smooth while still being able to drop some smoke and ash notes the whole time. Hint of dark fruit creeps in as it warmed up on the back 9.

I don't necessarily think this is better than the all time classics of barrel aging (KBS, Eclipse, BCS, CW), but it can definitely hang with them. Would be interesting to see what the score for this would be if it were a lot easier to acquire, I imagine a little bit less, but not significantly. It is top notch.