Deschutes The Abyss

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

Huge thanks to BOLTZ7555 for this awesome brew!! Thanks Jason!! Bottle 2007 reserve. Aroma is insane! Notes of coffee, chocolate, smoke, wood, licorice, molasses, bourbon, dark dried fruit! Just incredible, I debated this one for a long time, but it really is worthy of "the" top rating, just perfect! Pours a very dark brown/amber and black hue. Appears black in the glass with an average to large sized, medium tan, frothy head that mostly diminished and left good lace. Flavor is just beautiful!! Smoke and oak, fritters and bitters! Nice and toasted with roast malt, coffee, chocolate, sweet dark dried fruits and bourbon, and finishes with some decent bitterness. Palate is oily soft and full bodied. Very well balanced and not over done with coffee like so many other top rated imp stouts. Just a treat from beginning to end. Alcohol is well masked for 11% ABV!! If you like coffee but not espresso, port but not sherry, and really enjoy the bite of a DIPA, then you’ll really love this brew. Just top notch and world class in every category.

Robust thick black pour with a tall brown head. Aromas of vanilla coffee, bourbon, and a touch of smoke. Flavor is quite interesting, starting out with anise and bourbon and finishes with a more bitter chocolate/coffee. Flavor profile is unique and well balanced. The bitterness lingers on the palate, which is my only criticism of this otherwise terrific beer. Revision: After allowing this beer to warm up closer to room temperature, it becomes even smoother and the bitterness dissipates, giving way to more bourbon and anise on the finish.

Distinct molasses and oak aromas. The licorice comes through more in the flavor. Huge beer, but still not too much over the top. A little warming alcohol on the finish, along with the slightly astringent oak, but it remains quite drinkable.

[Bottle ’07, thanks a lot Guerde!] Pours black with a small dark tan head. Aroma is chocolate, oak (especially as it warms), some smoke and a good deal of anise. Taste is fairly sweet up front and then bitter in the finish--there is alcohol, roasted malt, chocolate and once again anise. Thick mouthfeel with a really nice long bitter (although it fades as it warms) and chocolate finish. A really, really nice imperial stout.

2007 Reserve - tasted early May ’08. Souvenier from Eugene, OR. Pours a pure opaque black with a drak brown rim and a fine, medium-thin chocolate brown head. Aroma of dark chocolate, coffee, a slight lactic character, sweet roasted malt, treacle, a hint of dark spice, and a subtle suggestion of anise, hops, a bourbon barrel--that’s just the aroma. On to the flavor... Bitter coffee, bitter chocolate, sweet molasses, and roasted malt that rises and then fades over a backdrop of subtle spice, licorice, and wonderful oxidized characteristics. A very deft hand with the malt balance here. Each element is well represented in a way that is complimentary to one another. Each flavor peaks at a different moment so that none is overpowered and each can be discerned both individually and together as a whole. The body is exquisitely balanced with the 11% alcohol present only in the structure and not in the aroma, flavor, or finish as any hashness. Only a slight warmth accompanies the roasted bitter finish. Everything is superbly integrated. This is one of the most balanced "extreme" beers I’ve ever tasted. The mouth feel is unbelieveably light despite the massive dark flavor profile. This is an amazingly drinkable, ponderous, meticulously crafted beer. Top marks!

Bottle sampled with Mad_indian. Pours black with a good size beige head. Aroma of roast, oak, dark chocolate, light bourbon. The flavor is very smooth, chocolate, oak, slight bourbon, roast, and coffee. Excellent body, alcohol is well masked. Excellent brew.

Bottle: Pours very dark black with a slowly dissipating carmel head. Aroma of chocolate and stale bacon. Full flavors of chocolate malts, smoke, and the dryness of oak. I can actually feel this beer on my teeth. Someone said velvety. Velvety is a good word.

Bottle from ebay, sampled with Stegosaurus. WOW. Beautiful black pour with aromas of chocolate, coffee and roast. A smoke roast chocolate flavor blended rather well. This is underated.