Eel River Ravens Eye Imperial Stout

Nice light coffee-chocolate aroma. Head goes away too quickly. Coffee in the flavor but tastes thinned out.Doesn’t seem strong. Decent.

Name: Raven’s Eye
Date: 04/11/2007
Mode: Bottle
Source: Tasting

black with ruby edges, wispy tan head, sweet roasted aroma with milk chocolate sweetness, creamy body, sweet dark chocolate flavor balanced with the roasted malts, nice milky sweetness, touch of dark fruit,

Aroma: 7/10; Appearance: 6/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 7/10; Overall: 14/20
Rating: 3.5/5.0
Drinkability: 8/10
Score: **4

dark black pour w/ a thick tan head and good lacing w/ some beautiful reverse cascading carbonation. Rich malty aroma, alcohols, light chocolates, & grains make up an aroma that I found a little 1 dimensional. Palate is full & well coaated. Flavor is roast malts coccoa light coffee a dry wood like finish w/ hints of the alcohol. I enjoyed it.

Bottled. Beer is very dark brown, nearly opaque. Head is beige, frothy/bubbly, small and mostly diminishing.<P>The aroma is malty with a heavy note of deeply roasted grain, moderate black coffee and dark chocolate; Hoppy with a moderately heavy resinous herb note; Yeasty with just a light note of basement; Light note of alcohol, trace under-ripe banana.<P>The flavor is moderately sweet, lightly acidic, moderately bitter with a long, moderate/heavily bitter, moderately sweet finish. Grippy.<P>The body is full, the texture is velvety and the carbonation is lively.

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.

Bottle from trade. Pours a rich black color with a small tan head. Aroma of roasted malt, coffee and molasses. Taste is semi sweet chocolate and licorice. Has slightly bitter, acidic, metal type flavor in the finish. Decent RIS.

Bottle. Head is initially average sized, frothy/creamy, brown, mostly lasting. Body is black (non-opaque, flashlight-tested). Aroma is moderately malty (chocolate, caramel, roasted grain), lightly hoppy (grapefruit), with notes of alcohol, vanilla, and plum. Flavor is moderately to heavily sweet, lightly acidic, lightly bitter. Finish is lightly to moderately sweet, lightly acidic, moderately bitter. Medium to full body, creamy texture, soft/lively carbonation, moderately alcoholic. A nice example, but not quite on the top shelf for me...the alcohol sticks out more than expected; usually Impies (esp. American ones) are massive enough in body and flavors to hide quite a bit of alc, but even at under 10% it’s still a bit of a poke in the eye (and throat). The aroma is pleasant but a bit on the light/meek side. Overall a nice effort and could definitely be a real winner with only a little more work.

Bomber. Pours to a black body with a really tall and ultra creamy dark khaki head that looks rocky and has a nice lacing. The aroma is sweet milk chocolate syrup, crisp pale grains, and crisp chocolate grains. Some espresso coffee comes through. The flavor is chocolate malt and a seemingly organic graininess. Coffee and a dry roasted black patent malt. The palate is a bit thin but leaves a sticky coating dry feel.