Deschutes The Abyss

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

22oz Bottle Pours out pitch black topped with a great brown head. Aroma of great roast and sweet malt. The tast is Great as well. I will have to get a few more of this one. Very Very good.

Shared at CT V by black95tt. Aroma was of coffee, roasty, burnt, chocolate. Flavor was really roasty, and a little burnt also and maybe some of the oak. Also a little molasses and maybe some anise. The aroma on this was incredible. I never give out perfects in aroma, flavor, or overall and i almost did.

Bomber, ’06. Pours a deep opaque black with a thick, surging, densely moussy and sludgy tan-to-orange-ish head. Big roast coffee nose; the coffee’s super intense everywhere in this one. Some slight notes of bitter, acrid hop too. Super bold attack: thick, viscous, oily body with deeply velvety mouthfeel. Doesn’t pour so much as it oozes. The molasses and anise they promise are there in the mid-palate but they’re subtle, they’re overwhelmed by roast and coffee and char. Very little bourbon or oak or vanilla there, either, though they hint around. The finish is huge coffee again, lingering into bitterness in the clingy, sticky finish. Awesome beer.

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.

Aroma is a deep sweet burnt scent. Color is deep, deep black with mellow carbonation and a thin tight brown head. Taste is roasted, sweet and dry. Starting with a full body it goes down with a sharp rich feel. Finish is rich with a deep roasted flavor that is a bit sweet and burnt nest a faint citric and hop flavor come in. The burnt taste comes out with a bitterness that is almost sour then there is a hint of oak and bourbon. After taste is dry with a tiny alcohol feel. As it warms a bit and you drink a bit more the hops show a little more. This is a wonderful Imperial Stout. Its deep, rich, complex and very well balanced.

(Bottle, thanks hopscotch!) Pours Black with a brown head. Roasted malt aroma with tones of cocoa, dark chocolate, espresso coffee, liquorice, roasted nuts, dark bread and brown sugar/molasses. Wood and bourbon tones in the background of vanilla up front but also tiny hints of coco nut. Some notes resiny and peppery hops. Hints of green pepper, chilly, gravel, chalk, parsley. Medium to heavy roasted malt flavour with tones of espresso/coffee beans, cocoa/dark chocolate, brown sugar/molasses and liquorice. Subtle dark berries in the undertones both in the nose and taste. Rather. Buttery and oily mouthfeel. A good medium bitter blend of hop resiny and light piny bitterness first but also some roast bitterness. Coffee and cocoa lingers. Medium to full bodied. Fantastic. Second try: (Bottle from 2006) Pours black with a dark brown head. The aroma is of vanilla-ish oak and mild tar and burned roast. Undertones of chocolate, cocoa, dark bread, burned liquorice, molasses, mild dry coffee, dark dried fruits/prunes and hints of blue grapes. Not overly massive on the nose but the maltiness is solid. Just a touch of hops. The flavour is of molasses, vanilla, woody oak, chocolate, coffee, dark bread, liquorice and some blackberry jelly. Bit vinous. Medium to heavily roasted and medium burned. The mouthfeel is oily and soft carbonated. The aftertaste is of molasses, dark/sweet berries and caramel/roasted malt. Medium to full bodied.

Needs to be considered one of top Imperial Stouts in existence. Inky black, with dark chocolate, coffee, and molasses tones. Perhaps the darkest beer I have seen. Flavor was complex with each individual taste hitting with equal intensity. I was extremely pleased with this brew!

Bottle from ebay, sampled with Stegosaurus. WOW. Beautiful black pour with aromas of chocolate, coffee and roast. A smoke roast chocolate flavor blended rather well. This is underated.