Eel River Ravens Eye Imperial Stout

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

Poured a black, not oily though, brew. The head is thin, brown, and gone quickly. The aroma is sweet, chocolate, coffee, light fruit, and alcoholic. The flavor is smokey/roasted, bakers chocolate, coffee, light fruit/citrus, with alcohol at the end. More shows up with warmth. Not hidden well for the abv. The palate was a little thin to be perfect. The palate is roastey and warm.

Courtesy SoLan. Pours pitch black with a light brown head. The nose has some banana, dark roasty malts, and some light chocolate. The taste is rather mellow for an imperial stout i thought. Seemed to be missing something. Still nothing to pour out by any means it was rather enjoyable. Nice roastiness to it, with some chocolate in the background. Maybe needed just a tad more body to thicken it up a bit. Still very good though.

From Chris and Angelo (chriso420). 22oz bomber, no date. Black with a two finger slowly fading tan head. Aroma of roasted malts, licorice, dark chocolate, mixed nuts, real vanilla, some piney hops, and cappucino. Taste is ashy with tar and roasted malts up front, bitter chocolate, nuts, licorice and port in the middle, alcohol and some more roast towards the finish. Semidry lightly bitter and lightly chalky finish. Smooth moderate carbonation with a medium body--impys need to be thicker. Good stuff. Update: I’m working on the last 10 or so oz. of the bomber, and this is tasting quite good. I’m bumping up the overall to 16.

Bottle from Liquid Solutions. Pours brown out of the bottle but appears dark in the glass. Fairly nice light brown head. Very miniscule nose. I’m comparing this next to Bristol XXX Warlock and the Warlock is powerfully aromatic. This has hardly any aroma at all. Flavor isn’t much better. A light hint of malt-o-meal, dried chocolate. Not very complex, not hoppy and not nearly roasty enough. Meh, very mediocre.

bottle thanks to my brother. black with a cream head. nose is chocolate, coffee and roasted malts. not bad on teh palate at all, flavor is bitter sweet dark chocolate and light roasted coffee.

A very average/slightly below average impy. Aroma was very weak for the style. Chocolate mostly. Pour was a deep dark brown with a one finger off white head. Taste was thin and watery. Mostly chocolate malt with a bitter espresso aftertaste on the back of the tongue. Decent carbonation. Hides the alcohol wonderfully. I’ll give it that.

650 ml. Deep ebony with a medium-sized creamy head that hangs. Aroma is chocolate and marshmallow creme, toned down nicely by some peppery coffee and charred wood. Vanilla cream soda on the front turns to some dried wood, hickory smoke, coffee, slight cumin, and some piquant acetic acidity. Sweet and char aftertaste is great. Medium-heavy, creamy body has a tingly dry finish. Very nice dessert.

Dark brown with a fleeting tan head. Roasted and smoked nutty aroma with some cocoa. Smooth medium body. Mild flavors of roasted malts with some cocoa... i can’t believe this is a IRS, tastes more like a mild porter to me.