Imperial Eclipse Stout - Mexican Chocolate
FiftyFifty Brewing Company in Truckee, California, United States 🇺🇸
Stout - Pastry / Flavoured - Imperial Regular|
Score
7.67
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7.9/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 6
Overall 8.5
Bottle thanks to David. Pours a very dark hue, black with a small beige head. A big nose of chocolate, heat, spices. Rich, clear chilies, vanilla, whiskey. Cocoa and lots of bitter chocolate. This works perfect.
Tried
from Bottle
on 08 Dec 2024
at 09:47
8.1/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 9
Overall 8
Chili-flavoured special edition of Fifty-Fifty’s still very popular and coveted Eclipse series, shared bomber at Meeki’s home tasting in Wondelgem last Friday, cheers! Pale greyish beige, thinly creamy, dot-lacing open head, some flat ‘islands’, black robe with coppery glow. Aroma of black ‘fondant’ chocolate, pili-pili or indeed dried chili peppers, chocolate sauce, cocoa, dry caramel, espresso, pipe tobacco, bayleaf, fried eggplant, cappuccino, bourbon, cinnamon. Densely sweet onset, chocolate-coated raisins and fig jam with a touch of porcini-like umami, medium carb with full, oily yet smooth mouthfeel. Layered hazelnutty, deeply chocolatey (accentuated by the added cocoa in this case) and toffeeish dark malt bittersweetness, rounded and spiced with a dash of dried chilies which nevertheless refrain from becoming utterly ‘hot’; a spicy hop bitter element seems almost equally strong, even drowning the chili effect a bit. Warming, tequila-like alcohol in the finish along with lingering coffee roastiness and deep chocolatey sweetness – a wonderfully satisfying finish for this kind of beer indeed. Very elegant, measured and cleverly constructed American style ‘impy’, spicy yet soft, outspoken yet balanced – great as expected, even if the chili heat for me personally could have been a lot edgier.
Tried
on 22 Mar 2024
at 10:37
8.2/10
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Appearance 10
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
Bottle. Pours clear black, small beige head, good lacing. Aroma is cocoa, vanilla, cinnamon, hint of pepper. Flavor is medium sweet, medium bitter, nice spicy level. Hint of pepper heat. Medium body.
Tried
from Bottle
on 02 Nov 2023
at 03:01
7.6/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
Poured from a 2021 vintage, 500 ml bottle. Aroma is fairly adjunct forward with lots of spicy pepper and cinnamon notes. Lots of chocolate notes with lighter roast and hints of honey. Faint vanilla and hints of oak. Light alcohol notes. Pours jet black with a small, thick, creamy, light mocha head that recedes quickly to the edges where it lingers. Light lacing and fairly long legs. Flavor is fairly sweet with lots of chocolate malt notes and lighter roast notes with hints of honey and toasted bread. Hints of tobacco and leather. Moderately strong bitterness and medium light alcohol notes. Light notes of vanilla, cinnamon and peppers in the finish with a bit of lingering spiciness. A surprisingly strong oxidized note of wet cardboard and honey in the beer. Mouthfeel is medium full bodied with medium low carbonation. Low astringency and low alcohol warmth. Overall, a decent adjunct stout with balanced notes of the adjuncts. A bit more adjuncts in the flavor might be helpful, but it's the right level in the aroma. Could be a bit spicier in my opinion, but others might disagree. The honey and oxidized notes are a bit stronger than I prefer in fresh Eclipse and reminds me more of one that's been aged a few years.
Tried
from Bottle
on 02 Jan 2023
at 01:50
7.8/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 9
Bottle at share from Beastie: pours black. Lightly spicy, dark chocolate. Taste is lightly boozy, chocolatey, barrel. Good.
Tried
from Bottle
on 21 Nov 2022
at 23:08
8.4/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 9
Texture 8
Overall 8.5
Bottle, at share, thanks to beastiefan2k. Pours black. Cinnamon, chocolate, barrel, light heat, vanilla, whisky. Nice soft body. Very good.
Tried
from Bottle
on 20 Nov 2022
at 02:58
8.4/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 9
Texture 8
Overall 8.5
Bottle at home. Pours black, nose is chocolate, vanilla, caramel, cinnamon, chilli spice, taste is similar, chewy, sweet, peppery, cinnamon spice. Not much heat.
Tried
from Bottle
on 18 Oct 2022
at 09:57
8/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
On tap at FiftyFifty, pours a mahogany-tinged deep dark brown / black with a small beige head. Nose is full of chocolate, spicy pepper, a little cinnamon and bourbon barrels. Flavour is rich and decadent, with bourbon barrels, dark cocoa, some cinnamon, and light chilli peppers. I'm not usually a fan of Mexican chocolate character in these big stouts, but this works great. Tasty.
Tried
from Draft
on 17 Apr 2022
at 05:21
7.6/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
Bottle to tulip. Pours deep brown with brown highlights and moderate brown head. Cinnamon and slight Mexican chocolate in the aroma. Flavor is dusty chocolate with slight pepper showing only in the background. A bit of booze from tha barrel but not overly so. Really nice and subtle with the pepper is good.
Tried
from Bottle
on 09 Jan 2022
at 06:18