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+

Uinta Brewing Co. - Oak Jacked Imperial Pumpkin

It's finally the weekend! Seriously, this has been the week from hell for me work wise. I'm ready to unwind. I'm ready to kick back and do nothing. I'm ready to get some serious beer drinking done. That's right. Opening up some good stuff this weekend and I'm starting tonight with another beer from one of my personal favorites.

Tonight I'm drinking another beer from Uinta, their Crooked Line series to be exact. Tonight I've got their Oak Jacked Imperial Pumpkin which is a pumpkin beer (if you didn't know from the name already) aged in Oak Barrels. This one comes in at 10.31% abv (you know, Halloween) and this particular bottle is over a year old with a bottled date of 8/28/12. So, a little age on this one. Let's get it poured and I'll give you my thoughts on the Oak Jacked Imperial Pumpkin.

The OJIP pours out a really nice dark amber-ruby red-mahogany color. Lots of that ruby red on the bottom of the glass as it rounds up to the sides. There's about a finger and a half of a white, fluffy, billowy head. It doesn't stick around too long and leaves behind a very sticky and soapy lacing. There's a moderate amount of carbonation coming up from the sides and bottom of the glass. This looks like a real nice beer, definitely got the autumn colors going on. Let's get the nose.

Interestingly enough, the first thing I'm picking up is dark fruits. Plum, raisin, maybe some cherry kind of sweetness. There's some earthy kind of bitterness kind of tucked behind those fruits possibly even from those oak barrels. There's a bit of a yeasty ester and some breads. You get some brown sugar, nutmeg, some subtle cinnamon spices here. To be completely honest here, I'm not picking up a lot of pumpkin or gourd on the nose. If it's there I may just be missing it (as I'm typing this someone is outside smoking and it's kind of wafting into my room). With that said, let's see how the OJIP tastes. There's bound to be some pumpkin there.... I hope!

There we go! Right away you get sweet pumpkin. Really glad it's there. That pumpkin character coats the entire palate with it's richness. Right behind that initial blast of pumpkin you get those spices, lots of brown sugar, maybe even a bit of a buttery note. Sides of the palate you get a little more of the brown sugar, some of those dark fruits come through too. Back end of this you more creaminess, more pumpkin, sweet caramel shining through, little bit of earthy tones. As I let the flavors linger a bit and the beer warms a tad, those oak characters really start to make their appearance. Big woody notes. Really plays well off the pumpkin here.

So overall, this beer is pretty good. I'm still not sold on Pumpkin beers and this is really the 2nd one I've had this season with Fat Jack from a week or two ago being the other. Comparing the two I'd have to lean more towards the Fat Jack. It's a bit more balanced and a bit more true to what I'm looking for. Saying that, the Oak Jacked Imperial Pumpkin is solid, bordering on good. Really surprised not to get much pumpkin on the nose and I think that might be why the Fat Jack was a bit better for me. Either way, get this one if you can and give it a try. Chances are, the bottle you get will already have about a year on it.

Rating: B

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+

Stone Brewing - Old Guardian (Oak Smoked)

I'm going to be honest here for a minute. Right from the start, pure honesty because that's the kind of guy I am. Honest.

I fucking love Barleywines. I absolutely fucking love them. 

So late winter when the breweries start dropping their yearly barleywine releases I get excited. I anticipate the new Bigfoot, the new Sucaba, the new Old Ruffian, the new... Old Guardian.

That's right. Tonight I'm drinking another Stone release (two Stone reviews in a row, wtf?!), the 2013 Old Guardian. But this isn't your regular Old Guardian. Oh no, tonight, we've got the Oak Smoked Old Guardian. Needless to say, we're not fucking around with this barleywine. Let's get it poured!

The 2013 Old Guardian pours out an absolutely beautiful ruby red with about a half finger of a completely white head that is sticking around for what seems like a fucking eternity. As it gets absorbed back into itself it leaves behind a real nice sticky lacing all around the glass. It looks like Spiderman made an appearance. Luckily, he didn't steal my beer. There is quite a bit of carbonation on this beer streaming up from the bottom of the glass. The beer is very see through with some nice chill haze on the glass. It looks like a real nice barleywine. I mean, about as good as a barleywine can look... which is real nice... nice, right?

The first thing I get on the nose of this beer is campfire smoke. There is no doubt about it, this is a smoked beer. And it's very pleasant. I've never had a smoked barleywine. I'm getting a nice malty character coming through behind the smoke. Big surprise I know, it's a barleywine! If there wasn't a malt character then something would seriously be wrong. I'm getting a bit of a dark fruit character, maybe some plums. Also getting some cherries. Cherry pie filling, cherry juice. It's not too sweet. Smells real fresh. I'm getting some sweet raisins, maybe even a sugary raisin character. There's almost a quad like character coming through with the dark fruits, the sugary fruits and the sweet malts. Smells really great. Let's drink up!

Right away I'm getting sweet malts and some dark fruit. Surprisingly enough, not a lot of smoke right away. I'm tasting the cherry juice like characters for sure. Middle of the mouth you get the hop bitterness that is a trademark of pretty much all Stone beers. It's not in your face like an IPA, but the bitterness is there. You get that campfire smoke flavor here as well. It's not overpowering and not as strong as the nose. I'm a bit surprised. I thought it'd be the first thing I was hit with. Back end of this beer you get a lot of earthy, wood like characters. It's definitely from the Oak. It's very nice. There is a lot of a charred wood here. More smoke. The slightest, and I mean slightest, bit of alcohol on the back end. At 11.4% abv it's to be expected I think. It doesn't take away from anything on this beer though.

Overall, this is a really solid beer from Stone. I'm not the biggest Old Guardian fan. I find it to often be a bit too hoppy. The oak/smoke in this beer is real nice at cutting the hop bite that I've always found in the OG. I'd be very interested in trying the barrel aged version of this which I believe just came out as well. For the price (I think I paid $11 for it) I'd say it's well worth it. If you like Barleywines and smoked beers, this is for you. I'd like to try this with a little age on it. Maybe try it again in December and again later in 2014.

Rating: A-

Wife hated it. Said it sucked. Not a fan of smoke/campfire. She's lame. More for us!