Deschutes The Abyss

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

Thanks to NYbeer for this bottle. Pours a nice pitch black color with a small white head. Aroma is strong with coffee and chocolate being the most noticable. Flavor is coffee, chocolate and brown sugar. Full bodied and thich. Wow, this is a nice brew! Alcohol is hidden very well. Re-Rate: The new batch seems to be drier and more ashy. I’m missing the creaminess I loved in the last release. Still good, but not great.

RBSG07. From 22 oz bottle. Pours dark brown with a creamy brown head. Aroma of barrels, coffee and cocoa. Flavour is dominated by barrel notes, coffee, chocolate and liqourice. Finish is a good blend of hop and coffee bitterness. 7-5-8-4-16 4

Blind tasting at sk8vikings porter / stout tasting, beer no 17. Pours black with brown creamy head. Slight roasted malty aroma. Slight alcohol note in aroma. Chocolate malty flavour, slight sweet with a bitter hops twist. Nice bitter finish with a persisting chocolate note and slight burned. 7-4-7-4-14 3.6

From bottle #32 at sk8vikings American blind tasting. Pours dark brown with a lacing tan head. Roasted malt, chocolate and coffee aroma. Flavour is smooth roasted malt and chocolate. Solid coffeeish flavour to this. Light fruity note to an otherwise solid roasted and dark brew. Lingering roasted malt flavour. Nice smooth and flavourful. Lastin fruity bitterness.8-4-9-4-17=4.2

22 oz shared by Mullman at his own gathering. Almost black in color with a brown head. Aroma is roasty, with chocolate, oak, caramel and light notes of vanilla. Taste is alot of chocolate, moderately roasty, caramel, burnt sugars, and oak. Light on the bourbon, apparent but barely so. Finishes roasty and lightly bitter/astringent. very nice.

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.

GABF 2007, 2006 Vintage. Dark black, mostly transparent pour with a thick head of well sustaining tan foam. A distinct barrel character wafts from the beer, complimenting the roasted malt complexities nicely. Silky smooth coffee and dark baker’s chocolate blends with some doughy caramel, baked pretzel, and thick molasses. There’s a really nice balance between all the different dimensions, creating an aroma that is aggressive, but at the same time prevents the roast, barrel, alcohol, etc. from dominating the nose. Medium full bodied, exquisitely soft, creamy mouthfeel. Both the appearance and mouthfeel of this beer are notably exceptional. Sweet chocolate nougat warms the tongue up front, before revealing some chewy caramel and a touch of star anise spice. A bourbony caramel warmth slowly starts to build along with some oak, joining the roast flavors in the creschendo toward a drying bitter roast finish. Long lasting, silky roast finish with a gentle warming alcohol. This was my favorite imperial stout (bourbon barrel or not) of the several I sampled at GABF.

Bomber. Pours black with a large very dark brown head. Aroma is roasty malt, with lots of coffee and chocolate, and a bit of wood and alcohol. Flavor is quite bold, strong semi-sweet malt with substantial hopping and a bit of licorice, nuts, and vanilla. Long finish, with a bit of alcohol bite mixed in. Excellent.

(Bottle, Stockholm Beer Festival, 20 Sep 2008) Pitch black colour with creamy, brown head. Malty, roasted nose with notes of tar, espresso and asphalt. Rather closed. Malty, roasted taste with espresso, cocoa, dark bitter chocolate, tar and loads of liquorice. Full body with chewy mouthfeel. Fairly sweet. Lots of bitterness with cocoa and coffe, nicely balanced by the heavily roasted malt. Really powerful beer. Excellent!

2007 batch. (Accidentally frozen, oops, and then unaccidentally thawed. Seems no worse for wear! oily dark black brown with a medium tan thin head. Deep dark sweet roast. Very much round, mostly roast. A big piny hop note seems to pop into the roast and alcohol. Anise perhaps? Luxurious mouthfeel. Slick, viscous with lower carbonation. Some serious substance. Big brash bold impy stout. Huge roast, murky dark sweetness. Alcohol, piny hops. Licorice. If there is oak, it is very sublte and bourbon seems absent other than some hints of vanilla. Really a lovely beer. Subtle and bold where it ought to be!