Beer 3 Ravens Little Ravens Oak-Aged American Imperial Stout

Last year, 3 Ravens announced they were going to make full use of some of the smaller tanks in their brewery to launch small, experimental batches of beer under the Little Ravens banner. An India Saison appeared and then they got rather busy expanding the rest of their brewery. However, hot on the heels of the announcement of their sour program comes a Little Raven that is in no way little although most definitely comes with hue of raven.

It's an American imperial stout that has spent time in oak and has a rather mind-boggling array of ingredients. There are: "smoked, roasted and toasted barley, oats and wheat" as well as Belgian dark candi syrup and "bucket loads of rockstar American hops [added] at the darkest depths of the inky black boil". Add in an English yeast strain plus time spent in both American and French oak whisk(e)y barrels before being blended and finished off with a whack of Madagascan vanilla and locally roasted Peruvian cacao and we're willing to wager the word "complex" may come into play at some point.

They've also knocked up a couple of non-oaked variations that will be appearing during Good Beer Week. They are:

Cask Conditioned Imperial Stout for Cask Off 2015
Peat-smoked, American-hopped imperial stout re-fermented in cask with a heavy dose of Mosaic hops – 10 percent ABV

Tropic Thunder – Will be pouring at The Terminus – PoO Victoria – during GBW
Peated Imperial Stout with an all-star cast of American hops, Habanero chillis, coconut & banana vying for your attention. “Never Go Full Peatard” – 9 percent ABV