Deschutes Black Butte XXI

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

Picked up a 22-oz bomber from Liquid Solutions. Pours an pitch dark brown, nearly black with a thin tan head that has some nice retention and lacing. Aroma is complex with scents of dark chocolate, coffee, some dark pitted fruits, black licorice, and some oak. Taste is thick, full bodied, with light carbonation with flavors of toasted dark malt, coffee, dark chocolate, some licorice and oak. Finish is thick texture, some alcohol metallic character with a decent toasted malt and chocolate aftertaste. One of the thickest beers to come out during the summer.

Bottle from Nugget in Vacaville, CA. Poured a dark brown almost black color. Smelled of coffee and chocolate. The chocolate flavor hits you first followed by the strong taste of coffee. The only negative aspect of this beer is that the flavor fell apart and the alcohol started to show as it warmed. Overall, very impressive.

Bottle courtesy Belgianbeergal. Thick oily black pour with a dark tan head.. Chocolate malt, vanilla, oak and hints of bourbon make up the aroma. Chocolate malt, vanilla, coffee, bourbon taste that is big and chewy, easy to savor. Very complex and makes you want to sit and sip to get all of the flavor and how they blend together. An awesome beer.

Bottled and on tap at O’Briens. Pours black with clear mahogany edges. Initial frothy brown head with low carbonation and microbubbles. Rich aroma of sweet molasses, cocoa, coffee and a slight hint of bourbon. The proportional use of barrel-aging has imparted a medium whiskey tone in the flavor, but not enough to really taste the oak. Tons more coffee in the flavor with smoke, cacao and a high dose of bittering hops that make for a long-lasting linger. Nuances of bourbon throughout make for a really pleasurable drink. Thick and chewy body. Tap version is much sweeter; rating is for bottle. Very nice!

Bottle from Sparky27, thanks Eric. Pours black with an off-white head. The aroma initially is not that pleasant, with a lot of spent coffee grounds, green bell pepper, and a decent amount of roasted malt. As this warms however, the aroma changes to scents of cherry, dark chocolate, berry skin, vanilla, wood, and oatmeal raisin cookies, which is a complete 180 from the initial aroma. The taste does not change, but it is good from the start, with flavors of wood, bourbon, considerable chocolate, dark roasted coffee, and roasted malt. The barrel character becomes more pronounced with warming, as flavors of vanilla and coconut are added. The 11 percent alcohol never appears. The finish is just awesome, with this lingering perfect finish of roasted malt, and there is never that offensive sourness or bitterness that can occur with some porters and stouts. This is pretty good.

Bottle. Pours dark, dark brown which looks black in the glass with ruby edges. The head is big and bubbly and leaves a few big bubbles along the top for a while leaving good lacing. Smell is big sweet roasted malts up front with dark chocolate and espresso smells as well. Coffee and chocolate tastes abound with the roasted sweet malts present throughout. There are dark fruits and licorice hints as well in the middle before a hint of hops and the coffee bring home a slightly bitter aftertaste. There is also a little bit of alcohol burn in the finish as well. Mouthfeel is great on this one - super creamy with strong carbonation and a slightly dry finish. Not sure if I’d term this a strong ale maybe more an imperial porter. Either way, it’s pretty damn drinkable for a big beer. Very, very nice brew

Bottle shared by shawnm213, thanks, Shawn, for letting me in on another great beer. Pours black with a small brown head. Aroma of wood, coffee, molasses, malt, bourbon, vanilla, cocoa. Flavor is a great balance of all of the above, with some licorice and a general roasty/earthy flavor to boot. Medium-bodied, oily, very smooth, with a slightly bitter, malty finish. The alcohol doesn’t stand out but adds to the overall richness. I am admittedly a sucker for bourbon barrel-aged beers, but this is just plain outstanding.

Wonderful porter aroma with a blend of coffee and bourbon in the aroma. Flavor is absolutely heavenly. Wonderful bourbon wood tones which intertwine with the coffee. Nice warming on the palllate with bourbon aftertaste. Very good BA