The Abyss (Brandy Barrel-Aged)
Deschutes Brewery

The Abyss (Brandy Barrel-Aged)The Abyss (Brandy Barrel-Aged)
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From:
Deschutes Brewery
 
Oregon, United States
Style:
American Imperial Stout
ABV:
13.4%
Score:
95
Avg:
4.28 | pDev: 6.07%
Reviews:
80
Ratings:
272
Status:
Retired
Rated:
Jan 23, 2024
Added:
Dec 10, 2016
Wants:
  10
Gots:
  77
Enticingly ripe, earthy fruit rudiments awash in the open salt air of Normandy, lightly augmented with mushrooms grown in the depths of the Tronҫais forest. Delicate notes of Livarot glazed with an orange reduction and textured with toasted coconut shavings. Distinct aromas of cinnamon and ulster cherry, foxtrot in time with tangs of vanilla and brown sugar. Balanced, approachable wood zests meld charmingly with the finish of figs and Allegheny plums.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by CraftFan5:
Photo of CraftFan5
Rated by CraftFan5 from New Jersey

4.16/5  rDev -2.8%
look: 5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 5 | overall: 4

Jun 18, 2018
More User Ratings:
Photo of MutuelsMark
Reviewed by MutuelsMark from Kentucky

4.38/5  rDev +2.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5
'Cellared' this bottle from 2016 until January 2024. Poured dark as can be, like ink or tar. Head was dark shade of tan. It was thick and stuck around for quite some time. Nice retention. Also nice lacing. Nose was coffee and sweet burnt caramel. Taste was still a bit charred with a smooth mouthfeel. Very good beer!
Jan 23, 2024
Photo of ilikebeer03
Reviewed by ilikebeer03 from Texas

4.29/5  rDev +0.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25
Drank 4/14/23
Pour is jet black with dense, cap of Creamy mocha colored foam
Nose is roasted malt, vanilla,
Taste is vanilla, roasted malt, dark chocolate, hints of dark cherry and dark berries, hint of tannins. Subtle red wine-ish character.
Finish has coffee, oak, subtle tannin and vanilla.
Smooth creamy body as always.
Apr 15, 2023
Photo of kitch
Reviewed by kitch from Hong Kong

4.49/5  rDev +4.9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
A 22 fl. oz. black waxed bomber, bottled on 9th December 2016. Poured into a snifter glass.

Appearance: Black in colour with a very thin brown head that dissipated fairly quickly but left some nice spotty lacing.

Aroma: Moderate roast, chocolate, coffee, light char, and some sweet notes of molasses, licorice, and brandy.

Taste: Sweet and bitter, roasty, chocolate, coffee, light char smoke, molasses, licorice, vanilla, oak, and a touch of brandy.

Mouthfeel: Smooth, creamy, full bodied with soft carbonation.

Overall: A very nice and enjoyable sipper. There was a good balance between sweet and bitter, and the brandy barrel was complementary and not overpowering.
Feb 10, 2023
Photo of Darkmagus82
Reviewed by Darkmagus82 from Texas

4.59/5  rDev +7.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
2016 vintage (13.3 % ABV) poured from a bottle into a snifter
Appearance – The beer pours a nearly pitch-black color with a small head of fizzy brown colored foam. The thickness of the brew can be well appreciated while pours, having an almost oil like fluidity. The head of the brew fades rather fast, leaving a small amount of streaky spider-web lacing on the sides of the glass. Upon swirling the brew in the snifter thick fingers of beer cling to the sides of the vessel, with them very slowly receding to the base of the glass.
Smell – The aroma is massive of a roasted and toasted malt smell mixed with ample brown sugar and molasses sweetness. Other dark and roasty smells of black coffee and milk chocolate are there as well, adding more roastiness and sweetness to the aroma. Along with these smells come big notes of cherry, raisin, and plum as well as some dark and harsh notes of char and leather. A rather sizable boozy smell is there as well, consisting of a port wine and brandy smell mixed with other rum and spice aromas. Other strong smells of vanilla and crème are there as well, overall producing an aroma that is very robust and big.
Taste – The taste starts out with a massive roasted and dark coffee flavor mixed with a good deal of molasses, brown sugar, and toffee. A big vanilla sweetness and chocolate are right upfront, with the former getting stronger as the taste advances. Along with these flavors are some light cherry and rum soaked raisin flavors as well as dark flavors of leather and char. Other boozy flavors of brandy and port wine as well as some oakiness and earth mix in as well, adding a nice warming taste to the brew. Towards the end of the taste profile the dark and roasty flavors seem to get amplified all while the sweet fade a touch. The coffee gets slightly more bitter in nature, but is even more nicely complimented by the vanilla later in the taste. With a surge of the boozy brandy at the very end, one is left with a rather robust and boozy, roasty and toasty taste to linger on the tongue.
Mouthfeel – The body of the brew is super thick and viscous with a carbonation level that is very low. For the dark, moderate sweetness, and boozy nature of this brew, mixed with the rather intense abv, the feel is fantastic, coating the tastebuds in all the richness and making for one slow and enjoyable sipper.
Overall – A fantastic brew. Big, bold, and boozy but overall, a very balanced robust sipper. This is one of the best varieties of the Abyss I have yet encountered. After nearly 7 years of aging, it held up nearly perfectly. Excellent!!
Jan 03, 2023
 
Rated: 4.48 by scottyshades from Florida

Sep 27, 2022
 
Rated: 4.09 by dshansen1184 from Washington

Feb 19, 2022
 
Rated: 4 by TMoney2591 from Illinois

Nov 27, 2021
Photo of Treyliff
Reviewed by Treyliff from West Virginia

4.41/5  rDev +3%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
22oz glass poured into a snifter

Pours black in color with a one-finger foamy khaki head that reduces to a ring. Smells of dark cherries, raisins, red grapes, chocolate, licorice, caramel and oak. Taste has all of the classic Abyss flavors; dark cherry, licorice, char, chocolate and caramel, with the barrel enhancing the dark fruit notes, as well as the caramel. Slightly oaky finish with more dark fruit on the linger. Medium body with moderate carbonation leads to a creamy mouthfeel that continues into a velvety warming finish
Aug 26, 2021
 
Rated: 4.4 by BKotch from Texas

May 16, 2021
Photo of zonker17
Reviewed by zonker17 from Texas

4.24/5  rDev -0.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
2016 on Apr 17, 2021. Pours black with thick beige head, slight retention minimal lacing. Nose brandy, marshmallow, wood. Boozy, anise, molasses, cocoa. Slight oxidation but not an impairment. Full body and mild carbonation.
Apr 18, 2021
Photo of aleigator
Reviewed by aleigator from Germany

4.31/5  rDev +0.7%
look: 5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
Pours pitch black with a big, fluffy, beige head.

Smells of spicy licorice, earth and old oak among dried, booze enriched fruits.

Drinks thick and smooth, producing a decadent, fuller body, together with a silk carbonation which turns slightly effervescent during its finish.

Tastes of bakers chocolate, glazed toffee and char accompanied, prominent licorice among alcohol soaked grape skins. Turns a little warmer then, with milk chocolate and sugared cherry, balanced by matured, burned wood. Finishes with more burned malts, bitter chocolate, a flowery hint of vanilla and dry, slightly bitter oak.

Tasty, boozy, smooth and warm with a strong roasti- and bitterness, making this intense and silk at the same time.
Jan 23, 2021
 
Rated: 4.25 by zenithberwyn from California

Jun 04, 2020
Photo of SHODriver
Reviewed by SHODriver from North Carolina

4.5/5  rDev +5.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
A: poured into a snifter to a deep black beer topped by a dense and rocky finger of dark tan head which fades slowly to a collar around the edge of the glass with some lacing.
S: Smells of coffee and chocolate with some dark cherry like notes along with a touch of oak and brandy.
T: Taste is coffee and cocoa powder with some nice brandy notes, roasted malts, charred wood, burnt sugar, and oak with a touch more brandy. On the swallow there's more oak and cocoa powder with more brandy, coffee, roasted malts and charred wood.
M: This beer has a thick and silky feel on the palate. Carbonation is on the low end but it's adequate for the style while the beer has a drying finish which is expected.
O: Overall this is really awesome. Abyss is such a great beer already and this is a really nice twist. Great complexity and a really nice blend of flavors make this an outstanding drinking experience.
May 24, 2020
Photo of Zythophile
Reviewed by Zythophile from Washington

3.96/5  rDev -7.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
Bottle Date: 2016
Palate Contaminants: none

You guessed it, color is a nondescript dark brown. Good amount of fine head, although it doesn't stick around or leave much lacing.

Smell has light anise and fudge, but the brandy I carries the day. The brady helps some other scents appear, like plums and dates, but it all goes right back to that wonderful distilled grape liquor.

Taste has a ton of charcoal and black coffee up front. (And in the middle and end.) The bitterness batters down the sweetness that was on the nose. Overall, it's an odd amalgam of bitter stout, smoky scotch, and brandy. (The brandy is the best part, but it's so buried.) Good amount of alcohol in the taste, to boot.

Aftertaste is lingering bitterness. Nicely integrated carbonation. Moderately sticky sweet, somehow. Aforementioned alcohol heat. But that bitterness, though...

I'm disappointed that it's below par for the type because I was really looking forward to this one.
Apr 30, 2020
Photo of Fordcoyote15
Reviewed by Fordcoyote15 from Pennsylvania

4.3/5  rDev +0.5%
look: 5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
I haven't had abyss in years and hated it when I last had it. It was too roasty, bitter, and dirt like. I cellared what I had and thought maybe a few years would change them.

Fast forward to today and my tastes have changed. I appreciate a more roasty and less sweet stout.

I don't know if it's my tastes or just this being a brandy variant but I'm finding it much more palatable. I still wouldn't give abyss the praise that it gets but this is so much more tolerable than previous times having it.
Apr 21, 2020
Photo of beer_banse
Rated by beer_banse from Wisconsin

4.5/5  rDev +5.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
650ML Bottle - Waxed Top - Bottled December 2016 - Great beer and variant
Apr 13, 2020
 
Rated: 4.33 by warrendietrich2001 from Nevada

Feb 20, 2020
 
Rated: 4.5 by MTKATL from Georgia

Sep 21, 2019
 
Rated: 4.68 by buzzedup from Pennsylvania

Aug 24, 2019
The Abyss (Brandy Barrel-Aged) from Deschutes Brewery
Beer rating: 95 out of 100 with 272 ratings