Solar Eclipse
Kuhnhenn Brewing Company

Solar EclipseSolar Eclipse
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From:
Kuhnhenn Brewing Company
 
Michigan, United States
Style:
Russian Imperial Stout
Ranked #404
ABV:
18%
Score:
88
Ranked #13,080
Avg:
3.95 | pDev: 12.66%
Reviews:
108
Ratings:
209
Status:
Active
Rated:
Feb 17, 2024
Added:
Jan 08, 2008
Wants:
  134
Gots:
  33
No description / notes.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by joe1510:
Photo of joe1510
Reviewed by joe1510 from Illinois

4.13/5  rDev +4.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 5 | overall: 4
12oz Bottle

A big thank you goes out to hoppymeal for yet another big bad Kuhnhenn brew, thanks Derek! This huge stout pours as black as Satan's soul which is appropriate considering it was being poured into a Maudite snifter. The milk chocolate head grew immediately, even on the soft pour, peaking at three fingers before crackling down to one finger where it rests. Big fluffy lacework clings to the glass on the heads way down. This is an excellent looking stout!

A big nose full of dark berries, coffee, heavy cream and barely charred roastiness greet my nose each time it enters the glass. Surprisingly enough it took a quick swirl of the glass to get the aroma going at first. Pine needles and a barely noticeable booziness cut through the other aroma briefly. Cocoa powder plays a big role in the nose and from time to time dominates.

Wow, this is a heavy hitter! The nose pretty much nailed this one but all those aromas really jump out on the tongue. Cocoa powder and roastiness are the major players in this brew. Coffee grounds with a splash of heavy cream come around mid-palate but never push aside the cocoa or roastiness. The swallow actually has a heavy handed dose of anise which I never picked up and the nose and I think adds a nice depth to the overall flavor. The booziness isn't even noticeable until the swallow when if warms up my entire chest.

The mouthfeel on this brew is purely decadent. It's easily one of the heaviest bodied most velvety textured brews I have had in a long time. The alcohol certainly warms up my chest on the way down but there are no fumes before then. The carbonation is soft and this beer just flows like lava over the tongue.

The HUGE abv limits the drinkability on this stout without a doubt but I'm thoroughly enjoying this one as I type. Solar Eclipse is a sipper that will last me a long time and delicious until the last drop.

This is one of the biggest abv beers I have ever had and it's really a treat. I actually expected a lot of heat but it's surprisingly well restrained. Thanks again for this big badass sipper Derek; it makes for a perfect Christmas Eve sipper.
Dec 25, 2008
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 4.06 by ppavlick from New Jersey

Feb 17, 2024
 
Rated: 4.25 by paulish from New York

Feb 15, 2024
Photo of REVZEB
Reviewed by REVZEB from Illinois

4.45/5  rDev +12.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.5
Pitch black body, tan head that settles into a collar slowly. Smells of roasted malt, char, earth, and dark fruit. Taste adds leather with a mild shot of sweet in the middle of chocolate and a kiss of vanilla, before roast ends it all. This is so smooth while rugged and roasty, full bodied without being hyper thick or heavy, nice chew to it. This is severely underrated
Feb 09, 2024
Photo of stevoj
Reviewed by stevoj from Idaho

3.75/5  rDev -5.1%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
12oz bottle thanks to toby at 2017 RIS tasting, 2010 vintage. Near black pour, small beige head. Big roasty, boozy aroma, mild smoky character. taste adds some sweetness, not too much, more roast grains and gentle warmth. Aged very well.
Jan 22, 2024
 
Rated: 4.3 by The_Kriek_Freak from Pennsylvania

Jan 21, 2024
 
Rated: 4.23 by EMH73 from New York

Dec 01, 2023
Photo of Rug
Reviewed by Rug from Massachusetts

4.45/5  rDev +12.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5
2022 vintage

I’ve only had 2 beers from Kuhnhenn before, and both have been absolutely exceptional. That sets a high standard for this one, a massive barrel aged RIS. I have no doubt that this will be good, but it’s also not a style that they’re well known for, so who knows just how good it will be. Let’s get into it

Pours a very dark brown with just a thin ring of tan bubbles than quickly fades to nothing and leaves no lacing, not at all surprising given the abv

The nose is very complex, but it's all driven by the booze. I'm picking up on aromas of black cherry, earthy bourbon, sharp oak, molasses, burnt caramel, raisin, toasted pecan, dark chocolate, medium roast coffee, brown sugar, and marzipan

It keeps up the complexity in taste, especially as it starts to warm up. On the front end of the sip I'm tasting molasses, spicy bourbon, fig, sweet caramel, cacao nib, brown sugar, raisin, rye bread, and smooth oak. The swallow brings notes of black cherry, leather, earthy bourbon, sharp oak, tobacco, fig, brown sugar, molasses, praline pecan, and burnt caramel

A medium full body pairs with gentle tingling carbonation, resulting in a slick beer. Finishes mostly dry with a punch of booze

This one is just fantastic. Kuhnhenn has killed it once again and I'm disappointed I only have a single bottle
Aug 22, 2023
Photo of colts9016
Reviewed by colts9016 from Idaho

4.53/5  rDev +14.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
1933
Name: Solar Eclipse
Brewery: Kuhnhenn Brewing
Location: Warren MI
Style: Imperial Stout
ABV: 18%
Date: 2022
Solar Eclipse is next on the review table. Served at 54 degrees in a tulip glass. This stout is packing heat, clocking in a whopping 18 percent. The pour did not create any head; this has only happened a handful of times. I will skip the part about what the beer's head looks likes and if lacing or legs came down the glass. Charting the color somewhere around SRM 36, dark brown, nearly black. The appearance is average, considering the high abv could be the reason for the lack of a head.
Boozy bourbon notes evade my nostrils; I did not read this was a barrel-aged beer. A compote of raisins and dates mixed with caramel provide a decadent sweetness. Oaky and tobacco note gives the beer layers and depth. Rich, roasty malt notes mask as coffee and dark bakers chocolate with a slight note of a smoky char. I get a little vinous and soy sauce note on the back end of the aromas. The beer smells delicious!
Big boozy dark semi-sweet chocolate captures my attention. Like those whiskey dark chocolate treats, you get at Christmas. The barrel age comes through giving flavors of oak, smoke, and char. The beer also reminds me of a darkened date roll cookie mix with caramel and toffee. Tobacco and earthy notes also provide the flavor with depth. The dark roasted malts are bready, with toasted crust and coffee. Lastly, I taste the skins of raisins without seeds, soy sauce, and aged red wine.
The mouthfeel is warming and chewy finishing long and pleasant. The body is heavy with light carbonation.
The beer is fabulous. This is what an imperial stout is supposed to be. A few minor complaints: I tried other beers with this high abv, but the booziness was more hidden, and I would like three in my cellar. Great beer; glad I got to imbibe on this one.
Jul 13, 2023
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Reviewed by DokiDokiLitFam from New Jersey

4.4/5  rDev +11.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
2022 Version
Ok so, nowhere on the bottle does this say barrel aged, and the normal Solar Eclipse apparently is not supposed to be?, but this one definitely is barrel aged. Pours out dark brown, no bubbles. The nose is huge oak, bourbon, booze, and roasted malt. On the palate there's much of the same, though some nuance presents itself like vanilla, dark chocolate, and mild hints of coffee and dark fruit. Huge drying quality on the back end. Booze and tannins go crazy. This one would have done well with some aging but I cracked pretty much as soon as I got it. A strong one that seems like an after dinner brew. Age it some, then share it.
Jun 29, 2023
 
Rated: 4.58 by MJSFS from Florida

Feb 05, 2023
Photo of jrc1093
Reviewed by jrc1093 from Connecticut

4.19/5  rDev +6.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
2018 vintage; consumed on 1/4/22

Pours a motor-oil black body forming little more than a thin veil of dark khaki head, fading almost immediately to a void surface surrounded by a thin, frothy collar and no lacing holding with any longevity to the walls of the glass.

Aroma offers a semi-sweet roast sporting tones of date flesh and evolving plum skins highlighting a dark fruit overlay prior to boozy, roasted malts over the middle; cocoa develops in spots on the back end of the bouquet, which remains firmly dark fruit dominant.

Taste of bakers chocolate and fresh prune compote is immediately apparent, followed with accents of toasted anise and a dark fruit overlay nodding toward a hint of semi-savory umamicolliding with sweet, charry roast over the middle; hints of leather on the back end conteast touches of boozy Maraschino cherry into peppery dark chocolates on the finish.

Mouthfeel brings a medium-full body with minimal carbonation and textured with an underlying boozy char; a bright twang activated via residual sugars and prominent dark fruits (maybe a tinge of onset oxidation) eases to drying over the mid-palate and a quasi-bitterness in the back end, where distantly sticky undertones meet a surprisingly tempered warmth for the ABV through the finish.

A beautifully complex intensity exposed through the range of the resultant equation of pure malt plus high booze softened by time; an interplay of factors (withstanding minor oxidation) finding their peak in a stout of this magnitude makes for a truly pleasurable sipper here.
Jan 05, 2022
 
Rated: 4.2 by StoutSnob40 from California

Mar 13, 2021
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Reviewed by buschbeer from Ohio

4/5  rDev +1.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
355 ml bottle
Served in a Kuhnhenn snifter
2010

This beer pours black and is topped with less than an inch of tan head that leaves no lacing.

The first thing I smell is anise. As it warms I get some dark chocolate and hints of alcohol.

The taste begins with anise. Then I get some dark fruit and dark chocolate with hints of warming alcohol.

Full mouthfeel

It drinks pretty smooth for an 18%er. The alcohol is warming, and I can feel the effects only about halfway through.
Aug 22, 2017
Photo of SerialTicker
Reviewed by SerialTicker from Michigan

4.24/5  rDev +7.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
2010 vintage. Ay caramba, now that's an aged beer. 18%. I was worried this would be past its prime, but... nah.

Can't really categorize this beer. It's very unique. It's stout-like, yet not. It's almost like a port, yet not. It's a bit sour with a wine-like, tannin vibe... I don't even know if it's supposed to have that quality, but it does. The depth on this is incredible. The smell is tough to describe. The flavor is the same way. Despite sitting for six years, there's still a definite warmth on this beer, though it's surely mellowed out from what it once was. Boozy, but not overwhelmingly so. Dark fruits, roast, some chocolate, "je ne sais quois" ... this beer really is a treat. Hard for me to really commit to what style it truly tastes like, as it tastes like a blend of many. Would be ecstatic to get my hands on another bottle of this.
Oct 02, 2016
 
Rated: 4.24 by FalconOne from Ohio

Mar 18, 2016
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Reviewed by rodbeermunch from Nevada

3.39/5  rDev -14.2%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5
Thought this was gonna be darker but no. There are darker beers. Aroma was fucking harsh, hot and boozy.

Taste was a little better than that, thick ass malt, heavy booze sting, yeast pronounced? A cool non barrel aged beer of this strength, yes, but I don't think it is a return trip if I'm buying. Just huge and hot covering up other aspects of the beer.
Jan 07, 2016
Photo of Soneast
Reviewed by Soneast from Wisconsin

4.31/5  rDev +9.1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
2010 bottle. Pours a thick black color, with a sudsy cap. Smells almost exactly like chocolate malted milk balls. The flavor isn't too far off, chocolate malt notes, sugared boozy finish that warms up the belly. Very smooth and aged quite well. I imagine this was a bit hot when fresh, but after 5 years it is just a mellow dessert drink that is fun to sip on a cold day.
Dec 27, 2015
 
Rated: 3.75 by SocalKicks from California

Dec 17, 2015
 
Rated: 4.1 by sweemzander from Illinois

Dec 02, 2015
Solar Eclipse from Kuhnhenn Brewing Company
Beer rating: 88 out of 100 with 209 ratings