[12/23 Update: Not sold out as of tonight, still plenty left]

(Truckee, CA) – Apologies for the lack of notice on this one. Today, Fifty Fifty Brewing released its Imperial Eclipse Stout. Here are the details:

From the brewery’s blog, “On December 23rd FiftyFifty Brewing Co. is proud to release the 2009 vintage of Imperial Eclipse Stout. The Elijah Craig and Heaven Hill Rye barrel aged versions will be available in wax dipped 22oz bottles. The Jack Daniels barrel aged version is anticipated to be available in the second week of January. At least two versions will be available on draught that day.”

According to the brewery’s Todd Ashman, credited as one of the pioneers of barrel-aging beer, here are the bottle counts for each variety:

Elijah Craig barrel aged version approx. 1800 bottles
Heaven Hill Rye barrel aged version approx. 1000 bottles
Jack Daniels barrel aged version approx. 400 bottles (release date mid January)

Artisan Distributing in San Francisco will be handling most of the bottle run with a majority of the brews expected to land at City Beer Store in SF. It is possible that the Jack Daniels version will be brewery-only but a decision had not yet been made as of a few days ago. All beers spent 200 days aging in the wood. Those visiting the brewery today should be able to confirm but Ashman expected that the price for each bottle would be around $20.

The brewery is opting not to blend beer from each barrel this year. Says Ashman, “In 2009 we wanted to try out different barrels and look at the results. There are very distinct results with the barrels and it is very interesting to do side by side tasting. In 2008 we were very fortunate to get Pappy Van Winkle barrels. Though the 2009 vintage is good though the 2008 vintage will stick in folks minds. The 2009 Elijah Craig barrel aged Eclipse though is very smooth and very good in it’s own right.”