Deschutes The Abyss

Brewed by Deschutes Brewery
Style: Imperial Stout
Bend, Oregon USA

Bottle @Toronado, SF. 2007 Vintage Pours a black color with a small dark tan head. Has a roasted malty licorice and molasses and chocolate aroma with some oaky hints. Roasted malty licorice and chocolate flavor with some hints of oaky vanilla. Has a warming roasted malty licorice and oaky vanilla finish. Lovely!

Fanstaic Beer!! My favorite!! smooth stout, Seems to taste better at room temp.. the molasses and licorice is great throughtout!! Dont pass it up!!

Bottle coutesy of Sparky. Nice thick pour with husge licorace and molases taste. Tons of chocolate and malt. very smooth drinkablity. Damn Fine beer

Bottle. Pours a very deep blackish brown color with an espresso foam head. Flavor is roasted malt, chocolate malt, bitter chocolate, coffee, molasses, black licorice, earthy oak notes. Full bodied, a dry and thick beer. As the title of this beer says, deep and contemplative is the name of the game. Nicely done.

Pours a very opaque chocolate/espresso brown with tan head. Body is definitely roasted malts with chocolate tones with hints of vanilla. Flavor is chocolate and coffee with notes of hazelnut. Body is medium thick with fair carbonation.

Bottle 2008 from trade with stefanje, thanks! Pours a deep, dark black with a dark head that disappears. Nose is a touch hoppy and roasty, with chocolate and some vanilla coming through in the nose. Pretty standard IS nose. Rich, thick mouthfeel that carries a fair amount of hoppiness with it and the vanilla riding a wave of astringent and acrid notes. For the levels of bitterness going on, it does have a pretty deep sweetness. Smooth and pretty easy to drink. Good, but not top 5% IS to me.

"appearance-pours as black as night. like motor oil with a brownish dark-burgundy head nose-smells of roasted chocolate malt, with a slight hint of bourbon, alcohol, & molasses mouthfeel-in a word...awesome. thick, smooth. Hannah had a tiny sip and literally chewed it (before asking for more, which we declined) flavor-near perfection. multi-layered. had some characteristics similar to other imperials such as Rasputin, but to the Nth degree. More everything, without being harsh or overpowering. Pretty stinking smooth and highly complex beer. We had it in a brandy snifter. Similar to the Black Butte XX, this was 33% barrel aged, and in both cases, I wished it was 50% at least. I think 100% is too much...it either mellows out the character of a beer too much or too much Bourbon flavor covers up the flavor of the beer. With 33%, the Black Butte XX (while still VERY good) was a little harsh, and the Abyss had just a touch of that. Now, I’m really nit-picking here. This beer was exceptional in every way. The "Lord Of The Rings" of imperial stouts. Among the best, but there is just a tiny bit of room for improvement. Easily my favorite imperial stout. But my favorite beer??? I may have to do a Celebrator, Old Guardian, Fuller’s, Abyss taste-off one day to settle that one. "

Bottle, 2008. Pours near black with a brown head. Roasted malt aroma, with sweeter notes of chocolate and molasses. The flavor starts with a good dose of roasted malts, and a moderate amount of bourbon and molasses sweetness. II love the subtlety of the bourbon in this one, it complements the other flavors without being overpowering. A nice floral hoppy bitterness reveals itself in the finish. Very good.