Deschutes Brewery - The Abyss (2012 Reserve)

Happy New Year! Been a few weeks since my last review. December is always a busy month here. Lots of work, important dates, holidays, etc. Just chaos!

I'm back now though, back tonight with my final 2013 Beer of the Month beer. It's a big one too. The beer is a big one... get your minds out of the gutters!

Tonight I'm drinking The Abyss from Deschutes Brewery. This isn't the new Abyss, oh no. This is the 2012 edition! I've had this stashed away for a year, just waiting for the chance to crack it open and get my mind blown by such an epic beer. I had The Abyss a couple years ago and was completely blown away by this, fresh. But now, with a year of age in our pockets, I think this is going to be amazing.

For those that don't know The Abyss, it's an absolute beast. The 2012 reserve is 11% abv with a best AFTER date of 11/1/13. Brewed with black strap molasses, licorice, with cherry bark and vanilla added, that wasn't enough. 6% of this is aged in Oak bourbon barrels. 11% is aged in Oak barrels. And lastly, 11% is aged in oak wine barrels. So yeah, barrel aged and blended... not much better than that. So now that you've been properly introduced to the Abyss, let's get it poured and I'll give you my thoughts.

The Abyss pours out completely pitch black. No light shines through the Abyss. In fact, I think this devours the light. I'm pretty sure it's getting darker in here just with this beer poured sitting on my desk. There's about a finger of a fluffy mocha colored head. Very rocky and thick. Dissipates pretty quickly and leaves behind a very sticky lacing. An awesome looking beer and honestly, anything less doesn't deserve to be called The Abyss. Let's get the nose.

HUGE chocolate covered raisins. HUGE molasses. The black strap molasses cannot be missed in this beer. HUGE oak. A slight hint of that cherry bark. Very woody smelling. Big vanilla sweetness. Lots of dark fruits that play so well with the dark chocolate notes in this beer. There's a really nice sweet bourbon coming through that gives off the slightest hint of alcohol. For being aged a year now, the alcohol that you'd get fresh is almost gone. This is easily one of the best smelling beers I've ever had put in front of me. I'm almost drooling here so if you'll excuse me, I'm going to do some drinking.... and clean up a little.

HO-LEE-SHIT! Absolutely incredible. Right away you get those chocolate covered raisins. Lots of them. That is immediately pushed aside by incredibly bitter dark chocolate, espresso like bitterness runs wild here. Running wild like fucking Hulkamania right now! Along the sides you get the barrel characters. Lots of woody, oak flavors. Earthy like the cherry bark would be expected to be. Back end of this you get more of the oak barrel, along with some subtle vanilla sweetness, a hint of a good tobacco, maybe even some leather. Just an absolute beast of a beer. The 11% is no where to be found here. The year of aging has done this beer wonders! As I let it warm up a bit more I get more of the cherry and even notice a bit more of that Oak Wine barrel. It definitely gives off more of a sweeter fruit, maybe even a slight berry character without the tartness. Really awesome.

So overall, The Abyss from Deschutes is nothing short of incredible, probably perfect. This is an absolute must have for any beer geek, especially one who likes stouts and what barrel aging can do for a beer, or how blending the beer can set everything off to a whole new level of awesome. Honestly, I can't do this beer justice. Do yourself a favor, pick up the 2013 reserve and stash it until after the date on the bottle. You'll be glad you did.

Rating: A+