Deschutes Black Butte XXI

22 oz bottle
Thanks to someone for bringing a bottle of both the XX and XXI to a tasting at Mike’s house. This was a solid imperial porter that is definitely big and bold. Even a year has not tamed it much.

Aroma / Appearance - Deep black and fluid the body swirls inkily around the glass. Cocoa, coffee, and strong malt blend seamlessly into a deep tapestry.

Flavor / Palate - Smoke, strong black coffee, and cocoa are the three most obvious components of a complex and rich brew. The malty aftertaste is warm which reveals the ABV to be high. I would not turn down another bottle but in some ways there are more accessible beers in the style which are better.

Black Butte XX bottle. Pours pitch black, capped with a medium sized frothy brown head. Aroma of ash, vanilla, burnt chocolate malt, prune, wood, and spice. Flavor is very charcoaly, with chocolate, vanilla, oak, prune and other dark fruits, coffee and some hops building towards the finish. Medium to full bodied. Solid beer, but the barrel treatment is a bit overdone.

Rating #1300. Bottle as Black Butte XX. Pitch black body with a medium tan head. Roasted coffee beans, chocolate, dark roasted malt and light bourbon notes in aroma. The flavour is sweet malty, bourbon, coffee, sweet tobacco and light alcohol. Soft and creamy texture. A very powerful and tasteful piece of black butted beer!l

XX version, will soon be updated with XXI review. With the notable exception of the Dissident, Deschutes has disappointed me this far. The regular Black Butte was a slightly above average porter. Let’s hope that the barrel can work some wonders here. Pours jet black with a decent sized tan head. Smells strongly of sweet molasses and marsmallow first, get slight bourbon if I really hunt for it. The bourbon is a little more forward in the taste but this is by no means a hot beer. Chocolate, molasses, cream, very lightly roasted malts. Very very tasty and worlds above the orignal Butte. Mouth feels like a completely different beer, this is thicker and less carbonated. Near perfect. I will absolutely try to get this again. Deschutes finally scores a winner with a dark beer for me. Update with XXI. This beer fresh does not compare with the 9 months aged version I had had before. Hops overpower any bourbon here, this just tastes like a very fresh yeti. Look forward to drinking my other bottles mid next year.

Pitch black, with a strong, dark chocolate aroma and flavor. Alcohol notes harsh. Intensely sweet, like blackstrap molasses. A good sipper.

22oz bottle acquired from Southbay. Pours an oily black with a quickly diminishing head of dark tan cream. Aroma is a well-blended mix of coffee, bourbon and chocolate. A very fine aroma for a fresh beer. Flavors are just as well blended, but there is a fresh hop and roasty bitterness. There is no hint of the massive alcohol on this smooth surface.

22oz bottle thanks to riversideAK. Pours black with a brown head. Heavily carbonated. Aroma is of bourbon, wood, roasted malt, chocolate, coffee, and dark fruit. Taste is of roasted malt, chocolate, dark fruit, alcohol, and chocolate. Lots of coffee blends within the brew. Huge flavors of bourbon and wood as well. The bourbon and wood blend very well with the other flavors. Each sip finishes with lots of dry chocolate and wood. Mouthfeel is medium and sticky. I like it.

wow, this was a lot better than i expected! smells fantastic and tastes even better! enticing black pour, an inviting bouquet of smoked prunes and burnt salty caramel. chocolate and coffee permeates all aspects of this brew. it is a tiny bit hot still, subtly revealing the high abv, but it is still quite suiting as it gives you the internal whiskey warmth on the way down. it says not to drink it for another 14 months, so i am going to age a few, i expect they will mellow nicely and become even more stellar! very nicely done beer!