Brewed By: Deschutes Brewing Company in Bend, Oregon
Purchased: 22oz bottle bought at Binny's in Urbana, IL; 2013 ("Best after 08/16/14")
Style/ABV: Barrel-Aged Russian Imperial Stout, 11.0%
Reported IBUs: 86
Last night's Fresh Squeezed IPA was definitely a primer for tonight's beer. About Deschutes:
Reported IBUs: 86
Last night's Fresh Squeezed IPA was definitely a primer for tonight's beer. About Deschutes:
The Deschutes Brewing Company was founded by Gary Fish on June 27th, 1988, when they opened the doors to their Bond Street Public House pub. The brewery has since expanded, growing to be one of the top craft beer producers in America. The brewery also operates a pub in Portland, and has a dedicated brewing facility overlooking the Deschutes river. For more information, check out the brewery's website; their Facebook page; their Twitter; or Wikipedia.
The Abyss really needs no introduction at this point. This epic Imperial Stout has been around since 2006? I think 2006. This one is brewed with all sorts of ingredients, and features a blend of three barrel-aged additions. The bottle reads: "The Abyss: malt beverage brewed with black strap molasses, licorice, with cherry bark and vanilla added with 6% aged in oak bourbon barrels, 11% aged in oak barrels, and 11% aged in oak wine barrels." As suggested by the "Best after" date, this one will and can be aged...but I'm impatient and I think this vintage is doing alright fresh.
This beer lives up to its name, of course. It pours into a pitch black, opaque body, and produces three fingers of DARK BROWN, mocha-colored head. The head is thick and dense, like a root beer float, leaving massive webs of lacing as it drops off, and sustaining nicely for an 11.0% barrel-aged beer. Glossy alcohol legs can be seen trailing off the sides when you swirl the beer -- they lag behind the massive brown strokes of lacing that also coat the glass. Good stuff, yo.
This is fantastically complex in terms of the aroma. The first thing that jumps out to me is the massive barrel character that is present, followed by huge woody aromas, and then big cherry wood and cherry bark. It's huge. Beneath the massive barrel/wood character is huge meaty roast and coffee. There's a big coffee aroma on the nose. Also surprising (to me) are the fruity notes on the aroma. I'm not getting a ton of bourbon...but there's a lot of oak and a lot of slightly acidic pinot notes. I'm getting dark fruits, molasses, red wine, chocolate, and roast. You definitely get the licorice on the aroma too. The licorice plays off the molasses, acidic espresso, and pinot barrel. Just fantastic.
Wow...this is just blissful. Like I said, I think this 2013 Vintage is drinking just fine now, but it will definitely age gracefully. What do you taste? Well, a lot of stuff. The back end features layers of intense roast, coffee, chocolate, and lingering wood tannin; gripping barrel character, and some big bitterness towards the back. There's big cherries and licorice up front, with some woody notes, and the mid-palate hits a brief citrus-hop note and then pudwhacks your palate with coffee and subtle vanilla bean and anise. The cherry/raisin/molasses note is blissfully in your face up front, giving way to massive barrel goodness. I'm getting a lot of wood tannin and oak in here...with more pinot than bourbon. There are definitely shades of bourbon in the taste, but nothing jumping out at me. I probably wouldn't peg the bourbon in a blind tasting.
If you like aggressive, woody Russian Imperial Stouts with huge barrel character...this is your beer. But it's still reasonable at 11.0% and 86 IBUs. Maybe at one time that was on the high end of extreme, but these days, that's like, "okay, an American-style RIS." It's still a bad-ass beer though. The mouthfeel is full-bodied, with creamy, acidic, well-carbonated beer up front. That rolls into a hoppy midsection, which is almost juicy, and then the back end dials up the wood tannin, roast, dark grain, and dry finish. Palate depth is awesome, with great duration, and this beer is super complex. This beer embraces each barrel and ingredient, and unravels in layers. And it's drinkable (says the alcoholic). Palate progression? Up front, molasses, licorice, cherry, barrel/wood; the middle hits a hop note, citrus, wood, coffee, espresso, acidic pinot character, barrel, anise, chocolate/vanilla; the back end starts off with huge espresso/coffee, dials up the roast and dark grains, and finishes dry and sticky.
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| Deschutes The Abyss (2013 Reserve) |
This beer lives up to its name, of course. It pours into a pitch black, opaque body, and produces three fingers of DARK BROWN, mocha-colored head. The head is thick and dense, like a root beer float, leaving massive webs of lacing as it drops off, and sustaining nicely for an 11.0% barrel-aged beer. Glossy alcohol legs can be seen trailing off the sides when you swirl the beer -- they lag behind the massive brown strokes of lacing that also coat the glass. Good stuff, yo.
This is fantastically complex in terms of the aroma. The first thing that jumps out to me is the massive barrel character that is present, followed by huge woody aromas, and then big cherry wood and cherry bark. It's huge. Beneath the massive barrel/wood character is huge meaty roast and coffee. There's a big coffee aroma on the nose. Also surprising (to me) are the fruity notes on the aroma. I'm not getting a ton of bourbon...but there's a lot of oak and a lot of slightly acidic pinot notes. I'm getting dark fruits, molasses, red wine, chocolate, and roast. You definitely get the licorice on the aroma too. The licorice plays off the molasses, acidic espresso, and pinot barrel. Just fantastic.
Wow...this is just blissful. Like I said, I think this 2013 Vintage is drinking just fine now, but it will definitely age gracefully. What do you taste? Well, a lot of stuff. The back end features layers of intense roast, coffee, chocolate, and lingering wood tannin; gripping barrel character, and some big bitterness towards the back. There's big cherries and licorice up front, with some woody notes, and the mid-palate hits a brief citrus-hop note and then pudwhacks your palate with coffee and subtle vanilla bean and anise. The cherry/raisin/molasses note is blissfully in your face up front, giving way to massive barrel goodness. I'm getting a lot of wood tannin and oak in here...with more pinot than bourbon. There are definitely shades of bourbon in the taste, but nothing jumping out at me. I probably wouldn't peg the bourbon in a blind tasting.
If you like aggressive, woody Russian Imperial Stouts with huge barrel character...this is your beer. But it's still reasonable at 11.0% and 86 IBUs. Maybe at one time that was on the high end of extreme, but these days, that's like, "okay, an American-style RIS." It's still a bad-ass beer though. The mouthfeel is full-bodied, with creamy, acidic, well-carbonated beer up front. That rolls into a hoppy midsection, which is almost juicy, and then the back end dials up the wood tannin, roast, dark grain, and dry finish. Palate depth is awesome, with great duration, and this beer is super complex. This beer embraces each barrel and ingredient, and unravels in layers. And it's drinkable (says the alcoholic). Palate progression? Up front, molasses, licorice, cherry, barrel/wood; the middle hits a hop note, citrus, wood, coffee, espresso, acidic pinot character, barrel, anise, chocolate/vanilla; the back end starts off with huge espresso/coffee, dials up the roast and dark grains, and finishes dry and sticky.
Rating: Divine Brew (5.0/5.0 Untappd)
I'm feeling a Light Divine Brew on this...I'm not going to bullshit with the 4.5. I'm always looking to give a critical rating to over hyped beers, but this one meets expectations and then some. It's all in the barrel character. This beer has massive barrel notes in the aroma and taste, and it makes the beer an absolute treat to drink. This one is dry, with lots of wood tannin, and aggressive bitterness. For those reasons, I wouldn't recommend this beer to newer beer drinkers. Those qualities also mean this beer will pair well with spicy foods...maybe chipotle dark chocolate, dry habanero wings, chocolate lava cake with vanilla ice cream, or maybe a mole sauce. Recommended if you find it, even at jacked up prices.
Random Thought: The wax on this one was a PITA. I ended up scratching my finger trying to get the bottle open.
I'm feeling a Light Divine Brew on this...I'm not going to bullshit with the 4.5. I'm always looking to give a critical rating to over hyped beers, but this one meets expectations and then some. It's all in the barrel character. This beer has massive barrel notes in the aroma and taste, and it makes the beer an absolute treat to drink. This one is dry, with lots of wood tannin, and aggressive bitterness. For those reasons, I wouldn't recommend this beer to newer beer drinkers. Those qualities also mean this beer will pair well with spicy foods...maybe chipotle dark chocolate, dry habanero wings, chocolate lava cake with vanilla ice cream, or maybe a mole sauce. Recommended if you find it, even at jacked up prices.
Random Thought: The wax on this one was a PITA. I ended up scratching my finger trying to get the bottle open.
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