The Eternalist is a named in honor of the protagonist of Kurt Vonnegut’s Sluaghterhouse-Five. Billy Pilgrim is disconnected from time. This connection is very appropriate for a beer which makes time one of its primary ingredients. The Eternalist has been fermented with wild yeast, cultured with bacteria, and aged in Cabernet Sauvignon barrels with raspberries. This is a lot for one beer to go through. So it goes.

First Impressions:

Anticipation is very important. A beer which waits over 14 months before it is ready for you, knows a lot about expectation. The scene is set very impressively even by the vessel this beer moves in – a notably heavy, half-sized wine bottle (375ml).

It pours a hazy amber with a light pink hue and an impressive head. The aroma is sweet, both the raspberry and red wine contributions are evident.

Second Impressions:

The mouthfeel is smooth, and the flavour is challenging, moving from sweet, through to a yoghurty sour at the back end.

Final Impressions:

There are so many moving parts involved in this beer, it feels like a miracle that it came off so well. I had been quite disappointed by the In Bloom: Gorseflower Wit, so it was great to land on this.

The relative difficulty in getting hold of a bottle, the time invested in the beer, the presentation and the complexity of flavour all came together to make a beer worth talking about.