Eel River Ravens Eye Imperial Stout

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

Decent sized head of light brown bubbles. Dense and creamy. Minimal carbonation. Rich roasty aroma with lots of dark chocolate, mild coffee and some roasted malts. Perhapse a bit of lactose. Color is essenially black. Silky smooth and creamy in the mouth. I wonder if this is nitrogen infused in the bottle. It would seem so. Lots of coffee and bittersweet chocolate. Rich and roasty. Finishes silky smooth and creamy with a lingering coffee flavor. A decent impy but leans a little heavy on the coffee which is not to my taste. Still a solid and silky smooth brew.

Bottle at Bocktown in Pittsburgh. Pours deep brown with a dissipating tan head. Weak aroma for an Imperial, but I get some roast and sweet dark fruit. Medium bodied and more porter like in texture. Flavor of dark caramel, mild coffee, and vanilla. At the tail end of the finish I get peat or smoke, with the alcohol evident, but subdued nicely. Good, but not very "Imperial" in the flavor department. I mean that in a good way, as it was easy to drink.

Nose-caramel coffee, cream, sweet coffee. Body-opaque with a slight ring of bubbles and a patchy film of bubbles. Taste-high CO2, wasabi, medium PNW hops, good smooth mouthfeel. Good, but simple. Chocolate, coffee.

Deep dark brown, almost black, body with an ample frothy brown head. Roasted malts, dark roasted coffee, hints of grapefruit hops, prunes, and alcohol all mix in the aroma and in the flavor. The alcohol is evident but not overpowering the flavor components. Well crafted.

Now this is a pleasant surprise. 22oz bottle purchased at Whole Foods, Durham. Super inky body with almost no head, this one has a viscous, resiny body with a really intense flavor profile. Big, big chocolate notes with a trace of espresso, a rich malty impy stout with a nice hop finish too. The only real knock is that, with a character like this, I’d have appreciated a thicker mouthfeel. I’m going to look into getting several more bottles of this though. Nice!

gives off a strong flavor, lots of dark malts, coffee, fruits with a slightly chewy taste. strong flavor, very tasty.

Bottle. Deep black colored. Nice sized and persistant light brown head with nice lacing left behind. Aroma is very chocolatey, moderate bits of coffee. Full bodied and coating. Very malty in taste, rich chocolate lightly bitter coffee notes and just a hint of acidity. Bitterness from hops balances nicely without a huge hop presence in flavor. Damn well done, will be seeking out more of this beer.

Bottle. Pours ruby brown with a tan head. The aroma is lightly roasty with some fruity and caramel sweetness. The flavor starts on a sweet note of caramel, fruit and molasses, and finished with a light roasted coffee note. Pretty weak if you judge it strictly as an imperial stout, but if you ignore that, it’s really a pretty good beer.