Bos Solar Eclipse Imperial Stout

Name: Solar Eclispe Imperial Stout
Date: 04/27/2006
Mode: Draft
Source: Brewpub
Vintage: 2005

black, big fine beige head, sweet aroma with licorish and fruity notes, rich malt flavor, hot, nice sweetness, balanced, hints of dark bourbon character, a touch of a chalky character that turns into a bitter finish
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Name: Solar Eclispe Imperial Stout
Date: 07/09/2006
Mode: bottle

strong sweet bourbon and licorice aroma, huge alcoholic burning flavor, a touch of sweetness and bitter roastedness that is lost by the alcohol, all sweet alcoholic bourbon
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Name: Solar Eclispe Imperial Stout
Date: 06/21/2007
Mode: bottle
Vintage: 2004
Words: Tasting Pre-RBSG

still lots of alcohol, lots of roasted with dark fruits, big body, rich dark chocolate comes with warming,

Aroma: 7/10; Appearance: 8/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 8/10; Overall: 15/20
Rating: 3.7/5.0
Drinkability: 6/10
Score: ***/4

Pitch black, dark brown head. Heavily sweet, massive molasses nose. Mild sandy aspects from earthy hops try to balance is all, but the desserty oatmeal and biscuity cereals are just too strong to handle. Nutty palate, oily, tary and soy saucy. Heavy bitterness, I wonder how many IBUs this can be.. Extreme sweetness, long burning alcohol shot finish. I appreciate the efforts to create extraordinary beers, but so long that we’ll be left with oily lifeless uncarbonated palates and more artificial sweeteners than pure malt flavors, Bos won’t be up there with my favorite breweries. I am truly impressed by their head retentions considering their high alcohol levels though.. truly impressed.

On tap at the brewpub on 4/27/06, 2005 vintage: Pours a viscous opaque black with a dense dark tan head. Very sweet, caramely, big dark fruity complex dark chocolate and alcoholic aroma. Body starts with a viscous full-bodied sweet dark caramel maltiness, some molasses, raisins and plums with a very warming finish. Good complexity throughout and should age very well. This is a malty alcohol monster to be enjoyed in moderation.

Bottle (2005)… VBWT2008… Pitch black ale with no head. The aroma is a mix of dark, bittersweet chocolate, rubbing alcohol, caramel, molasses, prune and light acetaldehyde (aging eliminated what must have been a more significant problem when fresh). Full-bodied and velvety with restrained carbonation. Burnt, chocolaty, bitter and big-time boozy. Finishes chocolaty, bittersweet and, of course, pretty darned hot. A "sipper" to be sure. Cheers to CaptainCougar for sending the bottle!

Sampled draught at the Michigan Brewers Fest. Still black with a lasting brown ring, oily-looking...whiff of brandy is first in the complex aroma, followed by dark and sweet chocolates, raisins/molasses, brown sugar...later on, burnt almonds and roasted hazelnuts...amazingly creamy body doesn’t really offer much alcohol harshness until the end, which does pack a wallop though less so for me than most...lots of port, dates and raisins in the dessert-y body. This worked pretty well for me, alone in my little group that shared it, but it dropped off a bit towards the end of the tasting. Still, these guys are throwing a lot into their beers besides alcohol and I think they were at least the most interesting brewer of the fest that I experienced.