Imperial Eclipse Stout - Maple Barrel
FiftyFifty Brewing Co.

Good pour. Nice color, black but not thick. Decent small head that took about a minute to disappear.

Nice smell - good notes.

Nothing special in the taste. A bit thin. Slight notes of honey/maple, but very faint.

Got this at half price - but still not worth it. This bottle is absolutely not special. Very ordinary.

 

 

Poured from a 22oz bottle into pint glass in Dec 2020. There was a 2017 vintage date on the bottle.

Appearance: Very dark black with a thick dark brown head. Head was about 2 fingers high, and lasted a few minutes. It left more lacing on the glass than most other stouts, and ended with a thin tan head still on the beer.

Smell: Interesting aroma mix of chocolate, coffee, and bourbon, in that order. There is also some vanilla, caramel, and some other sweet aroma like black licorice, but overall the coffee and chocolate dominate the others.

Taste: There is a nice balance between the flavors including coffee, a little bourbon, and sweetness like maple, chocolate, and caramel flavors. The chocolate/maple flavors are pronounced. There is a strong alcohol presence, which matches the 11% on the label, but it is balanced nicely by the sweetness. The taste is an excellent mix.

Mouth-feel: Thick like liquid licorice, but with a smooth body. Not overly smooth like a Milk Stout.

This is a complex, Imperial Stout, and it has a variety of flavors that adds a nice complexity to the beer. Although this is a big beer, it is very smooth and enjoyable to drink. This chocolate sweetness nicely contrasts the bourbon flavor, and is a nice balance to the high alcohol content. I would buy this again, just wish it was not so expensive.

Think this is the one from 2017 that I am drinking. Pretty good. Huge fluffy head, strong lacing. Smell is sweet maple and molasses, roasty malt, barrel notes. In terms of taste, a couple of years aging gives the maple a bit more subtle presence. Sweet without being cloying, good dark roasty malt and barrel flavor balance it out. Medium bodied, mouth watering, well rounded. Some people say they’re overpriced, but most of the ones I have bought (this is the last one in my cellar for now) have been enjoyable.

22 oz bomber, purchased in Chatt, TN, "MP" in the identifier box, into Boulevard Smokestack snifter. 2018 edition.

Deep opaque black with brown hues, some creamy beige-red head of 1/2 finger, with some bubbles on top.

Aroma of rich bourbon barrel, herbal hop, a hint of vanilla, a hint of chocolate, and perhaps a hint of maple.

Flavor is only moderately focused, pretty sloppy, strongly molasses forward, with a proxy of dark chocolate and sharp herbal hop in tow. Very faint hints of honey. Maybe some dark fruits or perhaps that's more molasses, detectable fruity tobacco, slight ash, and a heavily metallic finish. The pine, earth, and metal win out on this one. Despite all of these descriptors the beer comes across as pretty empty overall.

Feel is hot and burning, scathing almost, mildly slick, mildly creamy, with a prickly carbonation and a drying tannic finish.

Overall, a rather mediocre bourbon barrel aged stout. I was honestly expecting more and for $23 rightly so.. It could be due to the age, but maple was NOWHERE to be found in this beer. If you are looking for a one and done bedtime snack, this one will do the trick, but I'm not even sure I'll complete it tonight.

Price paid : $22.99 / bottle / BOGO (lucky find)
Would buy again : No, not even at BOGO.

2017 vintage

Notes of chocolate, roasted malts, maple syrup, bourbon, oak, vanilla, dark caramel, toffee, brown sugar, molasses, honey, dried fruit, toasted bread, with some earthy piney hops

 

2017 Vintage, Honey wax.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is a truly enjoyable and complex Imperial Stout.

Look: black with an inch mocca colored head

Aroma: chocolate, coffee, syrup

Flavor: roasted malts, honey and maple syrup, a bit sweet but not too much, there are nuts and chocolate in the flavor, not much coffee or booziness for an Imperial Stout so fairly mild, but that is not necessarily a drawback.

Feel: full bodied, creamy

2017 vintage
22oz bottle poured into a snifter

A- pours a deep black color with a one-finger creamy khaki colored head that has great retention after the pour and leaves some lacing behind

S- nose it quite interesting, initially it has a metallic note, but after a few sniffs it opens up with notes of maple nut goodies, toasted walnuts, brown sugar, spicy oak, bourbon, bread pudding and toffee

T- nutty and woody up front, followed by notes of roasted pecans, molasses, brown sugar and bourbon. The finish brings out the maple sweetness, as well as more oak and nutty notes

M- medium-viscous body with moderate carbonation leads to a creamy mouthfeel that continues into the finish

O- the maple definitely adds a sweeter element, but the most interesting thing is the nutty note that is coming through as well