Hoppy Total Eclipse Black Ale

Brewed by Hoppy Brewing Company
Style: Stout
Sacramento, California USA

A- Pours a very deep brown hue, the head on this beer (from the bottle mind you) was absolutely amazing: brown/off white color, thick/creamy/frothy texture that absolutely dominated a pilsner glass with a slow pour, almost comical but very cool, i really dig the frothy foam and subsequent thick lacing S- Nose is subtle and characterized by coffee beans and slight chocolate and roast tones as well T- Straight forward taste follows the aroma, mostly subtle roast and coffee throughout, some sweet chocolate, not a lot of malt, some bitter hops in the finish, not very deep or complex M- Light-medium bodied, watery and smooth texture, good carbonation D- This is an easy drinking beer that I think leans more toward porter than stout, either way it has a fairly simple taste that I wouldn’t rush out to re-experience any time soon

Getting notebook online. Bottle at SDFOB 2007. Pours a light black. Hops complement the roasted malts fairly nicely. A simple stout but OK.

Bomber. The initial pour was a pint of foam. Slowly, a bit of beer began to collect beneath it. Eventually, I was able to coax a fair amount of liquid into the glass. Opaque blackish brown, cola brown at the margins, beneath sheets of lace from a slowly descending head. Nice roasty coffee and fudge aroma with a touch of oatmeal? Medium body, moderate carbonation. Taste of coffee, smoke and nuts, but the taste is not quite so rewarding as the look and the aroma. Tar, espresso and pine finish.

Clear black with a light brown head. Mild blackened malt roasty aroma. Medium body and smooth. Good dark roasted malty flavor. Drys out a bit in the finish with smoky burnt malts.

Dark black color (surprise surprise), malty roasted coffee aroma. Flavor has nice mellow roast character with some smokiness at the end. Like a stout but less filling. Would have preffred some more maltiness.

This is ok, clean and basically pleasant but too bitter for the body and flavour. Essentially black but actually red brown, it has a big, dark tan head slowly shrinking to a permanent thin head and elaves some lasting lace in even rings. The aroma is chocolate, coffee, darkly toasted brown bread, hints of prunes and fruit - pretty nice. The taste is quie dry with chocolate, hint of coffee, roasty with toasted bread, light hints of fruit - like a pretty good dry dtout but more full-bodied. The roasty bitterness is dominant and a little too bitter and sharp.

Kinda bland, if you ask me. Nice and dry (not a big fan of sweet stouts) and with a nice oily consistency in my mouth. Pours black with tan head. Flavor and aroma is mostly roasted malts, with notes of coffee, bitter chocolate, sesame and just a touch of hops. I was expecting something a little more ’Black IPA’-ish but its OK.

22 oz. bottle - pours dark brown with off-white head; aromas mainly of roasted malts; body is thin and flavors are thin as well; not much except the roasty notes; dry finish; more of a lame porter with a touch of hops