Deschutes Black Butte XXI

Brewed by Deschutes Brewery
Style: Imperial/Strong Porter
Bend, Oregon USA

Bottle, thanks to danielcurtis81 for sharing on his wedding week. Pours pitch black with a thin fading head. Nose has some soy and chocolate malt. Taste is smooth, sweet chocolate/roasted malt with some soy. Mouthfeel is a little slimy, but this was overall very good.

I stumbled upon this at my local grocery store just sitting in a box next to the cooler. I have been a fan of black butte for a long time but i have to say this takes that great beer to a whole new level. Poured dark brown almost black with a pretty thin but persistant carmel head. Tasted like the mature brother of black butte the fiinish was suprisingly alcoholic but at 11% i guess it makes sense. other then that pretty stong taste if moca which a rather dry body.

XXI - BA 10-17-10. Pours an opaque black with an average, pillowy, dark beige head which is mostly diminishing but does leave a small, frothy layer throughout and some nice lace. Nose is nice but still young; plenty of roasty/smoky/charred oak notes, earthy/smoky coffee, wisps of bourbon-like alcohol, lots of dark chocolate, light molasses, and some vanilla in there too. The flavor is much of the same with the complexity lacking but balance and richness are phenomenal; plenty of dark chocolate in this one (dark, rich, decadent), molasses, smoky French Roast coffee but minimal acidity, some charred oak, earthy and almost herbal hops on the back end, and more smoke leading into the finish. The chocolate richness is amazing and there is a nice balance between chocolate, coffee, oak, smoke, and bitterness. Palate is still young but surprisingly not hot; medium body, drying notes, silky feel, somewhat round, and soft to lively carbonation. Finishes a little short with smoke still present, some earthy/herbal hops, dry oak, and mocha coffee notes lingering. I am torn with this beer; I love all the balance and the chocolate richness but it is not very complex yet and the body is so thin for an anniversary, 11% ABV. I still have one in the cellar and I may wait a couple of years before I cut the wax. If it were a cheaper beer, I would drink this every weekend with the drinkability, but as is, I do not find it as an anniversary beer I will remember. I am looking forward to an aged version of this one, like the bottle suggests, and will continue to update this rating as the beer progresses past the BA date. In the meantime...

Bottle. 2009 release. Dark brown in color with a small tan head. Great coffee and oak sensation with a very smokey finish. Lots of flavor and aroma in this one. Very smooth and enjoyable.

22oz Bottle. I’ve now had both the 2008 and the 2009 releases. I know I’d rated the XX on here and the rating seems to have been toasted in the aliasing. Anyway...here’s my notes from the most recent XXI. Pours a blackish, smooth oily brown, with a nice coffeecream head. Aroma is soft, warming and roasty. Nice blends of coffee, booze, and some cocoa. Gentle and detailed. Flavor is equally rich and satisfying. I love the balance of the barrel in this beer, it’s really well-done, complementing the character of the beer with the bourbon. Rich chocolate, vanilla oak, and some raisins come out. Finishes on toasted brown bread. Delicious, drinkable, and very enjoyable. Thanks Laura and Darrell

Wow - a wonderfully black rich porter. Loads of coffee, chocolate, charred wood, and alcohol. Very sippable, just a lovely enjoyable beer.

Tap at Fiddler’s.

Deep brown-black pour, modest but nice tan head. Sweet porter nose, plenty of vanilla. Alcohol is very forward in the mouthfeel, flavors are your typical sweet PacNW BA impy-whatever. All of the expected elements, plus some ash. Not bad at all, but lacking the something extra that would push it to a standout. Maybe with two years’ age, the bottle in my cellar will be better rounded.

Received 3 bottles from LiquidSolutions today, just couldn’t wait to bust one open. Served pretty warm and probably still shaken from all of the handling lately, I’ll definitely age the other two. Label says "Best AFTER 10/17/2010" so apparently I’ll be aging these for a long, long time. Anyway, to the rating of the fresh stuff...bomber pours pitch black with mahogany edges in the light, enormous Ɣ finger?) cascading light brown head. Condenses to a fluffy pile of small bubbles. Aroma is heavy on the burnt coffee (not black, burnt!) and alcohol. Flavor has a strong punch of coffee, but gets a lot of bitterness from EXTREMELY dark chocolate. 11% ABV comes through as a bourbony astringent tang near the finish, quickly swallowed by more black coffee. This score is going to be low for the average, but it will be re-rated at least once after a little aging. These incredibly bold flavors are currently fighting one another, but with 6+ months of melding and mellowing, they should make a nice beer.