Deschutes The Abyss

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

Courtesy of Dragonstout. Pours a dark brown with a little tan head. Aroma is burnt cocoa. Tastes of chocolate, caramel, coffee, molasses, and some dark fruit. Palate is creamy and smooth, with a vanilla taste.

I would rate this beer higher if it was already cellared. It was just released around christmas 06’ but I can tell this beer is made to age. Although still great now. Possibly the thickest stout i have ever head. Almost like syrup. The primary flavors are the roastiness and the licorice, not to say that it tastes like licorice but the flavor is definitely there. The oaky an vanilla flavors are much more subtle and mostly serve to round it out and mellows it down a little.I poured this in a goblet, after finishing my glass and going to rinse it our I noticed there was a thick syrup still in the bottom of the glass. Cant wait to have this again i a year or two!

From a trade with kyzr, picked up a 22-oz bottle, also picked up last remaining bottle from Woodstock wines and deli in Portland, OR. Pours an opaque dark broan brew with a small light tan head that dissolves quickly to a fine film. Aroma is complex with scents of vanilla, bourbon, toasted chocolate malt, dark molasses, and a touch of smokey wood. Taste is smooth, creamy, full bodied, with some wood and bourbon flavors. Finish is smooth creamy and very warm in alcohol in the aftertaste. IN the aftertaste, detection of raisins, molasses and deep dark chocolate. Very impressive!

Poured from a 2007 22 oz. bottle. Dark black with a medium brownish tan head. Aromas jump at you of smoky oak and licorice. Very smooth and velvety on your tongue. Great complexity of flavors with chocolate, coffee, molasses, and alcohol. Long finish of flavor. Excellent!!

Thanks to FlssmrBrewAlum for this black beauty! The pour produces an oily impenetrable black colour with a late forming mocha head that fades to a ring, leaving spotty lacing. The nose is rich molasses, dark chocolate, vanilla, wood, and some coffee. The flavour is extremely roasty with pungent, piney hops, almost charred malts, wood, espresso, intense impressions of anise and molasses, as well. The finish is very bitter and roasty, with a sweet cherry molasses undertone. The mouthfeel is full-bodied and creamy with prickly carbonation to make it not feel like chocolate milk. A deliciously brutal imperial stout!

22oz Bomber 2007 Bottling I was lucky enough to get this in a recent trade, a big thanks goes out to you Bill. Abyss gurgles from the bottle and appears as a black mass in my snifter. The tan head grew to one finger as I poured and left some quality drink lines after ech sip. The head eventually falls to a skimming with a thick ring surrounding the body. A good looking stout for sure. The aroma doesn’t have as much of the noticeable barrel aging as I expected. As this beer warms the aroma gets better and better. I left this one sitting out of the fridge for probably 40 minutes before opening and still the aroma just keeps getting better. Each time I bury my nose in the glass I find myself ihaling healthy doses of roasted grains, freshly ground coffee, and molasses in order from most aggressive to least. Hints of anise, oak, and spicy alcohol make ghost like appearances here and there along with a solid pine hop presence toward the back. Flavor follows in stride with the aroma. If you want to read about the flavor profile take a look at the paragraph above. Everything is smooth and balanced for such big flavors. I’m not sure of the IBUs but they’re in a good place considering they’re not only balancing out the malts but also making a show of themselves. There’s a solid roasty bitterness on the swallow to create a good finish. Body is full without a doubt. Starts off moderately full and as it works it’s way through becomes creamy and coating. Sluggish carbonation keeps this one working at it’s own pace and lets each flavor work on the tastebuds. This beer sips along smoothly for an 11% monster but after I kill off this bomber it’s going to be bedtime. This is a beer to sip throughout the night. Another excellent Imperial Stout. The barrel aging was done very nicely for this beer. The barrel compliments instead of takes over like what happens with so many other barrel aged beers. 2/8/08

Thick black pour with nice roasty aroma. lots of roast, coffee, and chocolate flavor. very drinkable beer considering the freshness factor

Winter 2007 vintage, just a few months old. In contrast to the aged 2006 version, this one showed alot more roast and hardly any anise character. An earthy hoppiness shined through as well, lending balance and depth. I preferred the fresher version slightly. Both are excellent, but the 2007 really shined. The bourbon is incredibly subtle in both, enhancing the brew slightly while allowing the traditional Imperial Stout to take center stage. Great beer.

Original rating 8/4/8/4/17 4.1. Courtesy CaptainCougar. 2006 vintage, consumed January 2008. Pours as dark as something called The Abyss should.....pitch black. A small, frothy, bubbly tan head leaves behind random spots of lacing on the glass. The aroma is rich and deep, with anise, dark chocolate, cocoa powder, and roasty espresso all showing strong. The chocolate intensifies in the flavor profile, leaning towards very dark chocolate with a high cocoa butter content. Oak is present in the form of woodsy vanilla. The roastiness is huge in this one. Smooth, almost creamy palate, but not quite as full bodied as I expected. Overall, this is a very, very good brew.