“Now in its 16th vintage, 2023 Eclipse is our rich Imperial Stout aged to perfection in whiskey and spirit barrels. All Eclipse starts with the same base beer bringing hints of dark chocolate, espresso, and a smooth complexity, with each barrel treatment delivering its own unique character after a minimum of 180 days of aging.
Honeycomb is infused with local Plumas County honey from Lost Sierra Honey Co. Aged in bourbon barrels.”

Glassware: Snifter.

Appearance: As black as the ace of spades with a thumb of tan foam perched neatly on top. Head retention is good and lacing is spectacular.

Aroma: So, we get to the end of 2023’s Eclipse range. If you’ve been following then you’ll know we haven’t really been all that impressed with any of them. We recall the 2017 vintage that we’re almost certain this expression is borne out of and it was unbelievable. It had layers of maple, vanilla, honey, caramel and coffee whereas this ’23 vintage, while offering a good dose of honeycomb, is anything but.

Flavour: The issues flow on. Maybe we have it wrong and the ’17 vintage with honey is totally different to this but this vintage seems muddled and lacking any clear direction. We can pick up a hint of honey/honeycomb initially but it’s quickly lost in a mess of astringency, booze burn, obfuscated chocolate notes and then some Bourbon and oak to at least steady the ship. The finish is astringent and a bit unpleasant.

Mouthfeel: It improves a bit here though – slick, oily, a tad bitter in the swallow. Medium-full body. The 11.2% ABV was clearly evident throughout.

Overall: We’re literally questioning whether we return for the ’24 vintages. The price tags maybe cheaper than BL or The Bruery but at least those two are knocking out 9’s and 10’s consistently. Disappointing.