(Anchorage, AK) – A Midnight Sun Brewing mega-post filled with Planet Beer Series details, Berserker Stout news, an interesting marketing twist for one of the existing beers, tentative plans to get beer into Washington, and info on how those in the lower 48 states can get some Midnight Sun beers dropped off to their doorstep.  Here goes…

Much in the same fashion it released last year’s popular Seven Deadly Sins Beer Series, Midnight Sun Brewing is at it again in 2008 with a new series based on the planets of the Solar System.

The brewery is in the process of releasing, in both bombers and on draft, nine Belgian-style beers named after the planets (note that Pluto is included for this series).  Three beers have been released already on a monthly basis beginning this past April: Mars, Earth, and Mercury, the most recent being Mercury, a Belgian-style Small Beer spiced with Indian Coriander.  Next in the series should be Uranus, an ale featuring 100% Brett fermentation.  If the order on the site holds, the rest of the releases may fall in order like this: Pluto, Saturn, Neptune, Venus, and Jupiter. [Turns out that is not the order. Next in the series is Pluto on 8/21, Golden Ale aged w/ Brett] Styles for each beer can be found on the sales sheet [pdf link], and they are all up on our new beer release calendar as well.  (Not to mention, craft beer with a space theme makes for the ultimate experience in beer geekiness 🙂

One of the brewery’s beers will soon get a name change.  Midnight Sun Épluche-Culotte will finally don the nickname it has earned over time: “Panty Peeler.”  Originally dubbed “Extreme Polar White Bier,” the brew should be released with its new label by late July.  La Mâitresse du Moine, the #1 Abbey Dubbel in the world, will also get its “Monk’s Mistress” name back.  Barb Miller, VP/Marketing and Business/Brand Development, notes that the recipe for Monk’s will stay the same but that Panty Peeler will “have more orange peel and coriander like it used to way back.”  When it debuted back in 2003, its beer ratings hovered around the low-mid 4’s at RateBeer for much of the year, certainly making this something to watch.

What else is new in 2008?  Midnight Sun Meltdown Double IPA is a recent new offering that is available in bombers through the summer.  And Miller informed me that Berserker Imperial Stout will make its return either in late 2008 or early 2009.  With any luck, the brewery will also be undertaking a very limited expansion in distribution before the end of the year.  Miller mentioned Seattle, Washington as a potential target and would like to move the beers early this fall.  Midnight Sun is looking to grow, and once a suitable facility is found, more focus can be placed on expanding into the lower 48 states.

For now, you will only find the beers discussed above in Anchorage.  However, two online beer store sites are carrying the brewery’s regular releases in stock. You can find Midnight Sun Arctic Devil Barleywine, La Mâitresse du Moine, Sockeye Red IPA, and Kodiak Brown at both Liquid Solutions and Bottle Trek. The latter even appears to be carrying the Arctic Rhino Coffee Porter. Just search for “Midnight Sun” on either site.