Eel River Ravens Eye Imperial Stout

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

Pours a very dark brown/black color with some ruby hints that show up when light shines through. The head on the beer is thing and tan colored. Aroma is heavy of dark roasted malt, lots of prune and raisin sweetness present as well as a small amount of chocolate. Flavor begins with a pretty some dark roasted flavor and quickly moves into a sweet dark fruity flavor that lasts through most of the rest of the tasting and ends with a light chocolate hint. The beer feels pretty smooth and creamy with your mouth due to the perfect carbonation. Overall the beer was good but it has nothing really to excite or deter one from trying it out, just an average beer.

Pours black from bomber, forming nice size light brown head of foam. Aroma has notes of coffee, chocolate, raisin, apple, slight smoke, and a hint of earthy woodiness. Flavour was dominated by roasted malt, char, and espresso along with some dark chocolate in the finish. Overall the taste is slightly sweeter than expected, but very good overall. A tastey, well made impy stout beer.

Bottle at Badgerben’s Cellar Reduction provided by Skyview. Pours black with a tan head. Smells of cocoa and espresso, along with some roasted malt. Taste of coffee, slight chocolate with a lingering finish. Pretty good.

The last of my recent pick ups from Green’s in Greenville, South Carolina, Raven’s Eye poured out pitch back in color and was opaque when held up against light. The head topping the beer was small, but dark, and dissipated in a short time to a layer of small bubbles. The smell was milder than a typical RIS, and was mostly chocolate and coffee with little hoppyness. The taste was reminiscent of sweetened dark coffee sprinkled with chocolate. There was a hint of dark fruits, but I had to look for it carefully. There was noticeable astringent, roasted grain, bitterness to counter the sweet malts. This was an intense but approachable beer, and made me easily forget the 9.5% ABV, until the warmth in the belly reminded me. Heft on the palette, and slickness of feel was unmistakably imperial. The aftertaste was short lived. Very enjoyable due to its well rounded construction, but none of the aspects were really a standout.

Smells like a fresh brewed pot of coffee. If I paid closer attention and saw this was organic, I never would’ve ordered it. Just don’t care for the organic stuff. Anyway, no lasting head to speak of and not much depth of flavor. A little roasty. Little bit to boozy for my taste. Not terrible but not great either. My aroma rating will skew this one’s rating higher than it deserves but whatever.......

The color was a dark chocolate/black. The head was dark butterscotch colored, creamy and laced some. The aroma was soy sauce, molasses, vanilla, and caramel. The flavor was soy sauce, alcohol, molasses, roasty, and coffee. The palate was medium/thick bodied and very smooth. The finish was warm and roasty.

22oz. bomber from Liquid Solutions. Pours pretty much black with a small brown head. Very nice aroma. Bitter cocoa, malts and roasted nuts. Flavor is raw coffee, light bitter malts, hints of smoke and a trace of bitter hops in the finish. Silky mouthfeel but just a tad thin. Overall it was very good.

Organic Beer Tasting at Three Cellars Milwaukee. Very Smooth and mild. Chocolate character without being to sweet