Deschutes The Abyss

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

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.

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.

Shared a friend’s ’06 alongside my ’07 and found the two to be very similar but I thought the flavors popped a bit more in the fresher version actually, although they were nearly indistinguishable.

Pours black as night with a short lived nice tan head. Smells like chocolate cake, graham crackers, fresh baked chocolate cookies, and unique for an imperial stout, also with a hint of molasses. Taste is drying cocoa, roastiness, light cigar like tobacco-y flavors and char. Simply fantastic. Body is creamy but slightly drying at the same time. Perfect light to medium carbonation and the 11% is completely hidden to me. This easily lives up to the hype and is an amazing beer. Wow...

2006 version, but every year since is just as tasty. A: Peel back the wax and pop the cap. It pours deep dark and thick. This one is darker than the richest cup of espresso. A thunderous milky cocoa head bolts from the bottle and dies down to a nice thin layer across the top. Lacing, yeah there’s lacing. This beer begs to be drunk. S: So nice and complex. Big bold chocolate comes right at you as soon as you crack the bottle. Once poured into the glass other aromas really come bounding forward. Fresh roasted dark coffee and licorice come out as well. Hints of vanilla and hazelnuts hide beneath a dash of brown sugar. Man I have never smelled brownie batter so nice. T: I love a good RIS and this one is at least two levels above good. I was hooked by the aromas, but the taste really hammers in what a quality brew this is. When I tell you to expect chocolate, I mean to expect chocolate. I have never tasted something so fondue like. I could dip strawberries in this beer and eat them all night long. The bitter espresso hides beneath with tones of French Vanilla. Hazelnuts and brown sugar also make their appearance known as does a dash of charcoal. M: Nice and thick. This one coats your mouth, throat, and stomach better than Pepto Bismol. D: Uber, If I could buy this one by the case I would drink it bomber after bomber all winter long.

22 oz bottle shared by me, myself and I. Hot damn, what a great representative of the style. I had ridiculously high expectations for this one due to all the great reviews. Well it fortunately did not disappoint. Everything that all RIS’s aspire to be. The chocolate, espressso flavors are very apparent right from the get go. Very smooth and finishes like silk. Unbelievable.

’07 version poured into an Old Guardian tulip glass Appearance is absolutely amazing, pours the brownest hue, head is three fingers of creamy, sparkling frothy head that cascades upward and amazingly sustains over tiime, big milky lacing on the glass. Smell is also excellent, sweet milk chocolate dominate, some roasted malts, slight anise, molasses, gingerbread, bourbon alcohol, and a surprising presence of fresh earthy/grassy hops. Taste is superb, sweet milk chocolate rides a wave of underlying ginger/bread malts, bourbon and alcohol warming enters midway as do bittering hops, cocoa sweetness rebounds and finishes with alcohol warming on the soft palate through the back of the throat. Mouthfeel is full-bodied, smooth and creamy texture, lively carbonation that is a touch prickly. Drinkability is high, this is my new favorite IRS, I’m a big fan of the sweeter chocolate malts compared to the uber-bitter coffee malts, great all around appearance/aroma/flavors, I think the balancing hops are impressive as well considering they don’t detract from the dominant malt profile, I sure am glad I was able to secure a case of this, I am sure this will age well in the coming years!

I loved this beer...2007 vintage...tasted against some of the world’s best Impys...beaten only by DL 09................................................

Happy to say this is my 100th rating!!! Pours heavily-used motor oil topped wth a frothy milk-chocolate shake. Licorice and sticky sweet fragrance wtih a bit of oak, smoke, and vanilla. More sugary than most in this style, doesn’t begin with bitter but definitely displays chocolate and campfire burn. Extremely complex with multiple layers...caramel/toffee erodes into an almost hop finish. You can paint with this it coats the palate so well. Amazing beer...wish it was more readily available!!!