Eel River Ravens Eye Imperial Stout

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

22. Thanks, Pitonka! Pours opaque black with a fairly thin tan moussy shell. Sweet chocolatey nose--easily the dominant note. Medium, slightly velvety body. Plenty of carb, but not at all tingly or fizzy. Thorough coffee/chocolate-forward mid-palate. Nice mildly hoppy cling to the finish. I’d drink the hell out of this if it were more gettable for me.

Bouteille de 22 oz partagée lors d’une dégustation Ratebeer Montréal chez MartinT. Arôme: Odeur de chocolat avec une pointe de café et de caramel. Apparence: La couleur est noire opaque. Présence d’un mince col mousseux et d’une fine dentelle sur le verre. Saveur: Goût de chocolat légèrement amer avec une pointe de café. Durée moyenne de l’arrière goût. Palette: Le corps est moyen avec une texture légèrement crémeuse. Faible effervescence en bouche. Arrière goût légèrement chocolaté. (Rating #2054)

Pours dark brown with copper hues and weak brief off white head. The aroma is full with sweet chocolate, molasses, dark roasted malts and licorice. The taste is much the same with a mild dose of chocolate malts mixing with molasses, licorice and roasty toasty malts. Nice sweet and rich brew yet on the thin side.

22oz. Bottle: Aroma of chocolate, roasted malts, alcohol, soy sauce, and mocha. Poured black in color with a medium-sized, dense, light brown head that lasted throughout. Clear. Lightly sparkling. Lightly sweet flavor. Tastes of chocolate, malts, roasting, mocha, burnt malts, alcohol, and coffee. Medium to full body. Thick, creamy, then chalky texture. Average carbonation. Burnt malt finish.

Man, this is one boring imperial stout - looks like a glass of cola - some light herbal character in the aroma, with very faint roastiness, but you’ve got to inhale deeply to pick anything up - soft mouthfeel, thin-bodied (for the style) - bittersweet flavor reminiscent of nothing in particular, with notes of corn syrup, toffee, coffee - fairly well-masked alcohol, but it still burns a bit in the finish - lacking character in pretty much every respect - a highly forgettable brew.

The aroma is toasty with malt, molasses, coffee, and fruit. The appearance is dark brown with a nice head. The flavor is like the aroma. The palate is average but OK for the style. Overall it’s decent.

(Nitro Draft: Eel River Brewing Company in Fortuna, CA) Oh wow, this is an amazing beer! Roasty, sweet, smoky, massive chocolate, seemingly some oatmeal, moderate alcohol, and through it all, just mildly bitter, so this is like dessert for me. In fact, it tastes like a huge foreign stout because the bitterness is in the background. The nose is sweet, roasty, chocolaty, and alcoholic. Medium to full bodied, not thick or syrupy, but quite substantial and coating on the palate. Very dark brown, almost black in color with subsurface carbonation bubbles clinging to the glass. Topped by a thin but creamy tan head that fully coats the glass with a curtain of lace. Just an incredibly delicious beer, and worth the drive to Fortuna even if you aren’t heading to view the wondrous redwoods in the area.

Bottle: Pours a deep brown with ruby in the light (good amount of light gets through for am Imperial Stout) Has a creamy tan head. The aroma is fudgey, with good chocolate character and some coffee grinds in the background. Fluffy body. Fudgey taste with dense chocolate flavors. Milky chocolate character without being sweet. Roasted flavors with chocolate cookie dough and a mocha character. No evidence of alcohol, and it’s easy to put away a bomber. Straight forward, somewhat simple Stout, but tasty.