Deschutes The Abyss

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

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.

On tap at the San Diego Strong Ale festival 08. Black pour with dark tan, thick foamy head. Nice lacing. Dark bitter choclate, smokey malt, aged oak, raisin, licorice toffee, and hints of bourbon. There are a lot of good imp stouts out there, but this one has more smoke, and notes of boubon (not over done). Nicely done, complex!

This isn’t beer, this is a fantasy. The pleasure I am presently deriving from this brew is unprecedented. There is really so much here that I don’t have the words to describe it, but my mouth, my tongue, my throat, esophagus, and stomach all know what they’re experiencing. As soon as I popped the top of this, an unworldly aroma filled the immediate vicinity with a bouquet of licorice, anise, coffee, and heaven and hell itself. The body of this is the thickest I’ve seen thus far. I could go on further, but let’s just suffice it to say that my dear Old Rasputin has been dethroned and thus the perfect 5 I gave it will have to be adjusted, as this is the new One. The alcohol burn on this is perfect, both in effect and sensation; Like when Obama said, "I know it’s cold outside but I’m fucked up." Thanks Deschutes. REVISION: Had to adjust my score of this slightly downward after trying Dark Lord...

This may be the imperial stout I’ve been waiting for. Too bad I have to fly almost 2,000 miles to get another bottle. As black as its namesake with a rich chocolate aroma. Creamy, dense caramel-colored head, and the creaminess carries over into the first sip right through the last. The flavor is a perfect blend of all the qualities you want in an imperial stout, though most that try to blend these come up a little off. Smokey chocolate, raisins, molasses, a faint though unmistakable vinous undercurrent, and some boozy oak. Just sweet enough up front, just dry enough on the finish, with a slight, pleasant alcohol burn. Reminiscent of Leinenkugel’s Big Eddy RIS, though more intense, and with a better, dryer finish. I’ll be back in the Bay area in two weeks -- let’s hope the shelves aren’t empty!

Tasted next to the Dogfather from LDB 2008 bottle first Impression was how much Molasses is in this looked at the bottle and sure enough there it is listed I think this detracts from the beer I don’t get any bourbon from it, all I get is syrupy sweet Molasses No depth no character I think that the first year was the best now its just all hype and way overrated