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+

The Bruery - Loakal Red

How's it going everybody? It's been a while since I've checked in and reviewed a beer. Don't get me wrong, I've still been drinking some good beers but really haven't had the time to sit down and properly do a review justice. But alas, I've got some time now and I'm looking forward to tonight's beer. Why you ask? Because it's my May Beer of the Month!

So for May, the beer of the month selected by my wife is The Bruery's Loakal Red. Well, I sort of told her to pick this one out, but that's still OK. According to the label, Loakal Red is a brash american red ale dripping with citrusy Centennial hops, mellowed by oak. So this is 75% American Red Ale and 25% ale aged in American Oak Barrels.

I'm sorry. Oak + Red ale? Shit yes! Let's get this one poured and do some drinking!

Loakal Red pours out a beautiful mahogany that definitely resembles a deep amber/ruby red when held up to a light source. There was about a 2 1/2 to 3 fingers of a rocky white head that sticks around for a very long time. This is bottle conditioned so the big head and the retention time isn't a surprise. There's quite a bit of carbonation streaming up from the bottle of the glass. The lacing left behind is pretty think and foamy. This is a really excellent looking beer. Let's get the nose.

Wow. Lots of things going on here. Big citrus right away. A nice vanilla and oak coming through right behind the hops. I'm picking up a little bit of a spice character, maybe a coriander or maybe even an allspice. There's a bit of a leather note I'm picking up too. I'm getting more earthy wood like notes from the barrel as I go back for another opinion. To compare this to something specific at Christmas time we take oranges and stick clove into them. The fragrance they give off is citrusy and a little spicy. This beer reminds me a lot of that. It's an incredible smelling beer. Let's see how Loakal Red tastes!

Right away I'm getting some hop bitterness. It's not overpowering. Very mellow. A bit of citrus with the bitterness is a perfect segue into a lot of oak and vanilla. But it doesn't overpower the hops. There's some nice caramel sweetness in the middle of the mouth. More vanilla. Sides of the pallet you get that oak and honestly, a bit of that leather I got in the nose. Back of the mouth there's more vanilla, more oak, more caramel, a little bit more of that hop bitterness. There's a little bit of char from the barrel on the back end as well. This is really nice stuff, very well balanced. Medium bodied, very smooth, almost creamy at times.

So overall, Loakal Red by The Bruery is just incredible. I haven't had too many of their beers (3 or 4 to be exact), but this might be my favorite. Everything about this beer works in perfect harmony with itself. I wouldn't have thought a hoppy red would work so well with oak aging but this stops all doubts or questions I had. If you can get this, I suggest trying it out. I know it was originally just for Orange County only (hence the Loakal part of the name) but they decided to distribute elsewhere. Worth the $10 for sure.

Rating: A+

Firestone Walker - Sucaba

Hey all! It's been several days since my last blog. I'm sorry. It's been crazy busy at work the last week or so and by the time I get home, all I want to do is open something easy and just zone out. Plus, I bought Bioshock Infinite and frankly what little social life I've had has completely vanished.

With that said, it's not too often I'm left completely speechless. You know, just completely blown away by something that you can't even begin to describe it's awesome factors. Last year I had a Sucaba for the first time and my perspective on Barleywines was changed. Honestly, it's never recovered. Sucaba is my absolute favorite barleywine. I could explain why and it might take all night so I'll simply sum it up in a few words.

BARREL-AGED BARLEYWINE.

Yes, Sucaba is Barrel Aged and tonight, well, after a quarter end at work, I'm treating myself. Tonight, I'm drinking the 2013 vintage of Firestone Walker's Sucaba!

Sucaba pours out a very, VERY dark red, actually more like mahogany with maybe a half finger of a white, foamy maybe bordering on creamy head. This beer is really dark, can't see anything through it. There's a lot of nice ruby red along the bottom of glass and around the sides as I hold it up to my light source. This looks like a really big barleywine and I'm perfectly OK with that.

The nose on Sucaba is nothing short of delicious. Big raisin and fig characters. There's a really nice presence of the dark fruits that are pretty much a guarantee in a good barleywine. I'm getting a lot of a sugary sweetness. A ton of caramel and toffee. I'm picking up a lot of vanilla and oak characters. Since it's barrel-aged I'm not surprised and really happy to find it. There's a slight chocolate note coming in too. Sucaba just smells incredible. Big caramel, big sugar, big sweetness. But it's all smelling perfectly balanced. Finally, let's get some drinking in! 

And... holy fucking shit.

This beer is absolutely insane. Right away there's a sweet malt character which is insantly, and I mean INSTANTLY kicked out of the way by big vanilla and oak. It's so good! There's a lot of caramel and toffee in this beer. I don't remember 2012 being this good. The caramel and vanilla shine through on this beer like none other I can remember having. Back end there's more oak goodness and some chocolate notes too. At 12%, you don't taste any alcohol. This one is going to show up later and probably slap me around a bit.

Honestly, this thing changes so many times it might as well be called a shape shifter. It's just so good, so balanced... it's my favorite Firestone Walker beer ever.

Rating: A+ (Epic levels)

I can't stress this enough. If you can find this and have the cash (was about $19), pick it up. So worth it. I don't know if I've had a more balanced and great tasting barleywine. Ever. 

Wife says "Sucaba es micaba..." I think that means she doesn't hate it!

Firestone Walker - Double DBA

Cue up the Bay City Rollers, cause it's S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y NIGHT! That's right, winding down tonight on the only good day of the weekend. Let's be honest, Sunday is awful. So to celebrate, I'm opening a beer I've wanted to try for a year now. Tonight, I'm drinking Double DBA by Firestone Walker!

Double DBA comes in at 12% abv and is a Barrel-Aged Imperial Special Bitter. So to me, it sounds like this is an ESB on steroids. I'm perfectly ok with that. And anything having to do with Oak and barrel aging is something that I'm interested in. So without anymore delays, let's get this poured out before Sunday shows up and our weekend is completely ruined.

Double DBA pours out a dark amber color. It's not brown, it's not red. It's not really mahogany either. It reminds me a lot of a dark honey actually. There wasn't much of a head on this beer. Maybe (and I'm being really generous) a half a finger of foamy white head that really doesn't stick around much at all. It's somewhat hazy. I can see a little through the beer but not much. This looks a lot like a barleywine from the lack of head,  dark amber bordering on ruby red colors, a bit hazy... yeah, it looks real good. Let's put our nose in it.

The nose on the Double DBA is wonderful. Huge caramel right away. Lots of sweetness. I'm getting a lot of the oak from the barrels this was aged in. Big vanilla coming through. I'm getting a lot of a golden raisin character along with some figs and dates. There's a bread/cake like character as well. This beer smells really sweet. The thing that really stands out on the nose are the oak and vanilla characters. Everything else kind of takes a back seat. It's there but not nearly as prominent as the oak and vanilla. I'm also picking up a little bit of a cherry note. It's very subtle. Overall this smells incredible.

First thing I get on the taste is sweet caramel. It's sticky and very chewy. It's fucking delicious. That's immediately followed up by a that oak and vanilla character. It's so smooth and very sweet. Not overly sweet, it's just perfectly balanced. I'm not getting a lot of dark fruits in the taste which I'm a little surprised by. Don't get me wrong, I'm perfectly OK without them but I thought they'd make a bit more of an appearance. This is really a caramel/oak/vanilla bomb and I'm loving it. It's really good stuff. For a 12% beer, this drinks insanely easily. I don't taste much alcohol at all. Maybe the slightest hint of it on the back end but that's it. It warms you up, so you do feel it a little but the taste is so well masked that it makes Double DBA almost too easy to drink.

Overall, Double DBA by Firestone Walker is nothing short of incredible. I'm so stoked I am finally drinking one of these. It was just under $20 for the bottle and I'd say it's well worth it. You can still find this beer fairly easily in my area. I'm a little surprised this one wasn't as popular as Parabola or Sucaba. It's definitely on par and just really another solid showing from Firestone Walker and their barrel series.

Rating: A (SOLID A)

Wife... didn't hate it. A miracle, I know. Kudos to Firestone Walker.