The Ravenmaster
Kings County Brewers Collective (KCBC)

Poured into a Fremont small snifter. Pours a very dark mahogany brown, appearing opaque black in the glass with a one finger dark khaki head with great retention and nice lacing. Aroma of dark toasted malt, cocoa, nuts and vanilla; lightly boozy. Flavor is dark toasted malt, almonds, nuts, vanilla and dark chocolate, light hop bitterness and alcohol burn on the finish. Medium bodied with light to moderate creaminess. A very pleasant nut, chocolate and vanilla stout with something you don't see much in this style: a noticeable hop bitterness in the finish. It's mild by IPA standards, but a clear character that melds with the high ABV go leave an interesting, if hot finish. The main flavors are well integrated, with almond and vanilla as distinct notes, but the hazelnuts more of a generic nutty flavor. Chocolate flavor is fine. Not getting much pistachio, which would have been interesting, although there is plenty going on here anyway. Slightly sweet, but a good relief from my last pastry stout; this lightly sweet level is what I hope for in an adjunct flavored stout. I like this one a lot and was actually surprised how much I liked the hop bitterness in the finish, it is deftly done. I was on the fence in the flavor score, but gave this an extra quarter point for the interesting hopping. I'll be watching these guys if they make it this far West again. Great can graphics.

Poured a black body with minimal khaki head that quickly died. There is a roasted malt aroma that reminded me of almonds (or almond liqueur) with notes of vanilla. Smooth yet thick and sticky at same time as beer has a touch of alcohol burn that makes for a slow sipper. Notes of chocolate, vanilla, lactic slickness, a general nuttiness, hints of hops and a touch of spicy dryness as well. Beer has a lot going on and is mostly balanced and worth trying as it makes for an enjoyable sipper and the alcohol doesn't overpower everything.

 

 

Pours dark golden brown, almost black, with a two finger head that evolves into fine bubbled delight. Aroma is chocolate and almonds with a small amount of roasted character. Taste is nicely balanced, with vanilla, sweetness and almonds predominant. Hazelnut is in the profile as well. As the brew warms, the almond profile comes out. Before I knew, the entire beer was gone. A very nice imperial stout.

 

This one pours a fairly dark black color, with a small head, and lots of lacing.

This smells like roasted malt, bitter almond, sweet vanilla, dark chocolate, and honestly...Sharpie, or something along those lines.

Luckily that weird off aroma didn't translate into the taste. There's a lot of adjuncts here, and not necessarily all of them come through. The almond and vanilla are probably the strongest showings here. I don't really get any pistachio, and there's a hint of hazelnut. There's a nice bit of dried black cherry, and a nice dark chocolate note.

This is fairly thick, with very little booziness, and a nice creamy finish.

I worried that this would taste kind of wonky with that weird marker aroma. Luckily, this was quite solid stuff.