Deschutes The Abyss

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

22oz. Bottle (thanks glkaiser): Strong, moderately sweet, malt aroma. Smells of roasting, smoke, chocolate, coffee, and cream. Poured pitch black in color with a small, rocky, brown head that mainly diminished. Opaque. Good lacing. Flavor is medium sweet and lightly bitter. Tastes of malts, chocolate, roasting, smoke, and a little oak and bourbon. Medium to full body. Creamy texture. Soft carbonation. Long, dryish, chocolate, malty finish. Overall, excellent. Hides the 11% ABV very well. Very malty, but well balanced.

Batch 1, @ Stevofest, courtesy of stevo. Man, what a great beer. I could give a laundry list of the aromas and flavors (its a nice mix of smoke, chocolate, blueberry and balck walnuts, along a bunch of other stuff, if you must know). But really it come together to a lot more than the sum of its parts. Immensely satifying beer.

Bottle. Thanks to Thaddeus for this gift. Black color with a foamy medium to dark brown head. The molasses and licorice come through well and the oak barrels smooth out the flavor without adding too much of the bourbon vanilla element. An intense coffee and bitter aftertaste with a rich full bodied finish.

Inky black, thick deeply tanned head. Nose was intense with tones of wet and warm espresso grounds and black chocolate. Softer toasted vanilla bean and oak tones fade in and out, but with a slight twist of charred berries and black licorice peeking through. Ashy burnt and bitter coffee and chocolate tones reign supreme as the barrel aging plays only a very minor role. Faint hints of blackend berry and vanilla round out this rich full bodied brew out. Finish is dry, burnt, and bitter. Great brew, but believe it or not, I would like to have actually had more of the bourbon barrel experience. Either way, loved it! Thanks for sharing kmweaver.

My Bottom Line:
Roasting molasses, dark chocolate and licorice harmoniously converge onto resinous bittering hops for a lush Imperial Stout replete with flavor and knowledge.

Further Personal Perceptions:
-A sheet of foam stands atop the darkest black.
-This is a lot more cohesive than the Stone Bourbon Barrel Russian Imperial Stout which we had right before.
-Roasted malts accompany the resinous hops in the finish and their combined bitterness succeeds in cutting through the malty sweetness.
-A well-levelled anise-y spiciness comes from the licorice and fits perfectly with the grain bill.
-The body is pleasantly full, not obese.
-There is some alcohol warmth in the back, but it does not bother at all.
-The barrel-aging job is subtle and is very efficient in the flavor profile.

Bottles; 2007 vintage.

Nearly no head at all, but a great, thick, oily black body. The aroma is impressive. Roasty and warm. Lots of cocoa and vanilla. And coffee and caramel. The aroma is very enticing. The flavor is much of the same, but I’m not quite so fond of the barrel aging taste in this beer. But I do find the oak pleasant in the finish. It keeps it a little drier and less sweet than many Imperial Stouts. Nice!

Bottle from trade with fiver29. Poured dark brown with a moderate creamy light brown head that mostly lasted with excellent lacing. Heavy toasted chocolate, licorice and coffee malt with a small alcohol aroma. Full body with a creamy texture. Heavy balanced toasted chocolate malt flavor with a heavy bittersweet finish of long duration. This is a standout beer.

Courtesy of Styles

Bottle: The aroma has lots of roasted coffee, black licorice, molasses, light caramel, vanilla, and a hint of burnt wood. It pours virtually black with a small brown head. The flavor has lots of roasted coffee and black licorice. There’s also some moderate chocolate, molasses, and caramel. It finishes with some burnt notes, piney hops, and a hint of wood and vanilla. There bourbon presence in this is extremely minimal. Very nice.