Midnight Sun XXX Black Double IPA
Originally brewed in 2009 to celebrate Specialty Imports’ 30th Anniversary, XXX Black Double IPA is now produced each winter. XXX offers bold, American hop character — comfortably cloaked in dark, luxurious malt. This exciting “winter warmer” will take the chill right out of your bones. Curl up with this session-beer-meets-nightcap.
Sometimes XXX just means 30.
In 2009, to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Specialty Imports’ specialty wine and beer import business, Midnight Sun Brewing Company brewed a very special beer--a black double IPA--to honor this Alaska company’s long-term success. In 2010 this beer was added to MSBC’s "seasonal double IPA" line-up.
Sometimes XXX just means 30.
In 2009, to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Specialty Imports’ specialty wine and beer import business, Midnight Sun Brewing Company brewed a very special beer--a black double IPA--to honor this Alaska company’s long-term success. In 2010 this beer was added to MSBC’s "seasonal double IPA" line-up.
3.8
190 reviews
Anchorage, United States
Community reviews
22oz bottle from Craftshack (received 6 months old) Pours black in color with a finger of frothy tan head. Aroma of dark chocolate, rich caramel, roasted malt, and syrupy pine. Taste of burnt malts, peanut brittle, dark chocolate, and pine.
Draft sampler pour at Face to Face Beerfest ( f2f.org ):
Characterized as a very solid and smooth Russian Imperial Stout. Told it was brewed and bottle in January--- tastes about right: any fresh-hop character and char gone.
Pour is a black with a tan head that slowly grew over the edge of the glass. Like a nitro beer. Aroma is decent roasted malt with a bit of sugar and hops. Flavor is a pretty darn good roasted malt with plenty of coffee. Finish leaves a nice roast on the tongue with a slick oily mouthfeel. The only thing I did not like is that the hops are way in the backround. This is all about the dark malt and could even be listed as a strong porter.
Pours black with foamy white head. Aromas of roasted chestnuts, grapes, a little smoke. Tastes of prunes, earthy tones, kind of sweet and sticky (toffee perhaps). Finished a tad smoky and dry. Really good stuff.
On tap at City Beer in San Francisco. Dark, almost black brown, with a small light tan head. Sweet malty nose, hints of chocolate, somewhat balanced sweet taste. Enjoyable
Pours a medium black with brown head. Aroma has Toffee, sweet malt, grass hop. Tass is Coffee, dark malts, caramel, bitter hop, very sweet finish, some fruit - maybe prunes. Medium body and average carbo.
Pretty awesome beer at ABV Taproom in Hillsboro. Pours a jet black color with a medium tan head. A big chocolate nose, resin and fruity hops. The flavor is berries, chocolates, resin, hell some weed in this, earthy dry bite in the tail. Very good.
Bomber. Pours a thick black color with a small java head. Nose is well balanced hops and malt, with some dark black licorice. Taste is burnt charcoal, quite bitter without any real sweetness. Finishes boldly and strongly on the same tasting notes with a moderately long finish. Quaff Score 7 / 10
Pours black with a brown head and aroma of hops, grapefruit, and light roasted malt. Taste is bitter, of hops, grapefruit, and pine with roasted malt, caramel, and chocolate into the bitter finish. Nice black IPA
Pour out of 22 oz bottle, dark black pour with off white head, aroma brought notes of dark fruit, caramel, toffee, roast, coffee, hints of chocolate, pine, grass. Taste is a mix of cocoa, roast, coffee, slight pine, orange, hints of grain, finishing slightly spicy, dry, bitter.
Dark mahogany pour with a small latte head. Decent amount of hop bitterness, grapefruit, and lemon zest, but the dark malt, caramel, and even notes of coffee interfere with the bright leafy citrus I was hoping for. Solid but not exceptional.
Brune très foncé aux reflets rougeâtres. Torréfié. Chocolat. Café corsé. Fruité. Cerise. Anis. Sucré. Caramel brûlé. Fruit séché (dattes. Raisin sec). Vanillé. Légèrement fumé. Finale métallique un peu décevante mais reste une très bonne bière.
Bottle to glass. A couple months old. Pours a very dark brown to black color with a frothy light brown head and a small amount of lacing. Aroma of burnt malts, coffee bitters, and light piney hops. Flavor moderately burnt bitter with some dark malt sweetness. Not much hops present in the flavor. Medium body, a bit too heavy for a black ipa. Lingering burnt flavor in the finish. Good, but wish I would have had it a bit more fresh.
XXX??? ... kinky .. . . bottle .. . pours a deep brown .. mild foam head, solid lacing .. . roast grass .. . pretty nice beer but nothing special .. . . thug life didn’t choose me, my mom picked it out. It was on sale at sears.
Black pour, light tan head, some lace/retention. Aroma is grapefruit, pine, caramel, chocolate, roast. Medium bodied, moderate to high bitterness, primarily from hops. Very smooth despite some aggressive flavors.
Bottle from City Beer, consumed in a hotel room in SF in February 2014. (my first one from this brewery)
Black with a creamy tan head. Nicely balanced with hops, grapefruit, roasted malt and some licorice. Smooth and nicely drinkable. An excellent Black IPA.
The appearance is a dark black colored body with a one and a half fingered white foamy head that dies within a half a minute. After several sips, thick lacing appears in some nice tan foaminess that ends up leaving some rings.
The smell has bitter coffee up front. She’s bitter and unpronounced (as in I’m not picking up what kind of hops are there) hops end up making some sort of appearance as they seem extremely faded if anything. Light chocolate comes in near the end.
The taste is mainly bitter yet an element of sweet chocolate does come in to help balance it. There is a light dry chocolate aftertaste and finish.
The palate is basically a light to medium, and actually shows a decent sessionable quality to it surprisingly enough. The carbonation comes across extremely smooth and showcases a wonderful smoothness shaping out the mouth.
Overall, for the most part this is a good beer, however the qualities of it seem to be closer to an American Porter to me. I’m pretty sure I’d have it again, and am hoping one of these days Midnight Sun will start putting bottling dates on their brews as I’m unsure how old this is.
Aroma is hops, vanilla. milk, and caramel malt. Appearance is black with nice lacing. Taste is hoppy with dry, bitter, oil and caramel, biscuit, barley, and faint chocolate. Overall, tastes more like a standard IPA with no stout notes. B rating.
22 oz bomber. Black pour with a nice finger of tan head. Great floral/citrus aroma on this beer. Taste is roasted malts with a front hit of hops that fades. Very little bitter aftertaste. The aroma was my favorite part of this guy, the taste did not meet the expectation.
A really tasty big bodied double IPA. Tons of hops and a caramel color really make this brew pop. Well made and worth a try if you can find it.
Poured from 22oz bottle. Black and oily. Off white head. Chocolate, rich, hoppy and burnt grass taste. I likey
On draught at 3rd Annual Black Friday event at Green Dragon. Pitch black color. Aroma of roasted malt, bourbon, citrus. Taste is smooth dark chocolate, lightly roasted dark malts, some citrus and tropical fruit. Not that hoppy at all, but a nice dark beer.
Aroma is hoppy and citrus. Stout black pour. Bitter grapefruit taste. Smooth yet harsh. Very good black ipa.
Pours an inky black brown with a nice head leaving moderate lacing. Nose of malt and a bit of coffee and a little hops. Starts a little bitter with coffee notes finishes with a smooth chocolate malt flavor. Very good black IPA.
650ml bottle. Pours out an inky black with foamy brown head. Aroma is chocolatey roasty and packed with wet, leafy hops. Tastes similar with coffee up front and an evolving dark fruitiness. Properly bitter too. Nice thickness of mouthfeel. A fairly brutal but tasty black IPA.
Bottle served in a tulip. Pours dense dark cola with a short khaki head. Decent retention, sparse lace. Earthy hops, cereal malt, and chocolate roast. Nice start. Medium-plus sweet flavor that eases to a solid roast and hop bitterness. Full body, sticky texture, soft carbonation, and a long oily bitter finish.
There’s a lot of roast in this beer, but not a boat load of hops.
Pure jet black with a smallish tan head. Aromas of roast, cock rings and burnt toast. Taste is similar - pierced, tattooed fat girls, roasty malts and a shortage of any hop profile. Perfectly bland.
Not a great beer but I’ll slam it so I can get buzzed quick.
Bottle from Skagway Alaska. Pours an opaque black with nearly no head, even with a vigorous pour. Smell is significant roastiness with a bit of fruity note as well, citrus and pineapple. Palate is on the lighter side of medium bodied and has good carbonation. Taste is quite sweet at first, but has a roasty and slightly bitter buildup before leaving a sweet and roasty aftertaste. Quite nice, though not a revelation.
A transcendent black IPA. Perfect blend of hops and malts. Roasted, chocolatey, with a pine aroma. Picked this up in Juneau in 2011.
Pours black with a moderate foam tan head. Aroma is chocolate, coffee, dark fruit, roasted malts. Taste is coffee, chocolate, tropical fruit, malt sweetness. Very well balanced and exceptionally good!