Imperial Eclipse Stout - Christian Brothers Brandy - FiftyFifty Brewing Co.

jeonseh

Indiana

3.28/5  rDev -19.4%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.25

Bottle served in a snifter. Beginning of drinking most of the 2011 and 2012s over multiple tastings

A - Dark chocolate with a small milk chocolate head 3.25

S - Dark chocolate, light green apple, slight caramel, vanilla, and light bourbon but not much. 3.25

T - Bitter chocolate, light caramel, slight apple and almost lemon. There is a slight boozy bourbon that comes near the finish. The apple and lemon just don't seem to fit too well with the rest of the flavors boozy bourbon near the finish 3.25

M - Medium body with slight creaminess with light stickiness

O - Decent enough stout but not too good overall. The bitterness and apple / lemon flavors throw this off. Also, there is only a slight brandy presence as it appears the barrel didn't add too much

Serving type: bottle

03-19-2013 02:27:10 | More by jeonseh

mdfb79

New York

4.13/5  rDev +1.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

From 11/17/12 notes.

a - Pours a pitch black color with one inch of dark tan head and low to moderate carbonation evident. Looks like the other versions, which is great, maybe with a itny bit less head.

s - Smells of roasted malts, sweet bourbon, sweet dark fruits, burnt malts, chocolate, coffee, and light cream. Nice and sweet.

t - Tastes of sweet chocolate, dark fruits, bourbon, oak, toasted malts, burnt malts, roasted malts, coffee, and vanilla.

m - Medium body and moderate carbonation. No heat, pretty easy to drink.

o - Overall another very good version of Eclipse. One of the sweeter ones, and not as good as the sweet Buffalo Trace, but still great. Would like to have it again.

Serving type: bottle

11-19-2012 15:46:28 | More by mdfb79

drabmuh

Maryland

4.05/5  rDev -0.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Bottle shared by Thorpe in our partial Eclipse tasting, thanks. Served in an Eclipse glass just because.

Beer is black and has a lazy head of dark brown bubbles, minimal lacing, minimal retention, minimal carbonation, it looks fine.

Aroma is sweeter than other variants, a little boozy, a little roast a little oak.

After having Totality I can say that barrel aging these beers mellow out the relatively harsh roast in this beer. I enjoyed it but it wasn't my favorite of the night, decent though, quite good. I'd have it again.

Serving type: bottle

11-18-2012 23:44:44 | More by drabmuh

UCLABrewN84

California

4.03/5  rDev -1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Thanks to Miguel for sharing this one at NoSignsOfPain's birthday bottleshare hosted by mrbubbler.

2010 vintage. Bottle # 90.

Pours an opaque black with a foamy dark khaki head that settles to a film on top of the beer. Small dots of lace form around the glass on the drink down. Smell is of dark roasted malt, cocoa, brandy, and wood. Taste is much the same with a medium level of roasty bitterness after each sip. This beer has a lower level of carbonation with a slightly crisp and medium bodied mouthfeel. Overall, this is a good beer that I like slightly better than the 2011 brandy barrel blend.

Serving type: bottle

07-02-2012 02:42:38 | More by UCLABrewN84

lurpy1

Minnesota

4.25/5  rDev +4.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Wow. Being a non-trader, non-whale chaser, I had always assumed the Eclipse line would fall into the category of beers I wanted to try but never would. Much thanks to maximum12 who brought a bottle along for a cabin weekend. Never mind that this version was described as one of the little sisters of the Eclipse family.

The pour is dark, still, calm? Head? No sir, that wouldn't be mellow. This beer is all about mellow.

The smell brings brandy, chocolate, and a little coffee, and a whole lot of Hakuna Matata. This is one mellow beer

Taste is predominantly, with a little roastiness too. Pleasantly understated, or perhaps, understatedly pleasant.

Loved the mouthfeel. Thick, calm, soothing. Brandy-like. This is a beer you drink before bedtime.

The biggest problem with this beer is the company it keeps. It's not an assertive beer that makes you say "whoa", so perhaps if you start with FiftyFifty's rough stuff, this one is a mild letdown. To an Eclipse outsider, though, it's pretty effin' good.

Serving type: bottle

06-04-2012 22:19:41 | More by lurpy1

scottfrie

California

3.5/5  rDev -14%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

2010. Thanks for sharing Abel.

A: Pours black with a very thin film for a head. Not much lace.
S: Big notes of brandy with a little bit of char and peat.
T: Sweet notes of brandy, caramel, vanilla and some sweeter dark fruits. Brandy is almost syrupy, and the peat and char comes through in the finish. Greasy caramel, milk chocolate, and a bit of toffee shine in the aftertaste. Peat is a bit astringent.
M: Greasy and slick mouth, medium body, low carbonation. Needs a few more bubbles and it could be thicker.
O: Not the best of the Eclipses. I’d drink this again, but I prefer the others over this.

Serving type: bottle

05-19-2012 01:02:42 | More by scottfrie

Jeffo

Netherlands

2.7/5  rDev -33.7%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

The Dooper and I were very fortunate to be able to try the whole 2010 - 2008 series. This was the third one we opened. Thanks to everyone who made these good times possible. A shout goes out to jbeatty for sending us this one. Cheers man!

From a bomber into a snifter
Vintage: 2010
Bottle: 388
Wax: Brown

APPEARANCE: All the 2010 bottles basically look the same. Thin, transparent pour yields a small, medium looking, tan head with decent retention. Head fades relatively quickly to a faint wisp and ring. Black body, quite transparent, with no carbonation evident. A ring remains until the end leaving some dots of lacing down the glass. Just too light and transparent for the style, unfortunately.

SMELL: Very mild on the nose. Weak even. Some brandy for sure and then some light notes of roasted malts and dark chocolate. Though not off-putting by any means, it’s simply too mild to be memorable.

TASTE: Milder flavors up front, but some brandy, roasted flavors and notes of dark chocolate come out at the finish. Smoky notes as well. A bold but dry aftertaste of brandy and some roasted chocolaty flavors is there and gone. Some heat at the swallow on this one as well. A little unimpressive, though decent enough. Probably the most mild of all the variants.

PALATE: Medium body and lower levels of carbonation, much like the HH ‘09. Heavy and thick enough on the palate, creamy enough as well, goes down smooth and finishes slightly sticky. Unfortunately it gets slightly watery as it sits in the glass, but it starts out quite good.

OVERALL: Just too mild and boring to be at all interesting. There’s nothing wrong with this beer per se, but there’s nothing impressive enough to make it worth drinking really. I would put this near the bottom of the series, and the only reason it isn’t dead last is because it wasn’t offensive like the JD version was. It looks like they retired this, for whatever reason, and that was probably a good choice. Skip this one and try one of the others. Some of the other variants have much more character and complexity than this.

Serving type: bottle

02-07-2012 19:56:48 | More by Jeffo

InebriatedJoker

Ohio

4.13/5  rDev +1.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

bottle # 481 - 2010 release - Thanks Schwaeh

A; Black with one finger head that descended into a thin off white lacing, decent carbonation.

S: Brandy, sweet dark fruit, roasted malt, vanilla.

T: Hints of brandy, vanilla, slight chocolate, raisins roasted malts.

O: Overall a little more sweet than the other variations I have tried , still it's a solid beer with a nice smooth finish and aftertaste.

Serving type: bottle

02-04-2012 20:57:57 | More by InebriatedJoker

PerHops

California

3.93/5  rDev -3.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

This one pours like you'd expect. Syrupy, black as midnight, with a very light tan head that sticks to the top of the glass. This one smells good, but I don't pick up a lot of brandy barrel. On the nose I get chocolate, cherries and bananas. The one is heavy duty! Pretty smooth considering the ABV and brandy barrel aging. The alcohol is evident, but not dominant. Dark fruit flavors pair well with the chocolate and light espresso finish. Gets even darker as it warms up. Leather, earthiness, raisons, brandy more evident. This is a heavy duty stout. Share this one and you should enjoy it.

Serving type: bottle

01-17-2012 02:07:09 | More by PerHops

cpetrone84

Pennsylvania

3/5  rDev -26.3%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Had many of the eclipse series together. This is the 2010 Vintage. Pours thick black with brown edges and a small bit of thin tan head. The nose has hints of smoke, a little meaty, notes of vegetables with light roasted malts and some fig and plum fruits in behind. The flavor is roasted malts, slightly vegital, sweet in back with lots of sugar. Medium body, a little thin in back, smooth feel and low carb. Off malts, overly sweet, smallest amount of barrel presence, weakest of all.

Serving type: bottle

12-15-2011 16:26:58 | More by cpetrone84

claaark13

Indiana

3.93/5  rDev -3.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

#463, poured into a Founders snifter.

A - Pours black with no head whatsoever. Nothing. I let it sit for a few moments and then give it a sift. The slightest amount of tan begins to surface, then sits for just a little bit. Certainly looks better once agitated, so I'll bump this up to a 3.5.

S - Dark fruits, little chocolate, slight sweetness from the brandy. Not any heat, which is a plus.

T - Brandy is there from start to finish. Dark fruits are emphasized as well, slight dryness in the end evident of the barrel. Nothing boozy about it and the brandy helps give a slight sweetness with the honey. Little bit of chocolate. Little bit of oxidation in the flavor upfront. Nothing too dominating, just a nicely balanced and smooth flavor.

M - Medium going on light. Really not much body here. Just barely enough to carry the flavor through, but that actually may be in part due to the very low carbonation.

O - This beer is just a little too light for my liking. It is all personal preference, but this is just on the lower end...especially for the asking price. Flavor is very nice though, I enjoy how the brandy helps accentuate the base beer as opposed to the other variants.

Serving type: bottle

11-29-2011 01:18:45 | More by claaark13

NCBeerFan

North Carolina

4.35/5  rDev +6.9%
look: 4 | smell: 5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Had this for the first time at a January tasting as part of the entire '10 lineup, and it was the favorite for most of the attendees. Decided to open it again 8 months later and see if it still as tasty.

Poured a dark brown with some ruby highlights along the edges into a DFH snifter…can't recall the carbonation from the initial pour, but this one is flatter than expected, with virtually no head whatsoever…it does, however, leave a tiny bit of lacing around the glass.

Smells of brandy, vanilla, dark fruits, milk chocolate…just a great aroma, and makes you just want to enjoy the smell and not even take a sip, but….

The taste follows the nose, with the chocolate, brandy and vanilla coming through, although my wife picks up some toffee-like flavors. This is just a really tasty brew…these guys know how to brew a BA stout.

As is the case with all of the BA Eclipses, this is one velvety smooth brew…the flatness took away a bit of the enjoyment, but it's still a top-notch BA stout, and one that I would gladly drink again.

Serving type: bottle

08-28-2011 01:43:53 | More by NCBeerFan

AgentZero

Illinois

4.4/5  rDev +8.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

A - Black beer with no head on it. That's really about it. It's black.

S - Not as heavy or full as some of the bourbon aged versions seem. The brandy is nice though, and nice for a change up. There's also some chocolate, as well as a slightly bigger focus on the dark fruits that the bourbon covers up.

T - Nice fruit character with chocolate and coffee. The brandy is prevelent but only slightly booze, and tastes pretty good. Little bit of wood comes through at the end.

M - Creamy, smooth, pretty full bodied, just a little bit thinner than the bourbon counterparts.

O - Great beer, and it's rare! Thanks to Thorpe429 for haring this one. A great change from the bourbon versions, and a good beer.

Serving type: bottle

07-24-2011 23:52:03 | More by AgentZero

mikesgroove

South Carolina

4.6/5  rDev +13%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

very deep dark chocolate brown, Some very light, and I mean very light side glass lace formed as I made my way down the glass, but it was unremarkable in that context. The look was a far cry from the thick tan heads and tremendous lacing of some of its peers, but that will by no means influence the final judging of this one.

The first thing I noticed was a tremendous amount of bourbon in the smell. It was coming across very hot at first, but this was just the barrel aging, which to be honest, if it was this prevalent in the aroma, the flavor was setting up to be out of this world. A deep resonant smell of roasted coffee then followed, mixed in with what almost seemed to be to be like some kind rich burnt tobacco smell, quite unique and I cannot say that I have encountered anything like this one in recent memory. Letting it warm lets some of the bourbon smells work themselves out and starts to reveal some of the deeper ingredients lying well under the surface. There was some bit of sweetness in there, albeit small; however, it was there and gave off a caramelized sugar note of some sort, bitter dark chocolate mingling in now and really staring to battle it out with the bourbon. Notes of oak now hitting the stage, really giving it that earthy tone I was looking for, and being sweetened up just a little bit b a hint of vanilla floating around in there. Rich dark chocolate notes were swirling around in here, mingling with everything that came there way, including a touch of sweet lactose,nsmoked tobacco that I picked up in the smell, not really sure what that is, but it adds great depth to it and really providing and interesting little hint. Rolling though there is now some oak starting to pull it together, really showing off the barrel character of it now. Some hints of vanilla starting to poke around, and then come some black licorice, hell yeah now we are talking. Letting it warm up now to around or close to room temperature, things are really starting to change a bit here. Gone is the strong bourbon barrel hotness, the alcohol all but faded away, and instead those subtle notes of sweetness are replacing it, really mellowing it out, letting the oak like earthy notes dominate and bring together the chocolate and the vanilla.

Serving type: bottle

07-04-2011 04:25:58 | More by mikesgroove

jethrodium

California

4.38/5  rDev +7.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4.5

2010 bottle. Maroon wax. Pours a very dark brown that's ruby colored at the edges when held up to the light. A light tan head dissipates relatively quickly and leaves a small amount of lacing on the glass. Aroma in brandy, toasted marshmallow, some honey, a bit of roastiness, some cocoa, grape, plum, as well as some light alcohol. The taste is relatively sweet with brandy, plum, toasted marshmallow, and cocoa. The finish has some roastiness as well as a light bitterness. The alcohol present in the nose was not present in the taste. Relatively light bodied for an imperial stout. Low carbonation. Just a great beer. I enjoyed this one the best out of all the 2010 eclipses.

Serving type: bottle

06-22-2011 05:26:21 | More by jethrodium

seeswo

Ohio

4.2/5  rDev +3.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Pours very dark with a small, quiet tan head. Smells very similar to other eclipse beers, malty with honey sweetness, a bit of dark fruit and a touch of chocolate combined with a subtle rich brandy. Smells really good. The taste is more subtle brandy than expected, but well melded with the nice honey touch on the malty, dark fruit imperial stout. Always drinkable, the beer is just a touch thinner than I am looking for, but goes down nice at <10%. It's not my favorite of the eclipse BA beers, but it is quite nice.

There must be some bottle variation, because no one would drain pour the beer I had. If anything, it might have been a bit too subtle.

Serving type: bottle

06-11-2011 20:52:51 | More by seeswo

juhl31

California

3.53/5  rDev -13.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

-pitch black in color. i held it up to the full sun and nothing through it. i like how the head looks after a bit, tall on the edges with a light brown film across the rest. not much fluff to it at all though

-when cold, it is hard to pull smell descriptors out of it. as it warms you can definitely smell the brandy on it. on the sweet end and has a bit of a nostril sting to it

-when colder it seems as it has much more roast flavor than others. and again the brandy rolls in hard as it warms. it gives it a weird, almost tart flavor. the brandy doesn't seem to blend with it as well as the bourbons. i also get a bit of a vanilla taste along with a bit of dark chocolate

-almost no carb feel involved and seems a bit thin compared to the others. your mouth also gets left with a bit of a dingy bitter feel to it

-this is definitely an interesting version. it is crazy how different the overall beer tastes with the brandy. it leads me to believe that brandy barrels lend itself better to barleywines. i am glad i tried a solid portion, but i am not necessarily impressed

Serving type: bottle

06-09-2011 02:14:34 | More by juhl31

maximum12

Minnesota

3.4/5  rDev -16.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Thanks again to the folks at FiftyFifty for sharing their beer with the rest of the country: ordered this along with the rest of their varieties last winter. The rest have been so good I can't imagine this isn't going to be in the same pantheon.

Pour is more still than the other Eclipse: almost completely quiet, virtually no carbonation. Hard black. Smell is subtle. Brandy is there but muzzled, malt is strong/deep.

Brandy Eclipse is steeped in a big tea-bag of brandy: no doubting the family tree of this brew. Plenty of dollops of other flavors too. Silvers of oak, bits of dark fruit, maybe a little mild chocolate & char thrown in for good measure. That said, these flavors don't quite roll around & couple the way they do in the other Eclipse brews, or other top-flight barrel-aged brews. Everything is good on its own, but the overall impression is a bit less than the sum of its parts.

Good, but not great, which I can't say for any of the other Eclipse iterations. Whatever. Still one of the best barrel-aged series out there, & I'm happy to try this.

Serving type: bottle

06-05-2011 03:42:55 | More by maximum12

Urbancaver

Ohio

4.5/5  rDev +10.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Thanks seeswo. Amazingly tasty brew.

Pours a dark dark brown. Vry nice light tan head. Looks pretty.
Smells sweet with a touch of light fruitiness. The malt profile is solid. Tastes sweet and malty. The brandy is subtle and very solid. I get just a touch of plum and or raisin. Solid mouthfeel and overall a great brew

Serving type: bottle

06-05-2011 00:26:40 | More by Urbancaver

DefenCorps

Oregon

4.53/5  rDev +11.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5

Bottle #515 from the 2010 release, shared with my dad last night.

Glugging a dark brown from the bottle, there's a thin, wispy, light brown head that briefly rises before falling off to a disk, leaving a nice sheet of lacing on the glass. The nose is rather excellent. The brandy character is great here. Rich with a blend of grape, red wine, port, a little smoke, a mild tannin, a little cocoa, a little leather, the barrel expression is excellent here! It does seem to have almost covered some of the sweeter elements of the base beer as well, there isn't as much caramel as in the other variants. A mild heat is present, but it's perfect on this pleasant spring evening.

The palate is rather excellent. It really needs to warm up to about 60, 'cos any lower and it feels thin and watery. The brandy expression on the palate is excellent. Rich, mildly smoky, mildly port-like, moderately tannic and of course, plenty of brandy and pomace. Behind it all, the caramel sweetness from the base stout is noticeable, pairing rather wonderfully with the smoky and leathery character that is rather unique to this variant of Eclipse. Mildly tannic with flavors of pomace and brandy on the finish, this beer is full in body with moderate carbonation and an absolutely wonderful finish. Excellent stuff, highly recommended. Of the two variants from the 2010 release that I've tried yet, this is my favorite.

**Edit 7th Feb 2012**

Happy birthday, Sandhosh! I'm revisiting this beer after a few months, and it looks like I have "good" bottles. Quite wonderfully balanced, with the brandy really making this stand apart from the other Eclipses. It still is my favorite among the 2010 releases.

Serving type: bottle

06-03-2011 18:29:41 | More by DefenCorps

woosterbill

Connecticut

4.53/5  rDev +11.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5

Sampled at the Batch 3 Rosso release as part of an Eclipse tasting; huge thanks to Thorpe429, ChrisPro, callmemickey, rlmartin, corey70, and starrdogg for making this possible!

A: Black with clear red highlights. The lightest of the Eclipses in its body, but with a similarly creamy cap of light brown head. Nice.

S: Heaven. Rich, sweet, fruity, and roasty. Brandy, vanilla, milk chocolate, coffee, and bitterness. Intense and balanced at the same time. Very, very different from the whiskey versions, and it's a welcome change of pace.

T: Sweet malt, vanilla, chocolate, coffee, and dark fruit. The spirit isn't too prominent, but definitely noticeable. Plenty of booze and brandy on the finish. Delicious.

M: Smooth, full, rich, and soft - the only Eclipse to nail the mouthfeel.

O: This was the final installment in our epic Eclipse tasting, and what a way to cap things off. The shift from whiskey to brandy couldn't have been starker, or any better accomplished - the softer spirit notes and bigger fruit presence really added some cool complexity to the clearly amazing base beer. I'm not sure if all of my ratings align perfectly with my retrospective feelings, but for anyone who cares here's my rundown of the tasting, from best to worst:

Pappy
Elijah Craig
Brandy
09 Heaven Hill
4 Roses
Evan Williams
10 Heaven Hill

The top three were all just spectacular, the next three all similarly terrific, and the last one just a bit disappointing compared to the others - but I'm sure age will make it just as good as the previous year's version. All in all I'm a huge, huge fan of all of these beers, and eagerly look forward to the next set. Oh, and if anyone reads this and has Jack Daniel's version they want to trade me, I'd be more than happy to complete my set of reviews. Thanks again to the great BAs who included me in this epic, epic tasting.

Cheers!

Serving type: bottle

05-15-2011 23:10:10 | More by woosterbill

JAXSON

Pennsylvania

2.78/5  rDev -31.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2.5

Bottle. Pours black with more of a head than the other Eclipse variations. Nose is malty, sweet, meaty, a bit smoky. In the mouth, it's pretty hot, sugary, under attenuated. Really this just struck me as being all malt and sweet brandy, no integration, no balance, no finesse. Oddly meaty and almost alsty at times, despite the huge sweet alcohol sugars. By far the worst Eclipse variation.

Serving type: bottle

05-10-2011 01:51:18 | More by JAXSON

hopsbreath

Oregon

2.28/5  rDev -44%
look: 2 | smell: 2 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2

Recognition has to go out to Arbitrator for sending this up to ramnuts house for a tasting I was lucky enough to attend. Thanks to ramnuts for hosting and to Arbi for directing yet another rare beer up this way. Tick, tick, tick, here we go.

A: Medium reddish brown with good clarity, pale brown short lived fizzy head that recedes to a wisp ring, no legs, no lacing. 2/5

S: Yep, there’s brandy. Some smoky meat doesn’t really work here. Neither does the plum like fruits. 2/5

T: Overly sweet and seemingly under-attenuated. Weak chocolate never really develops into anything pleasant. Other notes include burnt raisin and charred barrel. Bleh. 2.5/5

M: Low carbonation in big stouts usually works for me but in this particular case the base is just too damn thin. Sticky finish does nothing to help. 2.5/5

O: Not enjoyable. I had this along-side the Four Roses barrel treatment and the 4R clearly was better. Definitely the worst of the Eclipse series that I’ve had this year. I’ve yet to have the Heaven Hill though so that’s still in contention. I'm slowly coming to the conclusion that brandy doesn't typically agree with my palate when it comes to barrel aging. 2/5.

Serving type: bottle

04-25-2011 07:10:02 | More by hopsbreath

nkersten

Illinois

2.5/5  rDev -38.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 2

Sampled at Flossmoor Hi Fi Rye release. Not sure who dropped this one on our table, but thank you! Served in a pint glass. Pours black with tiny brown edges, tan bubbly collar that fades quickly. Smells strong of rubbing alcohol, some dark malts, tiny bit of brandy, not very sweet at all. No oak presence in the smell. Taste is a bit better, but the brandy alcohol is overwhelming. Slight malty sweetness with a rubbing alcohol finish. Heavy body and light carbonation, a bit syrupy. This is the biggest fail for me so far in the eclipse line. There was no balance to this and it was a alcohol mess.

Serving type: bottle

04-16-2011 18:15:12 | More by nkersten

gford217

Georgia

4.43/5  rDev +8.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

22oz bottle, #267, poured into a tulip.

Pour is typical for the Eclipses as it's not quite black. Te head is smaller than the others I've had and is really just a very thin film tha recedes immediately to a collar.

Aroma is fantastic with an initial sweetness from the brandy which balances the dark roasted malts, chocolate and vanilla from the underlying beer. Good bit of sugar coated raisins and overripe dark fruits.

The taste is more of the same as the initial tastes are of sweet dark fruits, brandy and vanilla. The backbone has some smooth dark chocolate and lightly roasted malts. Finish is a bit spicy with the oaky tannins and very subtle alcohol burn.

Mouthfeel is medium bodied and smooth though the carbonation is lower than I was expecting and lower than the other Eclipses.

Another home run for the boys from Fifty Fifty as the key word continues to be balance. The barrel character is well integrated and makes for an absurdly drinkable BA stout.

Serving type: bottle

03-25-2011 01:36:26 | More by gford217