Cellar Eclipse

This Blending Club Exclusive release has kept us intrigued. In early 2020, we filled a few barrels with a dark base beer. This was a very different concept for us and our typical preference for pale base beer stock. We were incredibly surprised at the flavours that emerged at every step of this particular barrel. The ever changing esters have kept us coming back to the barrel for sampling over the past couple years. Early in its development, a large fennel character emerged as the Special B was consumed by our lactic acid producing bacteria and transformed into something completely new. The malt character seemingly disappeared for a time, replaced by deep fruit esters and anise. The barrel was forgotten for some time over the past couple years, until we happened to pull random samples and rediscovered it. Upon tasting the barrel, we gave each other a nod without saying a word. The malty backbone had returned, along with a complex bouquet of flavours similar to early in the fermentation, but more refined. We knew the barrel would only be destined for our club members as a single barrel release. After opening our eyes to the possibilities, we plan to incorporate more dark base beers into our cellar planning. We will likely owe much to this special forgotten barrel in future releases. Enjoy!