Tap Handle #804: Midnight Sun

July 24, 2023

Tap Handle #804: Midnight Sun - Kodiak Brown

Tap size: 10.75"

Rarity: tap retired?

Mounting: internal 3/8" nut

I bought this Midnight Sun Kodiak Brown tap new from the brewery back in 2016, along with a couple of their other taps which will appear on the site soon after Kodiak Brown. Back in those days, you could place an order on the brewery's webstore, but you could not pay for it...you had to wait for them to contact you to complete the transaction. The tap itself actually dates as far back as 2013. Kodiak Brown was the second beer ever produced by the brewery, way back in 1995. It features gray mountains at the top; a very angry Kodiak bear is below that; continuing to move down the tap, there is signage (attached to some rocks) bearing the name of the beer; a flowing river beneath that which bends around the brewery's name and logo; and finally, a few more rocks at the bottom. The brewery's name also appears as a decal on each side of the tap. The front and back of the tap are reverse images of each other. I have taken a full compliment of photos because this reverse image causes the tap to appear slightly different depending on which side you are viewing. The brewery sold this tap for several years, and several copies appeared on the secondary market. However, although the beer is still being made, the tap has not been on the brewery's web store for quite some time, with only a single tap currently on the secondary market, suggesting that these may be hard to find in the future.

Midnight Sun Brewing Company (MSBC) was founded in 1995 in Anchorage, Alaska by Mark Staples and his wife Barb Miller. Staples was doing computer consulting work for the Australian government when he happened to find a small brewpub in the Lord Nelson Hotel. Inspired by the beers they were brewing, Staples sought out more breweries and beers and soon found Coopers Sparkling Ale (which would eventually become the inspiration for one of Midnight Sun’s flagship beers). A purchase of a home brewer's kit sparked even more ideas. When Miller was unable to join him in Australia, Staples returned to the U.S. in 1990, arriving in San Diego, where his wife and sister came down from Anchorage to meet him. On the drive back to Anchorage they tried many beers along the way. Staples managed to land a job in Anchorage, contract computer work for the Trans Alaska Pipeline Company. In 1991, a co-worker, who was leaving out of state, left behind a homebrewing kit, and Staples was bit by the brewing bug once more.

Observing how craft beer was taking off in Washington and Oregon, Staples and Miller decided to give commercial brewing a shot. At the time, there was only one other operating brewery in Anchorage, Bird Creek, so the opportunity was both ripe and risky. For the next 2-3 years, Staples wrote business plans, formulated recipes, continued to brew, and secured capital. The Bird Creek brewery closed, but a mutual friend introduced Staples to the former head brewer at Bird Creek, Ray Hodge, who agreed to help Staples get started. Hodge designed the brewhouse layout, found and purchased equipment, and installed and tested each piece. The brewery was located in small building with multiple tenants, including Knight's Taxidermy, which had been featured in the reality show "Mounted in Alaska". The first beer released was Wolf Spirit Sparkling Ale. Midnight Sun became Anchorage's first brewery and the second oldest in state history, following Alaska Brewing Co. in 1986.

The brewery vacillated between the red and the black financially. Staples and Miller almost decided to sell the business several times. But time passed, and the couple persevered. By Midnight Sun’s fifth anniversary in 2000, the brewery had grown exponentially, brewing over 1,000 gallons a week. Seeking to increase production, Midnight Sun contracted with Portland Brewing Company to accomplish this. The beer made in Portland was brewed using Midnight Sun’s recipe and strict specifications, then was shipped back to Anchorage, all for cheaper than Midnight Sun could produce it locally themselves. In 2001, Midnight Sun decided to change their brewing philosophy in order to take sales to the next level. The brewery’s transformation would see them produce some of the wildest, wackiest, biggest, boldest, craziest, and most fun beers that Alaska, and even the rest of the United States, had ever seen. In 2002, Midnight Sun released the first line of Alaska-produced Belgian-style ales. By 2003, they had a distinct line of beers under the side operation Brasserie du Soleil de Minuit.

In 2005, to celebrate the brewery’s 10th Anniversary, Midnight Sun released its 1,000th batch of beer, a Belgian style Barleywine that took the beer world by storm. The beer quickly broke rating records, and for collectors, “M” became one of the most sought-after beers in history. Back when it was legal, a bottle of Midnight Sun M sold for an astounding $1,525 on eBay. That year coincided with their first entry and medal in the Great America Beer Festival, where their Arctic Rhino Coffee Porter took bronze. Another bronze followed a year later for Arctic Devil, a Barleywine. Over the next few years, Midnight Sun launched a number of epic beers that included The Seven Deadly Sins (2007), The Planet Series of Beers (2008), The Crew Brews (2009), and the 2010 Pop Ten. Each beer was over the top, inspiring, and defining for a brewery that had decided that bold was better.

Wildly popular, these bold brews allowed the brewery's distribution to extend well into the lower 48 states, stretching the brewery’s ability to keep up with demand almost to the breaking point. A series of shrewd annexations of the industrial spaces around them allowed them to create more space. However, once they came up against Knight's Taxidermy, who were firmly entrenched, the brewery ran out of real estate. Meanwhile, the medals continued to rack up, with a gold at the 2007 Great America Beer Festival for Imperial Pumpkin Chocolate Porter, and a silver for Pride, a Belgian & French Style Ale (which also won a bronze at the 2008 World Beer Cup).

In 2009, with a lack of space holding them back, Midnight Sun Brewing Company moved to its current location in South Anchorage. The brewery had considered new construction until they stumbled across the vacant building they would soon call home. The new site featured the brewery (with a 10,000 barrel capacity), a tap house, a cooler, a retail sales area downstairs, offices, and 2,000-square-foot loft (appropriately named "The Loft") which they turned into a full-service restaurant. The Loft was decorated in a "modern industrial" style, with polished concrete floors and silver corrugated wainscoting. A 400-square-foot deck was installed on the second floor just off the loft area for additional seating and for those who wanted to dine and drink in an outdoor environment. In 2012, they acquired warehouse space a half a block away, adding 7,000 square feet for grain and other storage.

In 2016, Midnight Sun had to send a cease-and-desist letter to Sockeye Brewing, based in Boise, over the latter company’s decision to start selling beer in Alaska. One of the flagship beers of Midnight Sun was Sockeye Red IPA, which represented a large portion of the brewery’s overall sales. The irony of the situation was that a brewery in Idaho, which has minimal sockeye runs, was calling itself Sockeye Brewing Co., when Anchorage is the unofficial capital of sockeye in the entire world due to massive sockeye populations. To Midnight Sun, it appeared that the Idaho brewery was trying to cash in on Midnight Sun's success by creating brand confusion.

Also in 2016, the label art of Panty Peeler Belgian-Style Tripel Ale sparked attacks on social media, which rose to the attention of national press. The World Beer Cup announced in 2017 that they would no longer accept entries which had 'sexist and lewd names', making Panty Peeler ineligible for both its label art and name. Author Ben McFarland noted Panty Peeler as one of the best beers in the world. Business Insider declared Midnight Sun Brewing Co. to be one of the top-rated brewers in the country.

Offering 27 different brews that include four sodas, the brewery sells beer by the glass, bottle, keg or growler. Their U.S. distribution is limited to Alaska, Washington, Idaho, Oregon, California, Hawaii, and New York. The brewery has been a regular participant in Anchorage's First Fridays art walk, with their own First Firkin Fridays, featuring the works of different local artists in The Loft each month. Specially brewed casks of conditioned beer are opened by the guest artist at the event. Surviving COVID was difficult, but the brewery managed to make it through and continues to enjoy great success.

Midnight Sun's Kodiak Brown Ale was the brewery's second ale, initially produced back in 1995. Rugged yet smooth, it balances caramel and roasted malts with Northwest Perle and Willamette hops. This American brown ale’s intrepid maltiness is delicious. A top seller since 1995, Kodiak Brown Ale proves that Alaskans are adventurous in spirit and we are not afraid of the dark. Pair it with comfort foods, such as macaroni and cheese, lasagna, and burritos; pub grub, such as burgers, nachos, and deep-fried bites; and just about anything prepared on the grill.