On April 8, 2024, millions of Americans will enjoy the celestial show that is a solar eclipse. The path of totality will traverse through parts of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. A small part of Tennessee will also get to enjoy the rare event.
As can be expected for such a rare occurrence, many breweries are brewing special beers to celebrate the occasion. The Simons Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization, has even partnered with over a dozen breweries within the path of totality to host viewing parties and spread a love of science.
Here are some of the many special eclipse beers to look for.
Texas
Austin’s Jester King Brewery has brewed a black IPA dubbed Path of Totality. Jester King’s 5.5% ABV beer is brewed primarily from Texas malts and is hopped with Millennium, Columbus and Amarillo and dry hopped with Strata and Amarillo.
Zilker Brewing of Austin is one of the Simons Foundation partners. Zilker will be selling an amber Mexican lager dubbed “Sol Searching.”
Meanwhile Beer, also of Austin, has brewed Icarus’s Revenge, a 6.8% ABV black IPA that, according to the brewery, “captures the spirit of the total solar eclipse through its unique essence of new world American hops wrapped up in a pitch black, velvety malt blanket.”
Lakewood Brewing, located in the Dallas suburb of Garland, has brewed Sunburst Wheat. It is light and refreshing with soft hints of fruit. “It tastes like a Texas sunset,” says the brewery.
Celestial Beerworks of Dallas is also making special brews. “Because we are Celestial, and have a quite an obsession with astrological events, we are brewing several beers for the total eclipse” says Molly Reynolds, co-founder and creative director. “Some as dark and murky as that four minutes will be, and some bright and bold as the sun. But we are especially excited to have partnered with the science-funding and research institute Simons Foundation to brew a single hazy IPA with Eclipse hops. This beer is called In The Path of Totality. This is our first time using Eclipse hops, and they are naturally citrusy and ultra bright. This vivid, 6.5% ABV beer will be perfect for outdoor-sipping, under the greatest Celestial event of our lifetime.”
Oklahoma
Lost Street Brewing of Durant has brewed a schwarzbier, a Czech-style black lager that is enigmatically dark in color, but gentle in stature. Dubbed Eclipse, the Lost Street schwarzbier is 6.0% ABV. Lost Street also offers RV parking, making it the perfect place to enjoy the eclipse and the Eclipse.
Arkansas
Lost Forty Brewing is another Simons Foundation partner. They have brewed AR’clipse of the Heart Helles Bock. AR’clipse of the Heart is light, crisp, and easy-drinking.
Missouri
Schlafly Beer of St. Louis has made four beers for the eclipse, available as a mixed pack named the Throwing Shade variety pack. Eclipse IPA is a 7.0% ABV beer featuring Eclipse hops, Passion Fruit Galaxy Wheat is a 5.5% ABV beer with Galaxy hops, Shadow Bands Pilsner is a 5.0% ABV hoppy and crisp lager and Totality Black Lager is a 5.0% dark beer that is light-bodied.
Illinois
Scratch Brewing is a farmhouse brewery located five miles from the Shawnee National Forest in Ava. Scratch has made two different styles of beer, both playing on the idea of light and darkness. One beer is an amber lager. Despite its darker color, it is low in alcohol creating a culinary enigma. The other beer is, in a sense the opposite. The Belgian-style tripel is a blonde beer that is counterintuitively much stronger. Both beers were brewed with foraged ingredients gathered on walks in nature near the brewery.
Kentucky
Dry Ground Brewing of Paducah has partnered with Kentucky neighbor Henderson Brewing to brew a pair of beers. Representatives of both brewers made a coffee milk stout at Dry Ground, then gathered again at Henderson to brew a blonde stout version of that beer. The result is two similarly styled beers, but light and dark in color to tie in with the eclipse. The beers are named after the time of totality in the breweries’ respective locations: Dry Ground 2:00 PM Coffee Milk Stout and Henderson 2:02 PM Blonde Stout With Coffee and Cacao Nibs. Both beer will be available at both breweries.
Indiana
Another Simons Foundation partner is Sun King Brewing, of Indianapolis. “We chose a Golden Ale to represent the brilliance of the sun” says Beth Belange-Hood, marketing and promotions director of Sun King. “We partnered with Sun Bean, a local, solar-powered coffee roaster, to represent the darkness of the eclipse, resulting in In the Path of Totality Coffee-Infused Golden Ale.”
Ohio
Great Lakes Brewing (Cleveland), a long-standing pillar of American craft beer, has brewed Vanilla Blackout Stout, an imperial stout. “Rich roasted barley and black malt illuminate the senses in this pitch-dark Imperial Stout, brewed with a sliver of vanilla to eclipse your palate with extra richness,” says the brewery.
Land Grant Brewing (Columbus) has partnered with the Center of Science and Industry create Totality. “Each year, our Space-Grant Black IPA celebrates a milestone of interstellar exploration or a captivating celestial event,” says Rachel Rudy, senior director of marketing and strategy. “This year’s edition celebrates the first total solar eclipse visible in Ohio since 1806. This Black IPA boasts a captivating blend of Simcoe, Strata, and Mosaic hops, delivering a mysteriously rich flavor that mirrors the awe-inspiring eclipse overhead.”
Pennsylvania
Lavery Brewing Company of Erie has brewed a Czech Dark Lager (Tmave 13) called In the Path of Totality 3:16pm. As one of the Simons Foundations partners, Lavery will be donating proceeds from the sale of its eclipse beer to a local science organization, in this case, the doubly appropriate Master Brewers Association of the Americas (District Pittsburgh).
New York
Three breweries in Rochester have collaborated on a triptych of beers. Each beer represents of three phases of the eclipse: The Lighter Side, The Darker Side, and Totality. Strangebird Brewery has The Lighter Side, an oak barrel-aged golden lager at 5.4% ABV; Three Heads Brewing has The Darker Side an amber lager also at 5.4% ABV; and Rohrbach Brewing has Totality, a 5.2% ABV Czech-style dark lager.
Also in Rochester, Nine Spot Brewing has Signs and Wonders Imperial Stout. Weighing in at a hefty 10% ABV, this imperial stout has been aged in bourbon barrels from Buffalo Distilling.
Vermont
14th Star Brewing of St. Albans has brewed Eclipsed New England IPA, a dark twist on craft beer’s most popular beer style. The 6% ABV beer is, “best described as a unique and mind-bending experience,” says David Rheaume, director of brand management. “Our experimental Eclipsed New England IPA is dark in appearance like the eclipse, with all the bright tropical aromas and juicy flavors you typically expect in a hazy Vermont IPA still shining through.”
Waitsfield’s Lawson’s Finest Liquids has released Path of Totality, a 7.5% ABV black IPA brewed with Eclipse hops. A portion of proceeds from the beer will benefit Vermont’s ECHO, Leahy Center for Lake Champlain, whose mission is to inspire and engage families in the joy of scientific discovery, wonder of nature and care of Lake Champlain.
New Hampshire
Coös Brewing of Colebrook has brewed a 7.2% ABV IPA made with Eclipse hops from Australia. “It’s got dank pineapple and nectarine flavors,” says Colin Finn, founder and brewer.
Maine
First Mile Brewing of Fort Kent has brewed Siretown Black Out, a pale ale.
Orono Brewing of Orono and Bangor has brewed Totality IPA, a 5.5% ABV IPA.
Tennessee
When the eclipse last traversed Tennessee in 2017, Yazoo Brewing of Nashville released Space and Time, an oak-fermented wild blonde ale aged on star fruit and brewed with 12 different celestial hop varieties: Alpha, Apollo, Aurora, Challenger, Cluster, Meridian, Comet, Equinox, Galaxy, Horizon, Polaris and Southern Star. The brewery has saved one keg of the now-seven-years-old beer and will be re-releasing it in celebration of the 2024 eclipse.