Deschutes The Abyss

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

22 Oz Bottle via tever. An initial blast of chocolate, cherries, cream and bourbon cake evaporates quickly. Nose deep in the glass, I can now only draw thin wisps of salted caramel, cocoa nibs, and coffee char. Nice, but fleeting and volatile. Ruby-corned pitch black, edged in a cappuccino cream rim, lacing beautifully. Flavor comes forth with an expected density and sweetness. Lots of those beautiful estery fruits playing against mature and sentient 88% noir chocolate, then a swift shot into coffee rung alcohols, bright and peppery. Lots of good earth, musky woods and mellowed creams. Barrel seems to play great mediator, tempering the growing hoppiness with the rather complex and dense malt character. Alcohol brightens the whole mood. Nice body, full, yet not sticky, or hot. Rather exemplary and well-showing for the style. Gaussian in nature, it would seem. Bright nuttiness fills the backdoor. There’s some really unique, high up, floral spice notes that fill the humours early during the intake, then crescendoing quickly into a flourish of insipid vanilla character. A bit of oxidation in the heavy barrel char. Good use of the barrel, I would say, though. Hops, somewhat as expected for the region, although they tend a little worn out and on the celery side of things. Rather impressed with the level of carbonation this beer gives. I’m not sure whether it hurts nor helps. There might be some appreciated viscosity if the carbonation was less, but then less desirable feel might result. Round, deep and on point. Great, but not unique enough for me. Thanks Tom!

UpdateOriginally, I drank the first half of the beer and then recapped the bottle, planning to drink it later. Last night, (10/26/2007) I cracked it open and drank the rest. It was still awesome, so dense, rich, creamy, fruity, sharp, piquant and roasted. Just a full frontal assault of amazing flavor and feel. But, the real stunner came in a side by side with Bells Expedition Stout. A beer I revere so highly paled in comparison to the Abyss. There was flavor and hops, but no density, richness or depth, comparatively. I guess that’s what the barrel gives it, so you can’t really fairly compare it with a non-barrel aged example of the style. I was numb, I didn’t know how to handle this beer upsetting my benchmark. Thus I give it all the respect it deserves and a 4.3

Pours black, with a light brown medium head. Heavy on the roasted malts and coffee in the smell. the oak andbourbon is definitely detected as well. the taste is very nutty, with some roasted malts and chestnuts, to go with some coffee and light chocolate as well. Also, its a little sweeter than expected and has a nice bitterness in the finish. Nicely done.

Finally got a bottle of this courtesy my Secret Santa. Thanks man! Aroma was decent. Mostly coffee with a dark chocolate background. Pout was a perfect deep dark brown/near black with a 2 finger tan head. Taste was nice and full. Mostly dark black coffee with an underlying chocolate backbone. The bitter roasted malt dries the throat and mouth and leaves a slight hoppiness in it’s wake. Very delicious.

Around $ 9.00 per bottle in Colorado. I can’t appreciate subtlety in this style. Either smack me with hops (Yeti), blast me with oak (Bourbon County) or spank me with tons of malt (Expedition.) It’s a good, drinkable beer, but I didn’t find much complexity in my bottle. Another bottle: I drank this one warm and still cant get why you people like it.

2007 bottle thanks to tronraner. Deep viscous black with a thick foam of dark tan head. Notes of tobacco, some oak vanilla, big burnt malts and licorice. Taste is vinuous red wine like tannic, earthy, tobacoo, bits of soy sauce, vanilla, chocolate, coffee. Lasting palate.

Black. Straight up, no questions. Tan head and lots of lace. It is a looker. Soon as I opened the bottle, the coffee and roast wafted up to my nose. I knew I was in for a treat. Aroma is comprised of smoke, coffee, and roast. Some hints of tobacco and a little bit of chocolate. The hops come out mostly bitter, but there is just a touch more. Dark fruits muster about. Flavor disguises the heat of the alcohol with an onslaught of roast and bitterness. Coffee and a touch of chocolate compliment the malts as the bitter hops come out. There is also a touch of piney hops about. The body is thick and chewy. It is rather cloying as this lovely beer leaves its touch on me. The finish does have a hint of the alcohol and a shit ton of roast. This beer is quite good. I love Deschutes.

I show up to Capone’s to meet Ty5592 for a beer or two. He pulls this out of the paper bag and says "I saw this on your wants list, want to drink it?" Does a bear shit in the woods, of course I do! Pours an oil brown/ black with a brown head. Mouthfeel is perfect, oily without being too thick. Aroma of licorice, coffee grounds, raisen, and chocolate. Flavor starts off with dark bakers chocolate and molasses. The middle opens up to medium roast coffee, vanilla, cherry, and almonds. As this warms, I get hints of red wine. Pleasant bitter and semi dry finish, with nice subtle accents of oak. I really liked the smooth transitions, the balance, and how all the flavors melded. I would put this in the same league as Dark Lord, BA Speedway, Goose Island BCS. Perhaps not as aggressive as those, but in a good way. I could polish off a bomber of this by myself. Very well done. This is staying on my wants list. Thanks Ty! I owe you man.

Nose-bakery, cola, light spoiled milk. Body-opaque with a medium beige ring of bubbles. Taste-creamed coffee, oaky, woody, very, very, very light bourbon, creamy, lactic, sweet grape, plum, light chocolate. Lots of char.