Eel River Ravens Eye Imperial Stout

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

Solid black with a wisp of a head. Heavy, earthy, coal, tar and dusty cocoa aroma. The smells remind me of cold, nutrient rich soil. Surprising light in body. Standard mix of stout flavors with nothing particularly outstanding. Lingering bitterness and roasted flavors in the finish. No noticeable alcohol. I wonder what "nitrogen conditioned" means, in relation to a bottled stout. The overall palate in the beer is a bit flabby.

Some blackened roast through the nose, but i seriously cannot detect much here, even warmed up. Some roasted coffee. Thick mousse slightly sandy head, in all purposes this is a black beer until you put it right up to the light, then a bit of maroon comes through. Mouthfeel is oily and the heat never gets out of control, though it does mask some flavor. That slick character carries the soft Turkish coffee flavors throughout the mouth and keeps everything creamy. Is that the nitro conditioning? The heat on this young beer damages my rating but I really dig the party in my mouth. Does that even make sense?

Tap @ Bailey’s Tap Room... Poured almost black with amber highlights and an off-white head. Aroma of nuts (almond and hazelnut) with roasted malt. Flavors of caramel and buttery toffee, minute hops (but definitely there) which blend with toasted malt and almonds. Finished with an amaretto sorta alcohol warmth.

Pours dark brown/black, with a light brown head. Aroma is roasted malt, coffee, chocolate, fruit, and alcohol. Flavor is chocolate, roasted malt, and coffee. Medium body, ends slighly dry.

@ blind tasting - Very dark brown body with a red shine, some lacing; Quite nice balanced nose, not to complex but very pleasant, quite a bit of dried prune and some soft chocolate behind; Full balanced body, slightly sweet, slightly bitter; Medium long finish, very balanced bitter sweet, again quite a bit of dried prune aromas, some fruity coffee bean as well. Very balanced quite elegant beer, not standing out in any way, but very well made and elegant.

Bottle. Probably an aged bottle. Aroma of some smokiness. Flavor is roasted / smokey, and some meaty flavor. A little bit of acidic coffee, with a slightly thin palate.

A nice version of this beer. Went great with my hoisin glazed pork chop. Big roasted, smoked malt aromas. Bittersweet chocolate flavors. Slight alcohol ever so faint on the back end. Slight sugar sweetness as well. Pretty good one.

Esspresso, jerusalem almonds and cocoa nose. Brown sugar and big roasted cocoa notes are very predominate on the palate. Big rich mouthfeel with some mild astringency. Lingering roasted finish.