Big Slick
Midnight Sun Brewing Co.

Big SlickBig Slick
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From:
Midnight Sun Brewing Co.
 
Alaska, United States
Style:
American Barleywine
ABV:
11.9%
Score:
89
Avg:
3.98 | pDev: 9.8%
Reviews:
35
Ratings:
44
Status:
Retired
Rated:
May 15, 2015
Added:
Jul 04, 2009
Wants:
  39
Gots:
  2
This kick ass American Barley Wine is all about hops —Nugget, Chinook, Simcoe and Centennial. And, yeah, LoTs of ‘em. OK…there’s a substantial malt base on which these juicy Pacific NW hops lie down and do their dirty work. Maybe that’s too much info…

100 IBU
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by westcoastbeerlvr:
Photo of westcoastbeerlvr
Rated by westcoastbeerlvr from California

3.5/5  rDev -12.1%

Jan 09, 2013
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 4.12 by DucksFan16 from Tennessee

May 15, 2015
 
Rated: 4 by vande from Illinois

Apr 21, 2013
 
Rated: 4 by t0rin0 from California

Oct 29, 2012
 
Rated: 4 by bsuedekum from Missouri

Mar 28, 2012
Photo of brentk56
Reviewed by brentk56 from North Carolina

4.03/5  rDev +1.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Appearance: Pours a hazy copper color with a nice beige head that leaves plenty of lace behind; very leggy, too

Smell: Caramel and tobacco, with hints of pine; has that oxidized smell of an aged barleywine - not a bad thing at all

Taste: Caramel and tobacco, up front, with a growing piney edge by mid-palate; after the swallow, the hops continue to make a statement, even after more than two years; very balanced and smooth in the finish

Mouthfeel: Medium to full body with moderate carbonation

Overall: This barleywine has matured very nicely and the overwhelming hop dominance reported in the first year has mellowed though it remains part of the mix

Thanks, hannont, for the opportunity
Mar 25, 2012
Photo of FosterJM
Reviewed by FosterJM from California

3.5/5  rDev -12.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
1168th Review on BA
Bottle to Tripel Karmeliet
22oz

Thanks to Gurudel for sharing

Shared with Gurudel, Jazzpatel, Mrhirschybar & BdubleEdubleRun

App- Poured a dark orange with yellow highlights with a small head and a couple bubbles. Not a lot of cling.

Smell- For an older bottle this to me still had a lot or muted hops. Big malt backbone. A lot of damp and earthy citrus was present as well.

Taste- It's tasty but drinks more like a muted DIPA vs. Barleywine. Has way more hops than I wouldve thought. This beer fresh wouldve been a monster. Has a unique spicy type of flavor with a ton caramel citrus.

Mouth- Light medium bodied with a medium carbonation and a big damp citrus residual flavor.

Drink- Its an okay beer. Very different from what I was thinking. Had way more hops vs. malts and citrus. Leave it to Vince to bring a bottle weve never seen.
Mar 20, 2012
 
Rated: 3.75 by BdubleEdubleRUN from California

Mar 19, 2012
 
Rated: 3.5 by acurtis from New Jersey

Jan 15, 2012
 
Rated: 4 by SanDiegoBeerLove from California

Jan 15, 2012
 
Rated: 4 by spycow from Illinois

Dec 14, 2011
Photo of treyrab
Reviewed by treyrab from California

4.11/5  rDev +3.3%
look: 5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4
Have to thank Kyle for this beer. Even though he will never read this review, and probably forgot his password to log on to BA, I still have to give him a shout out for sending. Split into two snifters. This is 2009 vintage.

A: I grabbed this from cellar temperature (55F) and immediately decapped. As soon as the cap was removed, the beer started to slowly creep up the neck, but stopped just shy of overflowing. Poured prudently into the snifter, it yielded a gorgeous, clear copper red. The head is a magnificent cloud of sticky eggshell white that does not fade (and I am now halfway through the beer). Very sticky and viscous looking.

S: Smells like a DIPA. Never had this fresh, but I can only assume it was a beast. Tons and tons of Pacific Northwest hops (Cascade, Chinook, etc.). Aged hops, though. Tons and tons of caramel, brown sugar, and toffee come through with the aged hops. Pretty nice.

T: Super sticky and rather sweet. Tons of sticky and sweet caramel and toffee, blended with vanilla and brown sugar. Accompanying those are aged citrus hops with orange, lemon, and grapefruit.

Overall, this was solid. I can confidently state that this beer was better fresh, although it has aged pretty nicely.
Nov 29, 2011
Photo of mikesgroove
Reviewed by mikesgroove from South Carolina

4.5/5  rDev +13.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
dark amber in color with a smooth look to it. Nice cloudiness to it. Some carbonation could be seen streaming up from the bottom of the glass, with a nice amount odd white head sitting on top of it. Smooth settle, left behind only trace amounts of side lacing. The aroma was rich, light notes of alcohol and a ton of bready malts. Hints of pine resin hops and a nice, touch of grain mingling in throughout the profile. The flavor was smooth as could be, a very mellow barley wine with hints of caramel and a muted hop note. Interesting balance here, with the alcohol mostly hidden in amongst the profile. Easy to sip
Oct 02, 2011
Photo of drabmuh
Reviewed by drabmuh from Maryland

3.53/5  rDev -11.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
Beer shared by Ben, thanks!

Beer is amber / brown mostly clear with a lazy head in this tiny snifter.

Aroma is a little boozy, alcoholic, strong moderately.

Beer is medium in body and has this boozy / tannic quality to it that detracts from the malt sweetness and the overall enjoyability of the beer. It is fine but I think in the future I'll skip it.
Sep 23, 2011
Photo of Thorpe429
Reviewed by Thorpe429 from Illinois

3.43/5  rDev -13.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3.5
Big thanks to bmanning for pulling out this Midnight Sun bottle from his stash. Served in a snifter.

Poured a hazy peach-amber color with a good white head and a bit of lacing on the way down. The nose brought forward some dough and brown sugar plus a good dosing of booze. Lightly tannic, even though I don't think this was oak-aged. The flavor falls along the same lines. Some sweetness, but not all that much goind on. Medium body and fairly boozy; dry and slightly astringent. Not one of my favorite MS brews.
Sep 20, 2011
Photo of HopHead84
Reviewed by HopHead84 from California

3.7/5  rDev -7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5
9/3/2011

Thanks to Ryan for the bottle.

A: Red tinged dark orange with a huge white head of froth. Great retention and lots of lacing.

S: Pronounced caramel with baked bread. The hops have faded for the most part, redolent with pine and grapefruit. There's a little cardboard.

T: Lightly sweet bread with moderately bitter pine and grapefruit. Caramel blends with light oxidation. Finishes bitter with pine, caramel, cardboard, a little booze, and a moderate bitterness.

M: Medium in body with upper moderate carbonation.

Overall: Pretty oxidized but still good. I would have liked to try this fresh, but Alaska is so aloof.
Sep 05, 2011
Photo of AgentZero
Reviewed by AgentZero from Illinois

4/5  rDev +0.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Thanks to Alex again for sharing this.

A - Caramel colored beer with a bit of a tan head that had some nice retention and lacing.

S - Fairly good barleywine smell, crystal malts, toasted malts, some burnt sugar and caramel, bit of toffee. Also has a nice hops presence that is very distinctive.

T - Not quite as hoppy as the smell, it's a pretty straightforward, albeit, enjoyable barleywine with good caramel and burnt sugar, some molasses, and some hop bitterness on the end.

M - Medium bodied with some decent carbonation.

O - No complaints here, a very solid barleywine that is worth trying. Doesn't necessarily stand out in any way, but it's a quality brew that has good characteristics.
Jul 25, 2011
Photo of afausser
Reviewed by afausser from Montana

4.08/5  rDev +2.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4
Appearance: Pours a very pretty but murky reddish brown, with a finger for creamy beige head. Looking at the glass from the side, the bubbles are really even, but from the top they are extremely varied in size, though the top of the brew looks very calm and fluffy overall. Very little movement can be seen when held to the light, and the beer seems somewhat opaque overall. A very nice sheet of uneven lacing is visible when the beer is swirled, but removes most of the rest of the head.

Smell: Great sweet barleywine notes in the nose, particularly toffee and caramel. Notes of vanilla blend in nicely. Some nice sour cherry notes below the surface, though overall is very sweet--though the sweetness is very mellow and not at all syrupy or abrasive. Some nice hops in the nose when agitated.

Taste: Doesn't taste very much like it smells, but it's good. Not really very boozy. It tastes--and this is in part due to the mouthfeel, I think--watered down. That's not to say that it isn't flavorful--it is extremely flavorful. It just has that element in the taste, and is probably the most difficult part of this brew to describe. A surprising amount of hops blends with a great deal of earthiness as well as some fruit notes, particularly cherry, banana, and slight raisins.

Mouthfeel: Very low carbonation. Oddly, this isn't much of a problem for this brew. The mouthfeel on this brew doesn't seem particularly to style, but I think it serves the brew well on the whole. Not hot and very little aftertaste.

Drinkability: Not at all hot, but at 11.9% it is difficult to drink. Definitely one to sip. Extremely happy to have had the chance to try it, though.
Apr 19, 2011
Photo of ManVersusBeer
Reviewed by ManVersusBeer from Massachusetts

3.92/5  rDev -1.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Right into some Midnight Sun stemware, of course. Pours a creamy head of froth, a bit beige, and lasts for a bit with some soft lacing.
Smells like a barleywine for sure with big honey and dark fruit notes. Plums, I guess, but more like golden raisins, some caramel, and oranges; a pretty great aroma.
Lighter than it smells with some sweet honey and mild fruity esters. What really stands out is the bold hop presence of citrus and bitterness at the back end which I like very much.
Not dry and not so sticky thanks to the floral spice of the hops. There is a creamy sweetness to this, with some good carbonation and bitterness.
Definitely a sipper, even with the bold hop flavor and less sugared taste of your typical barleywine. This is a good brew and the massive addition of hops balance this one nicely.
Feb 09, 2011
Photo of brokensail
Reviewed by brokensail from California

3.87/5  rDev -2.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5
Thanks to Bobby for sharing this.

A: The pour is a dark copper color with a certain murkiness to it and a khaki colored head.

S: A nice citrus aroma with lots of grapefruit and oranges. There's a bit of a sweet orange thing going on and sort of balances out the intense pine notes. Mildly oxidized with some brown sugar, toffee, caramel, and molasses.

T: Lots of hop flavor to this beer. Pretty darn bitter with pine, grapefruit, and citrus peel flavors. The sweetness is there and offers up some brown sugar, caramel, and molasses, but really overwhelmed by the hops.

M: The body is medium to full with a pretty decent level of carbonation for a barleywine.

D: Despite the age, this beer is still pretty damn bitter. I've begun to like the sweeter barleywines a bit more, but this hoppier variety still works for me.
Dec 10, 2010
Big Slick from Midnight Sun Brewing Co.
Beer rating: 89 out of 100 with 44 ratings