Deschutes The Abyss

Its pretty rare to see a 100 percentile beer around here, and I was pretty happy to get my paws on this one. On tap and fresh (that might be the problem) from the brewery. A wall of burnt malt hits you on the first sip in both smell and taste. Then the ABV shows its ugly head. The aroma has an amazing burnt toast smell to it. The head is dark tan. You can get some tobacco and nut flavors out of it. But then there is the flaw, the alcohol presence. Its there, big time, the whole time. The alcohol taste, presence, and dominance is similar to cheap high ABV malt liquor like 211, and anytime you compare a beer to 211, its not a good thing. The dark tar molasses syrup has a huge amount of potential, and maybe if you hid it away for a few years you might have something, but fresh, I did not enjoy drinking it.

2008 bottle; deep dark pour with dark tan foamy head. Aroma has rich roasted malt with molasses and coffee. Tastes of more roasted malt, vanilla and anise with chocolate and coffee plus a fairly well balanced bitter finish. I wish I could be less trite in describing this beer because it is excellent. 2008 seems to be less harsh than the 2007 at the time. Mouthfeel is spectacular; creamy and viscous. I wonder how this one will age.

Rating 600. 22oz bottle 2008 vintage tasted with a 2007 bottle for comparison (thanks tpd975 for the 2007 share). Pours a dark murky black color impermeable to light. Thick and foamy tan yellow head that heavily laces the glass. Aroma is bourbon, oak, wood, roasted coffee and malt, some hints of burnt molasses. Flavor is impressive and complex with notes of roasted malt, syrupy toffee, molasses, ripe dark fruit. Very creamy mouthfeel with a warming malty finish. Not all beers live up to the hype, but this one does. The 2007 bottle tasted almost identical to the 2008 but had smoothed out just a little more. Both were excellent.

I have had this on tap and in the bottle. Out of the bottle was great, but on tap was magnificent! A: Quite an awesome looking beer. No light can even begin to come close to showing through. Beautiful caramel colored head. S: Smells of roasted coffee, lots of coffee, oak, licorice, and even more molassess than coffee! T: Sweet molassess and coffee explosion! this is too complex for me to even begin to point out all the flavors! slight oaky aftertaste. M: Perfect. Silky. Smooth. Perfect. D: I could drink this all day. The alcohol is very well hidden in this one, but it sure hits you after a couple glasses. Best RIS I have ever had. Deschutes never fails in my book.

Beautifyl dark chocolate brown head.with large frothy bubbles. Dark dark brown, almost black, body. No light passes through The Abyss!! Chocolate malt aroma present, albeit fairly light. Nice roasted malts in the flavor. Light burnt flavor at the end with warming present on the back of the tongue and throat. Licorice and bourbon flavors come through.

The Abyss takes you to the deep taste of strong everlasting brews. It has a nice dark look and strong maple scent. The taste and palate a rich.

A 2007 bottle from lb4lb via trade. The pour was ultra dark and semi-viscous. A short tan head popped up was gone again in a flash. The aroma was of a fairly straight forward, but well put together IS. Coffee, chocolate, hops, oak and some lighter sweetness we can attribute to the molasses. The flavor was espresso, chocolate, pine hops and more sweetness than was evident in the aroma. Above average mouthfeel, nice dryness.

courtesy of keifdog 08 bottle and tpd975 07 bottle for a nice side by side tasting. Pours deep black, with nice yellow lacing. Lots of roastiness, malty with light notes of the oak barrel and a very light hoppy presence. The 2007 bottle clearly had a much bigger boozy feel were the oak -bourbon and chocolate notes were a lot more apparent. This is a beer that with age will become an excellent beer.