Deschutes The Abyss

2007 vintage. 22 oz bottle poured at 1/28 Houston tasting, courtesy of myself. Poured black with a thick brown head. Smell was a woody, smoky, funky smell. Smoke and some ash. Rather earthy with some coffee and chocolate. Mouthfeel is medium-to-thick and dry.....

This was excellent. 2006. Poured like motor oil, jet black with a creamy brown head. Aroma of chocolate and coffee. More coffee. Lots of coffee flavors with some chocolate. Very smooth. Big thanks to Therealbastard for sharing and Beerlando for trading him.

<i>2006, sampled multiple times, fresh to 3 months old</i>. The nose is decent enough, with a mild mocha, licorice and dry roasted coffee scent, but flavor-wise it’s not such a stellar beer as it’s been made out. This actually tastes like a bad bottle of Rogue Imperial Stout, with the dry, ashy, hot alcohol and wood pretty much ruining any positives in this beer. The bakers chocolate malt and bitter coffee qualities take a while for me to warm up to, and the hops I really don’t enjoy. Any stout this large should not need hops like this. This is not a beer that knocks my socks off the second I taste it, in fact it took me a good twenty minutes in order to write down anything complimentary. But after some time I’m actually digging it. The finish at first was a major turn-off; being so parched and dry like licking an oak plank - that’s not something I enjoy. The molasses is barely noticeable, so light that without having been told that it tastes like molasses and licorice I doubt I would pick it up. All I can really say about this beer is that the palate is a complete mess. I love Deschutes, but this is not one of their better efforts. 7/4/7/2/14 = 3.4

<i>2007 fresh bottle</i>. The nose is much less ashy and roasty, and much more chocolatey and sweet. Has a distinct chocolate syrup flavor, and the dryness is still quite high, but it’s not so ashy, bitter or coarse. Much better than 2006, but perhaps my tastes have changed. I gave the 2006 some serious attention, two entire bottles, but didn’t like it. The 2007 is absolutely killer. 8/4/9/5/17 = 4.3

22 oz bomber. $15 retail. Chocolate syrup head, viscous. Many figs and a little smoke in the nose, backed by a chalky character, with a little warming alcohol...fruits are dark and candied...sort of hip-Hops. Tumbles around in the front of the palate clinging to the part of the tounge that catches "sweet" flavors, but washes down with a middle of smoke and even bourbon. Still, despite the hedonism points, this is drinkable to the bittersweet end.

22 oz bottle. Pours a black with a gorgeous brown head. Leaves film on the sides of the glass. Aroma is chalky, dark fruits, dark chocolate, alcohol, light hops... very balanced but not very strong. Taste is mostly the dark chocolate with just a hint of fruitiness, very thick in the mouth. Delicious. Reminds me of fresh Bell’s Expedition... definitely up there with the best.

Bomber, 2007 reserve. Pours very dark, thick looking black with a nice, medium sized compact foamy head that is dark brown. Head has good retention but slowly recedes to a thin film on the top. First impressions of aroma are: chalkiness, dark fruits, some hops – I think, light char, just the faintest scent of bourbon – though that could be placebo. At colder temperatures the aroma reminds me of Old Rasputin. As the beer warms a more salty, smoky aroma comes out that is nice and reminds me of Mikkeller’s Black Hole. Flavor is very rich with intense chocolate and some coffee components. Mouthfeel is medium bodied, maybe even a bit thin, for my liking at least. Finish is very dry. This is a quality Imperial Stout, no doubt, but it really doesn’t stand out among its competitors in my mind. We’ll see how some age affects this one.

22 ounce bottle. Late 2007 version. Leathery, ethanolic aroma initially. Kind of salty, too. I get some roasted choco malts and pine needles, but the aroma on this is pretty underwhelming to say the least. It is a gorgeous, opaque, black body with a large, brown, rocky, head that has plenty of stamina and lacing. Truly beautiful. Inky, oily mouthfeel to start, which becomes quite roasted, burnt, and coffee-like. A little chocolate and a little anise is also present. The oak aging just doesn’t really make much of a presence in this beer. It does finish quite dry and bitter with some pine/grapefruit hops melded with some ethanolic booziness. Still kind of hot. I will be sure to re-rate this in a year or so.

Bottle shared by footbalm. Pours a deep dark brown with a similarly brownish head. The aroma is really great; deep moss covered earth, smoke, coffee, and some sweet molasses. The taste is top notch, really complex and yet so damn smooth. As with many great beers this changes a ton with warming; first, a bitter chocolate flavor with dark fruits, vanilla, brown sugar, and smoke. Later with warming the fruit and roasted malts come to fore, so damn good. A bourbon taste for sure, along with a really great creamy body. The ABV is strong at first, then nonexistent. Wow! All it was hyped to be.