Sympathy for the Abyss
Brewery Faisan

16-ounce can courtesy of the generous Whyteboar. No date stamp. Enjoyed in a nonic half-pint glass.

Look:
The beer is burnt umber with deep amber highlights. A moderately heavy pour raises a tall and eager head of light brown foam which leaves a few scraps of lacing. The foam actually lasts all the way to the bottom of the glass.

Smell:
The nose is more roasty and grainy than hoppy, and offers dark malt, coffee, and some bittersweet chocolate.

Taste:
The flavor also leans more heavily towards roast, opening with dark chocolate, burnt wheat toast, and coffee. A roasty and resiny bitterness slams through the middle, accompanied by hints of caramel, toasted grains, and orange peel. The bitterness recedes a bit in the finish, opening the door for notes of cocoa powder and coffee hard candy.

Feel:
Medium-bodied with moderate carbonation which punches way above its weight when it comes to generating foam.

Overall:
This is one of those black IPAs that's closer to a hoppy American Stout than an IPA. Fortunately, I enjoy hoppy stouts, so I liked this beer just fine.

The pour is dark, not quite stout black but dark. Rather goes with the style, no?
The head deserves a mention, it was tall and proud. The lacing was in sheets, or rather a sheet of lacing.
The taste is mild for the style, yet complex. A tiny bit of biscuit and coffee and a fair amount of hops. Not much piney bitterness, but definitely hops. It’s all relatively mild.
The feel is properly light, not quite crisp. But it works for me.
OA, a tasty Cascadian ale that I will have no problem finishing the 4 pack.

Sympathy for the Abyss from Brewery Faisan. 16 fl oz can picked up at Siciliano’s, Grand Rapids, MI, 23/08/25 - $ 5.07 (including tax and deposit)/$ 0.311/fl oz. Reviewed 26/09/25, review 3597. Note that I use DD/MM/YY protocol.
Undated can. On room temperature shelf at store, stored at home at 40 degrees F. Served at 46.5 degrees F in a hand washed and dried Jester King snifter. The final temperature is 53.0 degrees F.
Appearance – 4
First pour – Deep Amber (SRM 15), clear.
Body – Ruby Brown (SRM 24), opaque. Under direct light, same. When rear-lite, light barely passes through – ruby.
Head – Large (Maximum five cm, aggressive center pour). Moccasin, high density, average retention, leaving a 1.8 cm crown and complete, convex cap.
Lacing – Fair. Multiple islands of small to large bubbles and a wide band of the same.
Aroma – 3.5 – Weak roasted malt, no hops, no alcohol.
Flavor – 4 – Distinctly bitter with roasted malt. No hops, no alcohol (6 % ABV, according to the label). No dimethylsulfide or diacetyl. Mild gastric warming.
Palate – 4 – Medium: slightly creamy: Soft carbonation.
Style: Follows the style guidelines as condensed by BA.
Final impression and summation: 3.75 (After deducting 0.25 point for an undated can) Uncredited art work. Decent Cascadian IPA.