Deschutes The Abyss

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

Dark, with thick, rich light brown head. Earthy, coffee-laden aroma, quite woody. Soft, sweet but bitter espresso bean flavor. Extremely roasty with a significantly bitter finish.

22 oz bottle. Made in 2008. Purchased at Roxies and shared with Gabe. Pours a thinnish mocha head, good late duration, some lacing over a dark black, utterly opaque body.....nose is very complex with coffee, chocolate, anise, molasses and a whole slew of fragrences I cannot describe adequately......taste is again similar to the nose, of great complexity starting off with sweet coffee, then molasses, then finishing hops...mouth feel is creamy, chewy, somewhat sticky....,superb balance of powerful forces. This is very hard to do this well!!!!

Bottle shared by Afterexile. I love the aroma and the licorice and woodiness in the flavor. This rich and complex flavor stands out. I love this beer! It has a certain tingly texture as I sort through all its nuances while other RIS beers are heavy and sweet. This one keeps my attention and has a nice coffee-like finish. Thanks Kevin! The only negative is there might be a bit too much of the licorice aspect when the wood pieces shine.

22 oz bottle thanks to Jake65. Pours a dark black with a frothy tan and light tan head. Very interesting transformation of colors in the head. Smells of whiskey, chocolate, coffee, and licorice. Very inviting smells draw you to that first sip and wow, what great taste. Very complex, the brewer took time to make this just right. This should rate higher in my opinion. Higher then some commercial stouts that get more attention due to distribution and fad. Awesome Stout.

22 oz ’07 Bomber-Dark brown pour w/a brown head...one of the darkest heads I’ve ever seen on a beer. Aroma of smoked wood & chocolate. This is a big beer-flavors of chocolate, molasses, coffee, smoked wood/peat, toffee, a lot of flavor. The oak flavor of the Barrel Aging is there, but it doesn’t overpower the brew. A real warmer, would be perfect in the winter sitting around the fire. Has quite a kick-I had to light up a cigar to mellow this one out! Long full finish, which bordered on overpowering.

One of the most flavorfilled drinks I have ever poured. Heavily roasted with a strong, spiced licorice and root component. Many earthy flavors that all backup the spicy sweetness of the molasses with a silky smooth light bitter milk chocolate piece. Burnt caramel malt and vanilla with espresso bean and toasted breadiness as well. Pronounced alcohol in an medium-heavy body with richness that is present from first sip to well beyond the finish. Impressive drink.

I drank this as number 600 on a crisp autumn afternoon. It went well. Black pour with a medium amber head. Taste is roasted malt, licorice, chocolate. Taste is dry and I would have liked it a tad sweeter.

08/10/2009 with Steve and Hugo. A black hole of dark chocolate, liquorice and rich malt that is so good, so balanced, so integrated, and so unfairly drinkable that it almost sucked away my desire to brew or to even drink another beer in my lifetime. It’s also turned my writing into clumsy junk. Well done Deschutes, this is a classic. A velvet fog. A nobel laureate of beer. Note: I couldn’t find any non-terrestial intelligences (or cheese) at the bottom of this abyss.