Termination Dust | Midnight Sun Brewing Co.

4.11/5  rDev -1.7%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

4.08/5  rDev -2.4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

4.5/5  rDev +7.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

4.2/5  rDev +0.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Got this one from Rutger this past summer

From a bomber into a snifter
Bottled 16 September 2015
IBU: 70
Belgian style barley wine aged in bourbon oak barrels

APPEARANCE: Pours a three finger, medium looking, creamier light tan head with great retention. Dark maroon or bistre brown body with medium levels of carbonation for the style. Head slowly recedes to a full, frothy cap and leaves sheets of lacing on the glass.

SMELL: Lots of dark fruits on this one, with raisins, grapes, dates, some spicy brown sugar, oak and some alcohol on the nose. Grape juice, dark caramel and light hints of molasses as well with a definite bourbon quality. Nice and forthcoming.

TASTE: Dark fruits, caramel sweetness and oak up front. Raisins, dates, grapes and grape juice, as well as some bourbon and alcohol at the swallow. Flavorful start. A bold finish of dark, fruity sweetness, grapes, some molasses and brown sugar, oak, bourbon and booze lingers nicely on the palate. Sweet and boozy with milder but nice barrel components.

PALATE: Medium body and medium carbonation. Creamy enough on the palate, goes down rather smooth and finishes quite sticky on the palate. A bit of booze lingers.

OVERALL: This is a sweet, fruity and relatively smooth barleywine. I was actually expecting something a lot boozier and more barrel heavy, but this is the opposite of that. The look is good here and the rest of the experience lives up to it as well. Many moons ago Midnight Sun brewed a Belgian Style Barleywine what shares a lot of the same characteristics as this one. Whether or not they were trying to re-create the magic that was, we will never truly know, but there is certainly enough of the good stuff in this one that it’s worth trying out if you’re wondering what that old, ghostly beauty may, just may, have tasted like when fresh. Thanks again, Rutger. Midnight Sun never disappoints.

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4.03/5  rDev -3.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

4.5/5  rDev +7.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

4.19/5  rDev +0.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

4.56/5  rDev +9.1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

4.6/5  rDev +10%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5

When a spouse goes out of town, some couples call, some Facetime, text, ignore one another, & I’m sure there are still a few letter writers out there. Mine pings me from a San Diego beer store wondering what I want. I have a great wife. 22 oz. bottle dated 9/16/15.

The pour is dark, eclipsed red, with a head that’s in need of a Bosley gift card. Smells rich with plum brandy, blackberries, barrel, & a shot of sugar. Like.

Termination Dust tastes more like port that some ports I’ve had. Following the smell, this is extremely rich – a mingling of brandy & port, long, slow, French kiss of alcohol. Huge malts lend an over-the-top sweetness, plus brown sugar, overripe plum, liquid caramel & apples. High West peeks out on the finish. Tacky; my lips are sticking together, & not in an enticing pout this time. Goes down faster & easier than a 13% beer ought to.

I wish I could have had this fresh, because with two years on it, this is magnificent. An extreme in booziness, liqueur, barrel, & sugar content – all of which I love. World-class brew.

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3.96/5  rDev -5.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

4.25/5  rDev +1.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

3.75/5  rDev -10.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

This was poured into a tulip and started off with a good slim half finger-ed white to off white foamy head that dissipated immediately. The lacing was slim and speckled lacing the sides of the glass nicely. The smell had a big boozy glazed to soft cooked caramel malt, was that light rye I just smelled, somewhat - maybe... The taste was mainly sweet through a variety of sweet caramel, light rye, light bourbon, light vanilla, and a good drying spice of ginger. The aftertaste was barely there and quickly ran to the finish which was fairly sticky. On the palate, this one sat about a medium on the body with a fairly decent sessionability about it. Overall, I would have this beer again. I say this is a good barleywine.

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3.43/5  rDev -17.9%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.25

This beer is too syrupy sweet and boozy for me. I'm a big fan of barleywines, especially English Barleywines. But most of those are smooth and subtle. This beer is not subtle. It reminds me of heavy molasses, with some alcohol tossed in. I couldn't finish my glass.

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3.88/5  rDev -7.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

Midnight Sun Brewing Anchorage, Alaska
Bottle Date 9/1/16

A: Dark brownish black
S: Maple, bourbon, alcohol heat, brown sugar
T: Black Strap Molasses, cola, subtle dark fruit, hop bitterness
M: Very drinkable but preferably a sipping beer, medium to high carbonation, thin, goes down smooth but with a ton of flavor
O: A great late night sipping beer, a ton of flavor with good hop presence and carbonation combined with sweet, rich syrup and cola flavors. A great barleywine

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4.34/5  rDev +3.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

4.27/5  rDev +2.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Belgian style barleywine aged in bourbon barrels. Smells good. Figs, sugared plums, vanilla, grapes, and oak. Somewhat earthy with a bitter finish. Smooth. Real real good.

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3.99/5  rDev -4.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

Nice, dark mahogany color. Frothy head leaves a tons of bubbles stuck to the side of the glass.
The smell is dominated by plum and brown sugar. I would also say figs and raisins with a hint of cinnamon. It smells like dark candied fruit in some kind of Christmas treat with some kind of booze poured over it.
The flavor is somewhat unusual. It has the earthy and floral flavors from hops, but with the bitterness somehow removed. Very sweet with some savory flavors in the background but very little bitterness. Lots of brown sugar, figs, and molasses. On the one hand, I'd say it tastes better than it smells. On the other hand, the syrupy sweetness in the flavor builds up and can be a bit cloying.
The carbonation seems a bit too light to balance out the heavy syrupy feel of the beer. Despite the very slightly dry finish with a hint of alcohol heat, overall, it feels like sugar bomb.
This is a tasty ale, and I like that the bourbon-barrel-aging didn't overpower the whole thing, but it's still a bit heavy on the syrup side, even several months (maybe a year) in the cellar.

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4.25/5  rDev +1.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

4.27/5  rDev +2.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

4.27/5  rDev +2.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

3.92/5  rDev -6.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

4/5  rDev -4.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

4.06/5  rDev -2.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured into a Fremont small snifter. 2015 properly cellared bottle. Pous a very dark mahogany brown, appearing nearly opaque in the glass, with a thin khaki head that dissipates to patches with slight lacing. Aroma of plums, raisins, figs, brown bread, a hint of cherry, whiskey. Flavor is caramel malt, fresh and dried plums, mildly tart cherry, raisins, bourbon and a little oak. Finishes with nice caramel malt and residual Belgian yeast fruit flavors with more of the slightly tart cherry. Medium bodied with moderate carbonation. A nicely malty Belgian style barleywine (the classification should be changed here; this has distinct fruit flavors associated with Belgian yeast and is a bit too fruit forward and mildly tart to fit the English style. The Belgian barleywine is a distinct style and it is too bad there isn't an entry for it.). The interaction between malt and yeast are good, with a cross section of fruit from dried to fresh and cherry. The bourbon is low-key, and barreling oak is light. The ABV is well covered, hard to believe this is 13% and I had to pace myself. Glad to be able to get a bottle of this barleywine that rarely makes it to the lower 48.

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4.34/5  rDev +3.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Poured into a wine glass because I made the mistake of taking a bottle to my parents house, where beer is strictly drunk from a bottle or can. It was a deep brown with minimal head and lacing. The bottle said it was aged in bourbon barrels, but I sure didn't notice the bourbon. The mouthfeel had fairly little carbonation. It coated the tongue and lingered in a most pleasant way. As Barleywine goes, the bitterness seemed pretty low. Instead, the sweetness seemed much more out front. The EtOH, for being 13%, was very well hidden. Finally, this bottle was a 2015 vintage that's been in my cellar for the last 12 months.

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4.27/5  rDev +2.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25