Eel River Ravens Eye Imperial Stout

Brewed by Eel River Brewing Company
Style: Imperial Stout
Fortuna, California USA

Pours an opaque dark brown with a large beige head. Aroma reminds me of a scotch ale: Candi sugar, generic dark malts, a little dusty. Flavor is again dusty, the malts end up tasting like unsweetened iced tea. Low hoppiness to boot. Minor coffee profile. Good solid mouthfeel, medium carbonation. I really wanted to like this one, but I can’t say that I’m blown away exactly. Overall, fair to good.

Bottle. Toasted malt, molasses and coffee notes up front, with light resin and earth for the hops and yeast, with dark dried fruits in the background. Head is large, fizzy, light brown with good lacing and is fully lasting. Color is dark brown. Flavor starts moderately sweet and lightly acidic, then the long finish is lightly sweet and acidic and moderately bitter. Palate is medium, watery with a lively carbonation and a fairly dry finish. This was a surprisingly a deep and rich Imperial Stout. Now let’s start distributing it to a few more places.

More interesting than anything and seemed more like a Porter to me. Appearance: Dark black, with a nice dark head of foam. Looked tasty. Smell: Had the traditional RIS aroma, heavy fruit, molasses, caramels. There was more hop aroma that I typically would expect. Taste: The initial impression was that it was thin for RIS, then flavors of molassis and cherry/plum fruitiness with some unexpected smokey flavors as well. The finish is dominated with Washington State Hops (Cascades?) which are not my favorite, but under control here, so it did not ruin the beer for me. This seemed more a good Porter to me. Mouthfeel was too thin for an RIS Drinkability was about average. A good beer to enjoy slowly.

bottle. Nearly black. Lots of roast in this one. Behind the roast some molasses/prunes/raisin notes with chocolate as well. Over roasted flavor. Not enough fruit/chocolate/coffee for me.

Brown sugar/molasses...Raisins/cherries/vinous... Double chocolate cookie... Slick, sugary mouthfeel... Huge roasted malt presence... Substantial bitterness merely compliments, does not overtake malts... More barleywine or old ale than stout... Sweet, fruity, with dark roasted malts coming through more when warm...

Bottle. I finally see why my friends get picky over Imperial Stouts, most are decent, some are great. This one does not stand out, heavy malt, roasted flavors, some coffee, earthy tones, and alcohol. Nothing too special here.

Sampled in the big bottle. A really nice deep dark black imperial stout. Full of body. Full of very rich malty flavors. Overall a really nice stout, crafted to be very drinkable.

Bomber from Total Wine in Tustin ($5.49). Pours a dark brown, not quite black as other imperial stouts. The half finger of beige head quickly subsides. Aroma is rather weak but has roasted malts, caramel, medicine. Flavor is earthy roasted malts, caramel, chocolate (milk rather than bittersweet), and some alcohol. There is an earthy/dirt maltiness in the finish. Light mouthfeel for the style. Quite drinkable, but there are far better impy stouts.