Deschutes The Abyss

22oz Bomber 2007 Bottling I was lucky enough to get this in a recent trade, a big thanks goes out to you Bill. Abyss gurgles from the bottle and appears as a black mass in my snifter. The tan head grew to one finger as I poured and left some quality drink lines after ech sip. The head eventually falls to a skimming with a thick ring surrounding the body. A good looking stout for sure. The aroma doesn’t have as much of the noticeable barrel aging as I expected. As this beer warms the aroma gets better and better. I left this one sitting out of the fridge for probably 40 minutes before opening and still the aroma just keeps getting better. Each time I bury my nose in the glass I find myself ihaling healthy doses of roasted grains, freshly ground coffee, and molasses in order from most aggressive to least. Hints of anise, oak, and spicy alcohol make ghost like appearances here and there along with a solid pine hop presence toward the back. Flavor follows in stride with the aroma. If you want to read about the flavor profile take a look at the paragraph above. Everything is smooth and balanced for such big flavors. I’m not sure of the IBUs but they’re in a good place considering they’re not only balancing out the malts but also making a show of themselves. There’s a solid roasty bitterness on the swallow to create a good finish. Body is full without a doubt. Starts off moderately full and as it works it’s way through becomes creamy and coating. Sluggish carbonation keeps this one working at it’s own pace and lets each flavor work on the tastebuds. This beer sips along smoothly for an 11% monster but after I kill off this bomber it’s going to be bedtime. This is a beer to sip throughout the night. Another excellent Imperial Stout. The barrel aging was done very nicely for this beer. The barrel compliments instead of takes over like what happens with so many other barrel aged beers. 2/8/08

Thanks to tytoanderso for sharing this at the Zipp’s Liquors tasting (which was an amazing tasting!). Black motor oil pour with a small brown head. Aroma of licorice and roasted malt with some oak. Coffee, licorice and bourbon are a few of the flavors. This hides the alcohol well and has a nice finish with a good hop balance. Great beer!

Tap @ San Diego Brewing Company. Pitch black in color. Dark brownish head. Slightly sweet roasty aroma. Flavor has a lot of chocolate up front with a little sweetness. Followed by a lot of booziness. Lots of roasted coffee. Finish tastes like extremely bitter/burnt coffee beans and is fairly dry. Quite enjoyable.

2007. This beer needs to be served near room temperature. Even slightly chilled, the nose, flavor and palate are muted, but warmer is outstanding. Aroma of roasted (and slightly charred) malt, plenty of liquorice, a hint of creamy oatmeal, alcohol, leather, bitter chocolate and the smallest note of ashy smoke. Pours thick, oily black - I mean black like midnight. A small quarter inch dark khaki head. Flavor of charred malt, toasted vanilla, bitter chocolate, liquorice, anise, leather, espresso, wet, charred oak. Damn.... nice stuff. Thick, creamy and slightly sticky on the tongue. Not smooth like velvet, but nice nonetheless. A lingering liquorice, spicy and dry hoppy finish. The finish lasts forever This one, with a year or so on it is going to be absolutely stellar! Thanks to Jake, Bruce and Jonathan!

bottle. black thick body with a big orange brown head. moist fudge brownie nose. some vanilla & roast with some booze in there too. whoa, for something so big, this is incredibly easy to drink. strong woody slight smoke charred roast chocolate. i can taste the licorice, but it is not dominant. all the flavors are working together well, & making "the long goodbye" even more enjoyable to watch. the alcohol doesn’t bite, but dries out the sweetness perfectly and leaves a woody vanilla licorice flavor lingering. the roast/coffee gets a bit strong as this warms, and the alcohol comes out a bit more too. how many damn times is a version of this shitty song going to play in this movie? powdered cocoa is coming out nicely as harry swings on the gate. there is something fun about being a drunk, & getting drunk, while watching someone try to act like a drunk, getting drunk on screen. i do it much better, but with less attractive women. a dr. pepper & milk (a few people on the site will get that reference) quality to this i really enjoy. it was a decent film and a damn good beer, and both took 112 minutes to get through. 5 7 8 5 18

2006- Shared this w/John Adam. thanks to Beerlando for this one. God this was smooth. Nice coffee taste and aroma. Very pleasing to drink loved every drop. Very enjoyable beer wish I had another. 2007 -imadeadguy kindly shared this one with me, thanks bro! Nice pleasant chocolate and coffee flavor. Not nearly as mellow as the 2006, but still good. Warmth on the finsh. I’ve noticed more chocolate flavors in the 07. Good, solid will not change my rating since I had the 06 first. I give this one a 4.1

It’s been almost three years since my last post. I moved to Portland and I’ve been too busy drinking beer that I’ve slacked on rating beer. But this one beer is so good, I had to get back on the site to rave about it. The nose is sweet and mild, hinting at a mountain of flavor lying just below but only giving you a tease. It looks amazing in a goblet. Rich and dark dark brown with a chocolatey head. The flavors are so complex, my feable vocabulary cannot begin to describe them. Typical stout flavors (chocolate, coffee) enhanced by the oak aging. I usually hate licorice but i can taste it here and it just melds into the mix beautifully. Hints of bourbon. Just incredible, you’d never know it was 11% ABV. Mouth feel is smooth and slightly creamy, but not less so than a guiness or hales cream ale for instance. Just an amazing beer from a fantastic brewery. Hooray Deschutes Public House in Portland coming in April!

Wow! This beer is just fine. The aroma is hints of a number of things, smoke, chocolate, coffee, borbon, vanilla. The flavor is just as satisfying as the aroma. The semi sweet chocolate comes out at me first followed by a nutty, roasty flavor that really dazzles the tongue. You could almost drink this beer with a spoon. Carbonation and mouthfeel just don’t get any better. All round excellent beer that someday I hope to drink one by myself. WOW!