Beer Review 77: Midnight Sun Bar Fly

I'm back with another beer review, and its another Midnight Sun Brewing offering. This time it's their smoked Cabernet barrel aged stout, Bar Fly. I can say in all honesty this may be my favorite barrel aged stout of all time. Bar Fly posses great texture, balance and its so drinkable that one alone can put down a 22 oz bottle without any help. One draw back about this beer, its very limited, and by that I mean it was brewed once and sold only in Alaska. Making it even more rare is the fact that less tan 2000 bottles were made 2010, so if you trying to track one down you might be looking for awhile or you will be paying some insulting type of money to purchase one. Furthermore, Bar Fly makes a great beer to cellar as well, so people who still have it, they wont be parting with it, making trading for it pretty hard.  If you do have a bottle of this make sure to enjoy it in 6oz pours and in the proper glassware. In the case of Bar Fly, a snifter or tulip glass will work best. Moreover, this incredible stout is bottled at a very smooth 12.60% abv. Usually a beer of this high alcohol content packs some heat when drinking it, but Bar Fly goes down smooth and clean. I'm fully blown away by this beer and I want to give the head brewer and other staff at Midnight Sun a big hug and high fives for not only coming up with this beer, but many other beers I truly enjoy. If your an avid craft beer drinker, do yourself a favor... get some Midnight Sun brew!

Color: Pours almost jet black. Hints of mocha shine around the edges of the glass. A nice tan one finger head forms in the glass, but it dissolves quite quickly.

Nose: Just superb! Light smoke, roast, and great oak presence. Hints of roasted coffee beans, mellow chocolate, with hints of tobacco. Quite complex.

Palate: Medium to full bodied. Extremely drinkable with the perfect amount  of carbonation. The abv is well masked throughout the beer. On the tongue you first get the smoke followed by waves of roasted coffee and tobacco. At the back end the vanilla and cab barrel presence begins to show.

Finish: Smooth and uber complex. Great texture and layers. An incredible stout that shines above all others out there.

Rating: 97/100