diff --git a/lib/rackstash/encoders.rb b/lib/rackstash/encoders.rb
index abacfa2..056824b 100644
--- a/lib/rackstash/encoders.rb
+++ b/lib/rackstash/encoders.rb
@@ -4,3 +4,4 @@
 # of the MIT license. See the LICENSE.txt file for details.
 
 require 'rackstash/encoders/json'
+require 'rackstash/encoders/raw'
diff --git a/lib/rackstash/encoders/raw.rb b/lib/rackstash/encoders/raw.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..82fd267
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/rackstash/encoders/raw.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+# Copyright 2017 Holger Just
+#
+# This software may be modified and distributed under the terms
+# of the MIT license. See the LICENSE.txt file for details.
+
+module Rackstash
+  module Encoders
+    # The Raw encoder formats the log event as a raw `Hash` containing all data
+    # exposed by the buffer. This can be used by special log targets which are
+    # designed to handle hashes as opposed to formatted strings.
+    class Raw
+      # @param event [Hash] a log event as produced by the {Flow}
+      # @return [Hash] the passed `event`
+      def encode(event)
+        event
+      end
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/spec/rackstash/encoders/raw_spec.rb b/spec/rackstash/encoders/raw_spec.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..abdb788
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/rackstash/encoders/raw_spec.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+# Copyright 2017 Holger Just
+#
+# This software may be modified and distributed under the terms
+# of the MIT license. See the LICENSE.txt file for details.
+
+require 'spec_helper'
+
+require 'rackstash/encoders/raw'
+
+describe Rackstash::Encoders::Raw do
+  let(:encoder) { Rackstash::Encoders::Raw.new }
+
+  describe '#encode' do
+    it 'passes the raw event through' do
+      event = Object.new
+      expect(encoder.encode(event)).to equal event
+    end
+  end
+end