Eel River Ravens Eye Imperial Stout

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

22oz bottle pours out almost black topped with a small tan head. Aroma of coffee and dark chocolate. Tast of dark bitter chocolate, roast malt and a touch of smoke. thanks Jake65

Bottle: Near black pour with a nice creamy brown head. Bittersweet chocolate and coffee aroma. Bits of lacing. Dry taste with coffee and chocolate. Plenty of roasty malt. Seemingly a basic offering for the category, but solid nonetheless.

The bit bottle poured (carefully) nearly black with chestnut highlights and a smallish tan head, settling after about 30 seconds. Sweet chocolatey flavor with good roasted bitterness, and a bit of booze. Once warm I get a nice caramel aroma with some alcohol. I think it stands up well. Not too carbed, a bit syrupy, and great flavor.

Aroma of sweet milk chocolate, coffee, roasted malt, and some hops. Pour is the standard black with tan head. Flavors of coffee, sweet malt, chocolate, and smoke. Very smokey and chocolaty. Silky mouthfeel, but a little thin (not too bad).

Bottle at home ... Deep black ... deep chocolate ... silky smooth ... roat malts ... little charcoal ... little coffee ... low to medium carbonation ... little dry malts ... light hop in background...

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!

Pours black as night with a very thin, toffee-colored head that dissipates quickly; conspicuous alcohol; somewhat dry but nice and robust mouthfeel; very clean smell; heavy on well-roasted malts and cofee in the flavor; like all great beers, its complexity comes out as it approaches room temperature; very good beer that really warms you up.

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.