Eel River Ravens Eye Imperial Stout

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

Bottle. Pours with a fluffy brown head over a, for all intensive purposes, black body. Decent lacing and some alcohol waves (but not legs). Aroma is roasty, coffee, leather, baked bread (sour dough), espresso, alcohol, and what seems like the lactose similar to the the note found in Guinness. Taste is coffee and chocolate with a lot of deeper, earthier coffee and leather notes dominating the finish. A bit of lactic notes, but very minimal. Some nice alcohol and anise flavors up front with the long, nutty-earthy roast finishing. A bit of smoke. Not bad. Creamy to lively bubbles, alcoholic finish. A touch thin though.

Interesting/strange smell of wheat, chocolate, and vitamins (?!) Body is medium and taste centers around a weird hybrid of roast coffee and grapes. Not sure what to think of this one ~ has some interesting personality traits but suffers from some balance issues.

Bottle. Dark brown body topped by a big light brown head. Aroma is light roast, coffee, honey sweetness, and dark fruit. Flavor is lots of milk and dark chocolate, caramel, nuts, coffee and some bitterness. Body is a a little thin and finish is pretty sweet. Easy to drink and good for dessert but a kind of lacking for a big imperial stout.

shared bomber with TheBeerSommelier - thanks! big roasted malts, sweet licorice, and a touch of coffee on the nose... nice big body full of dark fruit, slight caramel notes, deep chocolate and a touch of coffee...

Deep dark brown coloured body with a thinnish light brown head. Aroma of roasted malt, coffee, a ton of alcohol and a little bit oak. Medium-bodied; Strong coffee and roasted malt flavours with a bunch of oak, vanilla, some toffee and a touch of nuts. Aftertaste shows chocolate and graham crackers with a woodsy flavour and a bit of roasted malt - nice, but not horribly strong for the style! Overall, a good beer, but not as good as I expected. I sampled this 65 cL bottle purchased from Half Time in Poughkeepsie, New York on 11-June-2009, sampled at home in Washington on 25-July-2009.

Pours dark brown with a stubborn tan head. Smells of chocolate, caramel, molasses, honey. Tastes chocolatey and roasty with a nice spicy compliment on the finish.

Dark brown/black, small quickly fading head. Aroma is roasty and lightly sweet, alcohol. Tastes mostly of roasted malts, light coffee tones, and a strong alcohol prescence with a light burn at the finish. Body is heavy enough to deal with the strong presence of alcohol. Pretty good beer, and it’s organic for extra hipster points.

Dark pour, no head or lace. Dry woody aroma. Thick alcohol dominates with a nutty tangy bitterness. Very sweet with chocolate and caramel notes. Tasty!