Deschutes Black Butte XXI

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

I got a bottle from santa and 5000...this beer is AWESOME! Pours a nice black color with a good tan head. Aroma is very sweet. Chocolate and coffee hit first, followed by bourbon, molasses and some nice roasted malt. Flavor is full of chocolate, coffee, anise, vanilla. Mouthfeel is perfect. Man what a great brew.

Bottled at SBWF08. Pours out in a opaque black colour with arich and firm pale brown head. Rich aroma of dark chocolate, burnt malts, nuts, wood, ash, vanilla nd figs. Full-bodied with notes of cocoa, black chocolate, wood, nuts, brown sugar and all-spice. Rather creamy palate but the alcohol shines through here and there. Long warming finish of dark chocolate, wood, vanilla and anise.

Bottle. Dark mahogony beer with a brown head. Vanilla, chocolate, light roast aroma. Big caramel, chocolate, vanilla, coffee, and bourbon flavors. Bourbon complements in background without taking over. Alcohol noticeable, but not overpowering. Medium-plus bodied. Chocolate, bourbon, vanilla, and big malts linger.

Bottle@LCRBM08. Atoma has some wood, chocolate, bourbon, roast. Black coloured beer with a thin lacing. The taste is sweet, has licorice, coffee, chocolate, some vanilla. Ending more and more hopbitter. Good beer.

XX On tap. Pours with a large, creamy brown head covering a black body. Good lacing. Aroma of strong coffee, caramel, and vanilla. Taste is, wow, starts off with strong chocolate, then oak, vanilla, coffee and then lots of alcohol and ash. Mouthcoating/syrupy with light carbonation. Quite nice! Rerate: Bottle thanks to bu11zeye. Pours with a light brown head with some legs and lacing. (AP:4/5). Aroma is ashy with chocolate coffee and dark fruits (AR: 8/10). Taste is chocolatey with ash and coffee (F: 8/10) Syrupy mouthfeel with light bubbles (P: 4/5). (O:15/20)::3.9

Sample at O’Brien’s in San Diego. This beer pours a dark brownish-black color with a medium and foamy light brown head that diminishes slowly. Patches of lacing on the glass. Lots of coffee in the nose, as well as dark chocolate and malt. Full-bodied with roasted malt, coffee and chocolate flavors, along with spikes of hops here and there. The finish is roasty with a lingering coffee aftertaste. Very good all around.

In short: An intense chocolaty imperial stout with a nice moderate bourbon barrel presence a biting bitter finish. Huge in size but never syrupy, almost floury/dry. Kick-ass!
How: Bottle 22oz. Consumed when about 6 months old. Bottles received from a few sources, thanks to you all. This bottle from JCB (Jason)
The look: Black body topped by small tan head
In long: Nose or dark malts, bourbon barrel and green grass. Taste is a truckload of dark malts, bitter black chocolate, floury cookies, burnt wood, cacao, highly roasted nuts, some tar. Alcohol is a bit too apparent but certainly feels less than 11% and provide an adequate warming sensation. The body is far from syrupy and the sweetness goes unnoticed. I had an overall sensation of floury cookies with a lot of bitter black chocolate chips. The bourbon barrels flavours are well integrated, not subtle but certainly not overwhelming like with too may BA impy stouts. The finish is rather bitter and I got pleasant hoppy grassy notes that I don’t get from BA stouts that tend to kill all the hops. This is one of the few very good brutal imperial stout I’ve had. Any more extreme and naughty and it would be a movie Deshit Black Butt XXX.

Pours dark brown with a tall khaki head. Roasty nose, chocolate and light earthy hops. The palate was smooth, letting the thick body stick to the palate and saturate it with big roasted chocolate flavors. Finish has a light iced coffee note to it. Very solid brew, they should release this as part of the Bond Street series.