Deschutes The Abyss

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

Bomber. 2006. Shared with my bro on Xmas eve. Dark, dark, dark pour. Aroma of licorice, brown sugar, molasses and malt. This is malty, syrupy and down right rich. Although the base beer is very good, I tasted virtually no oak, which was kind of dissapointing. As it stands, it’s a decent enough Imperial Stout. This is a style that’s beginning to bore me a bit.

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.

Thank you so much BVC (Brandon) for hooking me up with this 2007 22 oz. bottle of Abyss! Finally, get to try this! Now this is a good looking beer. Has a huge dark chocolate head. Viscous black pour; what else could you look for in an imperial stout. Pungent aroma I must say. Wood/chocolate/subtle coffee aromas are just oozing out of this one. Chocolate is the most noticeable aroma. A nice roast aroma as well. Very nuanced in terms of aroma. Rich beer. Flavor is nice. Lovely wood roast flavor. Some sublte chocolate and coffee to go along with this. The wood and chocolate develop and get to be more rich and deep as you let the flavors develop in your mouth. Alcohol is well hidden. This is a damn good stout. Bourbon doesn’t come through as much as I would like it to, but this beer is not one to mess around with.

#600. 2007 vintage from kramer. Pours into snifter a very dark brown with small dark tan head. Aroma is complex with roasted malt, vanilla, coffee, bourbon, chocolate and some molassas. Flavor is roasted malts, coffee, chocolate, bourbon, sweet licorice and some wood. Palate is soft and smooth. You get a little bit of alcohol warmth at end. Letting the this beer sit on the counter for over a half hour really brings out the flavor of the beer. I have been waiting to try this beer forever and has been sitting in the cellar for a long time by my standards. While it may not be at Dark Lords level in my opinion it is still a pretty damn good imperial stout.

Bottle shared at the Columbus Tasting V thanks to Black95tt for sharing: Pitch black pour with a nice tan head. Awesome aroma of hazlenut, roasted malt, chocolate, and a bit of coffee. Flavors were of dark chocolate, hazlenut, light oak, vanilla and coffee. Thick/smooth mouthfeel with a roasty finish. Great stuff, I especially liked the fact that the barrel aging didn’t overwhelm the beer rather just slightly enhanced it.

Sampled with brewblackhole. Dark color. Smell of coffee, hops, toasted malt, coco, copper, little oak, dark fruit and a touch of vanilla and spice. Taste of coffee, chocolate, hops, malt, bread, rasberries, cake batter, alcohol, and caramel. Very nice but a little weaker to the Dark Lord "07". Still a nice Imperial Stout.

[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.

07 bottle. Poured a thick black color with a thick, deep tan head that receded slowly and left nice lacing. Aroma of chocolate, licorice, roasted malt, and a hint of oak and smoke. Smooth molasses entry leads into a strong smoke character with hints of chocolate, vanilla, and some oak. Light licorice and smoke on the finish. A bit of alcohol detectable, but it wasn’t too bad. Smooth of the palate, some smoky bite. Nice, but not as good as I expected.