Deschutes The Abyss

Bottle. Nose is chocolate with light smoke and soft acidity. Something fruity, light fig and plum are possibilities. Warms up with more fruit, cherries and raspberries. Black with a thin patchy creme head, small bubbles and great lacing. Loads of chocolate, lightly acidic, nice but without much depth. Roasty finish with some alcohol in the aftertaste. Seems that it needs some time to truly express itself. Lots of potential. Thick but a bit dry. Easy drinking for the style, other than all the alcohol presence. Flavor opens up a lot with warmth, but is matched by a huge rise in alcohol presence.

Pours a nice medium-brown with a decent head & some lacing. Wow! Strong aroma, very bready & nutty. Tastes very nice - a stout with a barleywine malt balance, strong warm finish. Ok body - a tad thin, and reasonable carbonation. Pleasant beer - I like the finish.

Shared bottle, thanks to Chris from thebeergeek.com. Poured pitch black with a solidly tan head. Full-up aroma ... what is that, currants? Licorice, chocolate, moderately bittered, rich milkiness, definitely rich. Like a mocha gone wild. (#3410, 4/11/2008)

Poured from a 2007 22 oz. bottle. Dark black with a medium brownish tan head. Aromas jump at you of smoky oak and licorice. Very smooth and velvety on your tongue. Great complexity of flavors with chocolate, coffee, molasses, and alcohol. Long finish of flavor. Excellent!!

This is by far the biggest, richest and darkest beer I’ve ever tasted. As a good friend of mine put it, it made a Stone Imperial Russian Stout we had afterward taste like Budweiser. It pours like motor oil. Black. Not dark brown, black... with just a bit of a coffee-colored head that doesn’t stick around long. Initial aroma of yeasty chocolate, coffee, brown sugar, soy sauce and molasses - and it opens up beautifully as it warms. The first thing you notice on the first taste is the mouthfeel - it’s so thick and viscous that it’s syrupy, and coats your mouth beautifully with initial flavors of dark-roasted coffee, molasses and licorice, with just a hint of oak from the barrels. Sweet at first, but it leaves a dry, bitter aftertaste that lingers forever in your mouth. The alcohol is hidden completely. I’m still not a huge fan of stouts, but this is by far the best I’ve had - it’s a trip. RE-RATE 11.28.08. 2008 bottle. I managed to get my hands on a few bottles of this year’s release, and I have to bump up my score for this brew a few notches. I’ve developed a taste for stouts, and this one might just take the cake. 100% opaque, even around the edges. Great chocolate head. The flavors are as I described last year (above), with a bit of bourbon, too... but what strikes me is how incredibly smooth this brew manages to be for how huge it is. It does for Imp. stouts what Pliny does for Imp. IPAs. Just utterly fantastic.

Pours a dark brown with a 1" mocha head that disappears quickly. Very spotty lacing. Aroma of roasty malts, licorice, dark esters, and chocolate. Flavors of molasses, roasty malts, light chocolate, licorice, and dark esters. Sweet and a little dry. Taste the alcohol a little, but definitely feel the warming sensation of the alcohol on the way down.

Bottle courtesy tpd975. Pours blackwith a small but lasting tan head that leaves good lacing. Aroma of molasses, roasted malt, coffee, licorice, oak, dark fruit, caramel, and bourbon. Taste is the same as aroma. Full oily wonderfull mouthfeel with a moderate amount of bitterness and very well hidden alcohol. One of the best Imperial Stouts ever.

Now THIS is a top 50 imperial stout which actually lives up to they hype. The description (1/3rd oak-aged, molasses, licorice) makes it sound like a bit of a dog’s breakfast, but this is decidedly subtle. To the extent that such a huge beer can be subtle at least. No piney American hops or weird bourbon character here, the dominant character is immense, rich, espresso-like maltiness. Not so much the high-end roasty notes, more the middle-ground toasty, walnutty elements of a really good, concentrated long black. It tastes like brown malt to me, but who knows. British hop pellets in the aroma, with some hay and perhaps licorice (not sure of the power of suggestion element here). Just so intense and rich and concentrated, without any weirdness. Massively rich, smooth mouthfeel too. Has a real element of class about it that most American (and other) imperial stouts lack. Top darts.