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+

Deschutes Brewery - Black Butte XXV

Hey gang! Time for another beer review. It's been a long week and I'm going to have a really, really long day tomorrow at work. So, wanting to forget that, I've decided to crack something open a little "early" if you would.

Tonight I'm drinking the 25th Birthday Reserve from Deschutes. That's right, I'm drinking the Black Butte XXV. Now I say "early" because this has a best after date of 6/10/14. Yeah, this beer is so legit they're telling you not to touch it for a year. Well, I laugh at their directions. But seriously, I've heard this is great now. So I picked up two bottles. One to sit on for a year and this one. So let's get this one opened. I'm seriously stoked to drink this.

The XXV is an 11.3% Imperial Porter brewed with dates, figs and cocoa nibs. Then if that wasn't enough, they put 50% into bourbon barrels and 12.5% received a little black currant treatment. Yep. Just a great sounding beer. Enough intro. Let's rock!

XXV poured out a nearly pitch black. I'm kidding, this beer is dark as night. Maybe the slightest bit of mahogany at the bottom of the glass but frankly, I think that's just my mind/eyes playing tricks on me. I poured pretty aggressively because honestly, I wanted to show this beer who was boss. The XXV responded by kicking me in the face with 2 fingers of khaki head, very fluffy with a lot of tight bubbles. A decent retention time leaves behind a really nice soapy lacing. This beer isn't fucking around. Let's get the nose.

Wow! First thing I get hit with is a massive amount of chocolate covered raisin and fig. Very rich smelling. The fig smells like it's been hit with a touch of booze. Oh, surprise! It's the bourbon coming through. Lots of vanilla and caramel sweetness. There's a little bit of alcohol on the nose which is doing it's best (and failing) to mask the tart black currants. That's right, you can smell the currants on the nose. It's subtle but plays really nicely off the chocolate, vanilla, caramel sweetness. There's a bit of a dark chocolate, almost bakers chocolate on the nose, probably from the nibs. Reminds me a bit of a piece of chocolate cake. Just a really, really great smelling beer. I'm ready to throw down. Let's do some drinking!

Yep. Follows the nose to a T. Big chocolate covered raisins. A lot of caramel sweetness, vanilla, booze, a nice sort of bourbon sweetness. A little bit of alcohol on the back end. You get a nice little pop of black currants on the sides of the palate and a bit on the back end. That cocoa nib character is a little more subdued than it is on the nose. You get a nice cocoa after taste but it's not really as noticeable anywhere else. But seriously, who gives a shit? Everything else going on with this beer is just a masterpiece. As it warms up I get a ton of date/fig character. Very chewy and sweet. The caramel and vanilla sweetness in this thing is really nice.

So overall, Black Butte XXV is simply amazing. Everything plays so well off each other in this. Even though there's a touch of alcohol it's not taking away from the beer. This beer is made to be consumed a little less than a year from now. I'd be interested to see how the black currants do with some age. They are noticeable throughout this beer. Will they provide more of a sour bite to the beer? Maybe. They could completely fade out. Either way, get two bottles of this. Drink one now. Drink one a year from now. So worth the price tag of $16. You won't be disappointed and honestly if you are, you might have some issues. Another awesome beer from Deschutes!

Rating: A+