FiftyFifty Imperial Eclipse Stout - Elijah Craig 20 Year Barrel

Formerly brewed at FiftyFifty Brewing Co.
Style: Imperial Stout
Truckee, California USA

Serve in Snifter

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Pour pitch black, with small tan head. Aroma is really packed with vanilla and barrel. Really some delicious shit... Also some slight leathery, caramel, bourbon, coffee, dark fruity - and woody notes. But really barrel forward. And I’m a fan. The taste is quite sweet, with some faint bitter notes. Well balanced? - hell yes. Medium-full bodied, with a semi-flat carbonation. Delicious like a SOB. A Big thanks to Ryan for sending me this shit.

bottle part of line up of all 2011. POW this was the big winner for me out of all 8. pours thick black with tan head. aroma of coconut lotion and bourbon soaked roasted malt. the flavor was great nice and thick chocolate bourbon.

Sampled at an esbls tasting. This smells so nice. Bold coffee, whiskey, dark fruit. This tastesvas good. Big whiskey flavor. Coffee. Dark fruit. So smooth but so big.

Bottle... This beer rocks!... Pours tar black with a small, creamy, khaki head. The aroma is a lush swirl of fudge, bourbon, toasted coconut, pouch tobacco and vanilla. Full-bodied with a buttery mouthfeel and laid-back carbonation. The flavor is sweet and singed - dark chocolate, tobacco and charcoal accompanied by traces of vanilla and alcohol. Finishes moderately sweet and warming. World class beer. Bottle courtesy of newcigarz!

22oz bottle .. white wax .. . pours a deep brown .. light head, lacing is good .. . good pure bourbon, tar, dark wood, and burnt bread crust .. . solid mouth .. . quite a tasty brew .. . . You wear ’em until you learn, son.

Draft at Firestone International Beer Fest. Nose is chocolate, vanilla, bourbon, and dark fruit. Black with a moderate cinnamon head. Flavor is vanilla, light sweetness, and chocolate.

Bottle 22fl.oz. @ The Danish Summer Gathering, TFODRBSG12, Ulfborg.

Clear dark black colour with a average to large, frothy, good lacing, mostly lasting, beige head. Aroma is light heavy malty, roasted, chocolate, vanilla, alcohol - buzzy, dark chocolate. Flavour is heavy sweet and bitter with a long duration, chocolate, vanilla, dark malt, coconut, bourbon. Body is medium, texture is oily, carbonation is soft, finish feel islight to moderate alcoholic. [20120818]

22oz bottle with white wax. Pour is consistent with all the 09 and 10’s I’ve had, which is to say it’s a little lighter than most impy stouts, dark chocolate brown with a small beige head that sticks to the sides on the way down. Aroma is sublime, big on the bourbon, possibly the most whiskey-forward of any of the versions I’ve smelled before. Lots of coconut and vanilla from the barrels with the underlying chocolate malts taking a bit of a back seat. The taste is a little different but almost as good. The bourbon is there but doesn’t have quite the same vanilla and coconut character. It’s more oak and booze with a heavier dose of roast than the aroma. Mouthfeel is trademark Eclipse, crazy smooth but not overly thick. Todd consistently makes some of the most drinkable and well-integrated barrel-aged stouts and this is no exception. This particular iteration is a little heavier on the bourbon than I would prefer (HH09 is damn near ecstasy) but is still excellent. Can’t wait to try the other 2011 versions.

22 oz. bottle, white wax. Sampled along with all the other 2011 releases. Pours a deep, dark amber-brown with a small filmy head. Aroma of coconut, toasted malts, oak, toffee, and molasses. The flavor brings the same toastiness, coconut, brown sugar, and roasted malts along with some dark fruits. Medium-full bodied, with a sweet finish and medium carbonation. This and the Grand Cru were my favorites of the 2011 series.

2/25/12. Bottle shared at RBWG 2012. Deep black pour with a small brown head. Wonderful bourbon character - wood, bourbon, vanilla, fudge, and more - on top of more chocolate and coffee. Delicious flavors of bourbon, vanilla, fudge, coffee, chocolate, a bit of booze, and more. Nice!