Country of Origin: United States
Availability: Sporadic. Not only is Ravell not available year-round, it's not released at a specific time or season; rather, at the whim of Magic Hat Brewery.
Price comparison: Priced about the same as the average national domestics.
Alcohol percentage by volume: 4.9%
Cute bottle/label? Single 1.375 pint brown glass bottle. Magic Hat labeling is always very funky pop-artsy and this particular label depicts I'm-not-sure-what; it looks sort of like a cross between an x-ray of a hand and one of those 1960's table-art pieces made of metal rods and ping-pong balls. Also traditional with Magic Hat offerings, don't forget to read the inside of the cap, the beer drinker's equivalent of the fortune cookie. This cap said, "Don't try to prevent a predestined event."
Appearance: Black and opaque as strong coffee, with an almost pinkish head, neither thick nor enduring. The lacing, however, is steadfast and left polkadots on the glass.
Scent: A very strong aroma of bittersweet chocolate and freshly scraped vanilla bean, also a roasted essence to it like burgundy.
Flavor: Rich, dark-roasted coffee with vanilla; also that toasted oat character that I tend to expect from a porter. Some maltiness that never actually resolves into sweetness, and a clean finish light with alcohol and smokiness.
Impressions: The differences between Ravell and Stoney Creek Vanilla Porter are analagous to the differences between Turkish-brewed and automatic-drip coffee. As good as the Stoney Creek was, it seems like a thin copy of this porter. Plus, with Ravell, you get the bottle cap. I'm always amused by the cap.
Will I buy this beer again? As many points as Ravell wins for being one of the most satisfying domestic porters I've tasted, it loses some by its lack of availability. Yes, I will buy it again, and yes, it will be a treat, because when it's gone, you never know when it's coming back.
Rating:
3½ out of 5 cute beer glasses
Reviewed: March 11, 2004
