RavenBeer Unveils The Imp and The Madhouse Oyster Stout

RavenBeer in Baltimore, Maryland has announced the release of a new beer: The Imp and The Madhouse Oyster Stout.

The brewery is well-known for its Edgar Allan Poe-inspired beer names and recipes and The Imp and The Madhouse is no different.

With a name borne of Poe's The Imp of the Perverse short story, this Oyster stout is an eminently drinkable 6.0 percent ABV brew provides a subtle tang from the oysters and is also roasty and filling, as any good stout should be.

The full release from RavenBeer is below.

RavenBeer has great news to report. We are launching only our third product in three years and doing so with a style of beer that goes beyond our product portfolio.  It was in the fall of 2015 that RavenBeer released what may have been the world’s first dark kölsch, Dark

Usher.  This was followed with a draft only release of Grapefruit infused Tell

Tale Heart IPA.  Today, we wish to announce The Imp and the Madhouse

Oyster Stout.  This 6.0% stout is not your ordinary stout, but one brewed with Chesapeake Bay oysters. This imparts a bit flavor to the beer and saltiness to the beer.  Founder, Stephen Demczuk describes the newest addition to the Edgar Allan Poe series as “...a stout that is pleasantly drinkable but not dry like a Guinness but also not as sweet like a Young’s Chocolate stout.” The usual astringent roast flavor found in many stouts is not as prevalent in The Imp and the Madhouse Oyster Stout.  

The stout’s name comes from Poe’s short story The Imp of the Perverse where the narrator brags about his clever murderous deed and expresses no remorse in his heinous crime.  He continues to insist that we all have in our heads an Imp dictating to us self-destructive impulses. The reader eventually comes to realize the narrator’s insanity and discovers that he is locked away within a “Madhouse.”

The oyster stout is a serendipitous collaboration with Madhouse Oysters of Fishing Creek, Maryland that came about over a casual conversation. Oyster farmer, Ted Cooney has spent many years perfecting his raised oysters.  Ted’s maddening obsession over his oysters and RavenBeer’s relentless goal to achieve the most drinkable and food compatible beers are in themselves our own justifiable perverse.

As with our award-winning Poe series artwork The Madhouse label was created by Kevin Kallaugher (KAL), the editorial cartoonist for The Economist magazine out of London and Baltimore Sun and with contributions from local artist Nolan Cartwright. 

So, if dark beers like stouts aren’t your thing? Well, come a bit unhinged and try a very drinkable Imp and the Madhouse Oyster Stout, and put a little perverse into your life.

“Have you found your Imp?”

About RavenBeer:

Brewed by the Baltimore-Washington Beer Works (BWBW) in Baltimore Maryland, RavenBeer and its brands are named after Baltimore's literary genius, Edgar Allan Poe. Originally produced in the Black Forest region of Baden- Württemberg, Germany, RavenBeer unveiled The Raven Special Lager in the USA in June 1998 and the very first batch was used in the christening ceremonies of the USS Raven MHC 61 in Baltimore. Their portfolio has grown to 8 beers such as Tell Tale Heart IPA, Pendulum Pilsner, Annabel Lee White,

The Cask (of Amontillado) Dobbel Bock, Dark Usher: Dark Kölsch and the 20th Anniversary Raven Special Lager Premium and 7 cask conditioned firkins, all named after Poe’s legendary short stories and poems. 

The award winning Poe series artwork was created by Kevin Kallaugher

(KAL), the editorial cartoonist for The Economist magazine out of London and Baltimore Sun. Mark Supik and Co. of Baltimore produce the internationally award winning Poe book tap handles. Local artist Nolan Cartwright has recently been added to our creative marketing team.