Deschutes Black Butte XXI

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

Sampled at Seattle IBF - "Mystery Beer." Poured a heavy dark brown with a smallish head. Roasty sweet - coffee and molasses on the nose. Like a slightly more drinkable version of The Abyss. This one had all the flavors right, but wasn’t so thick and chewy. Full-bodied, hides the 11% extremely well. One of the highlights of the festival for me - really, really good.

I first heard of the Deschutes Brewery when I was living out in Oregon so I was very pleased to be able to partake of one of their mystical brews.
She poured any almost black oily color and viscosity into my glass. A great start and already she is living up to her name. Her nose is sweet, malty, with hints of alcohol. Backing up her rich nose is a thick body with a sweet array of dark fruits, roasted almonds, and an alcohol warmth to spread the Black Butte love throughout my senses. A full bodied strong-ale, Black Butte reminds me of why I enjoy this style of beer so much, and wish others would follow suit. As I delve further into her luscious warm body, hints of coffee and chocolate tingle the senses and mingle with the dark fruits and sweet malts. A well balanced finish, even more so as she warms a bit.
A fabulous start and finish, Black Butte was beautiful. I don’t know if I could do more than one at a time, but Black Butte XX is definitely one strong ale from Deschutes I will revisit as often as possible.

Bottle. Dark brown/black pour, minimal carbonation and aroma of very bitter coffee and some booze. Flavor was also bitter coffee, some vanilla and bitter chocolate. Finished warm, alcoholic and dry. Very good and well priced for what it is.

Thanks a ton to a couple of people who sent me this I still have one for the cellar. Bottle poured into a dogfish head snifter produced a big puffy coco colored head that trailed to a thick layer of lace. The body of this brew is a big black beauty. Aromas are incredibly chocolate some coffee and sweat dark fruits filled my head the first sip is unbelievably full and smooth in my mouth. Bourbonesque if there is such a word but with heavy chocolate flavors the coffee is very light but as it warms, I got that mocha feeling as I drank it. A really incredible porter in a lot of ways and drinkability is one of them. I plan on relaxing with the last glass for a few hours Glad I have one more bottle

22oz bottle. Pours a thick inky black with tan edges, chocolate head. Huge nose of chocolate and espresso. This one is off the scales with coffee roastiness. I think the fact that this is a porter rather than a stout makes it a little less drinkable. Its a little harsher on the palate and clashes a little with the very high ABV (which is really not that noticable considering). This is a well crafted beer but it could have probably been a little bit less on the coffee and a little bit more on the chocolate malt to smooth it out and balance the flavor. Definitely worth trying and I suspect this beer will age very well. The one thing I will say about this beer, it has a very great vanilla finish that keeps the bitterness from getting in the way of the drinkability. You will taste vanilla for awhile afterwards, it really lingers in a pleasant way. Had a tough time rating this beer, it excelled in some things but it had a few weak points. Its also not cheap either.

Thanks to 17thfloor for sharing this nearing his 1000th rating! Pours a dark brown nearly black with a bit of an opaqueness to and a small tan head. Aroma is heavy coffee and dark fruit with a big time woody character and cocoa beans and a hint of alcohol.. Very sweet and complex on the nose. Flavor starts with a lot of creamy dark coffee and some black cherry notes that balance it out. Both sweet and bitter chocolate play a part the sweet being in the start and the bitter coming in the finish. Very woody and some floral hoppiness as well. Medium to full body and a very pleasant mouth feel that is welcoming. Very nice all around tasty treat.

Thanks BOLTZ!!! Nose has a lot of melony fruit, which I’m not a big fan of. The cocoa nibs are subtle and delicious-not so much sweet, but not bitter either, it’s kinda of earthy and woody. Goes well with the bourbon aging, which is pretty subtle and could probably be left out. Not much coffee in the aroma. Flavor: lots of rich chocolate and coffee in the finish. Starts melony/fruity and slightly hot, but gets better. Nice mouthfeel, carbonation is pretty good-slightly too needly. The main complaint I have with this beer is the melony fruit sweetness reminiscent of WWS. Nice dry bitter chocolate for a long finish.

Bottle from Nugget in Vacaville?!? Kudos to Nugget for keeping a great beer selection, although I’ve never seen this one at any other Nugget market (Davis/Woodland Nugget?). Anyway, this one had the strong taste of coffee, almost like the Speedway stout except it didn’t hit that level on the flavor or palate. Still, what a great example of an aged IP. I might become a polygamist and marry a bourbon barrel.