FiftyFifty Imperial Eclipse Stout - Heaven Hill Rye Barrel

Brewed by FiftyFifty Brewing Co.
Style: Imperial Stout
Truckee, California USA

Serve in Snifter

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A: Pours a deep back with a nice tan head into a Bruery tulip. A bit of lacing as it goes down. S: The bourbon is definitely present. Nice and creamy, although not quite as heavy as the Elijah Craig, which we had this side-by-side with. Along with the alcohol is a bit of roasted malt and vanilla. Some hints of chocolate. T: Similar to the nose, although the bourbon comes out more, playing with the malt and creating a nice creaminess, which really drives the mouthfeel. M: Fairly full bodied and nice and creamy. No much alcohol; quite smooth. D: Heavily drinkable. So glad they’re releasing this again and that I have my futures certificates in hand. Serving type: bottle Reviewed on: 09-05-2010

Bottle big thanks to Craig/maximum12 for cracking the bottle! 2010 bottle pour number 823, dark black with tan head, aroma has notes of rye, toffee, caramel, hints of oak, drying dark fruit, really nice and balanced. Slight hints of booze but really nice. Taste is really nice sweet caramel, toffee, and rye sweetness, very nice dark fruit with hints of coffee and roast, finishes very nice and dry, roasted, and slightly sweet.

2011 green wax boTtle pours pitch black with a thick tan head with amazing retention. Armas are booze, spicy rye, chocolate and roared malt. Tastes are chocolate, roasted malt, vanilla, oak, and rye whiskey. A really nice whiskey flavor prevails, but the beer is not hot. Drink at cellar temp up to 60 degrees to really get the depth of ths beer. Wonderful.

We did a taste testing of five different 50-50 2012 stouts. For the base stout, it’s quite frankly superb. Pours black, with a beautiful yellowish-white froth. Some coffee notes, little bitterness, but the predominating flavor is roasted malt. Of the five we tasted, the mellow corn was tied as my favorite. The rye character of the barrel was well pronounced in the flavor, almost giving it a black IPA character. The rye was the yang to the mellow corn version’s yin. If you only taste two, Ritttenhouse Rye and mellow corn in my estimation are the way to go.

Green wax bottle (2262/2009) from the Co-op in Davis, CA. Pours black with a light tan head. Smells of smooth burnt malt, oak and vanilla. Full bodied with mild carb. The flavor is sweet smooth burnt malt with vanilla and oak. Could be a touch of bourbon. Drinks well.

2010 bottle #960 on NYE. The rye barrel definitely adds a spicy flavor that’s lacking in their other barrel aged beers. Flavor has chocolate, molasses, vanilla and the rye bourbon. Very tasty.

Tasted at the 5th Annual Bistro Barrel Aged Beer Fest on 11/13/2010. This Imperial Stout pours a deep black color from the tap. Small to medium sized tan foamy head. The aroma is chocolate, coffee, vanilla, and dark fruit, with rye whisky and wood. A full bodied Imperial Stout. The malts are chocolate and coffee, with touch of dark fruit, a hint of vanilla, some wood and rye. The hops are earthy. This one seemed a little thinner and not as smooth as the Four Roses Version. The flavor was very nice, the rye and wood compliment the chocolate, coffee and vanilla sweetness of the beer very well. Mouthfeel is full and round. Finish is clean and smooth. Aftertaste is slightly sweet.

Draft at FoBAB 8. This is the Heaven Hill Rye. This pours a deep and full black with a dark tan head. Nose is Rich and super roasty, moreso than the Rittenhouse Rye. The hops are super-faded and this one is all roast. Some smokey and spicy rye notes peak out as well. Taste is much the same, light sweetness and roast. Very tasty. 8-5-7-4-16 (4.0) Rittenhouse version, also at FoBAB 8. This one is easily the most refined of the four versions at FoBAB. Appearance is the same. Nose shows more vanilla, less roast and more rich cocoa and molasses notes. Taste is spicy and slightly more sweet. Very well integrated and better whiskey character. 9-5-9-4-17 (4.4)

Damn Hop Head thanks for bringing this badboy to the tasting today. Pours black with a light brown head. Nose is sweet, with a touch of booziness. Taste is sweet, with milk chocolate, hidden alc, tasty beer no doubt.

Hophead and his insane connections brings this awesome beer almost before it’s released. Thanks Shane! Some booziness. Some chocolate. Lightly sweet. Very good. Black color. Nice barrel characteristics.