Black Butte XXXII
Deschutes Brewery

Pours a dark cola brown and settles as nearly black in the glass with a sudsy light tan head. Nutmeg and citrus aromas led on the nose, with a significant roasty note as well.

The nutmeg and citrus are forward on the taste as well, but it’s the rich roasty coffee flavor and a nice dollop of vanilla that provide balance and really make this BA imperial porter shine, with the barrel providing some needed warmth at the back of the palate. Truly a pleasure to drink.

The mouthfeel is fairly rich and and creamy and satisfying, a perfect sipper on a chilly evening. This is really well done, and a beer I’d visit again.

 

12oz bottled 6/16/20, opened 10-9-21.
1 finger beige head, limited retention and holds at a thin cap and ring.
Black core with dark brown edges. Spotty and slippery lacing.
Mix of roasted malt char, orange oil, wood, and boozy rum in the aroma.
Deep and dark malt flavors, a little vanilla shows itself...coffee is mostly faded there's a hint of bean bitterness but just a hint. The orange peel essence is surprisingly strong in the flavor as well and the sweet rum caps it all off.
Medium-plus body, slick/oil mouthfeel. Lengthy finish with an intense roastiness and some abv heat.
Outstanding.

Pours almost black with a nice tan head with decent lacing.

Taste coffee and vanilla up front and is very pleasant then the nutmeg and orange peel show up. The rum barrel comes in the middle of it all and has a wonderful lingering finish. Decent viscosity and done nicely.

12 ounce bottle into a snifter. Bottled 6/16/20, had 1/28/21.

Pours a dark cola color, mostly opaque, with a half inch foamy head and some foamy lacing. Aromas of rum, coffee, vanilla, some chocolate and cocoa, light orange peel, light oak and char, a hint of nutmeg. The flavors are a little more focused- rum, coffee, orange peel, vanilla, some chocolate, a little nutmeg in the aftertaste. Smooth, a very good medium to full body, well carbonated.

A really well done and enjoyable blend. Solid barrels and coffee, the orange peel is prominent is the flavor and works well. Appreciate the creativity and daring that have gone into the last two editions.

Purchased at Bound Beverage in Warrington, PA on 4-23-21. Bottles say brewed on 6-16-20 so this batch is about 10 months old. Not exactly fresh so maybe this will be a good thing.

Pours a deep brown color, totally opaque. Pours with a slight mocha colored head that quickly fades to a skim.

Aroma is very welcoming with a mix of booziness, vanilla and coffee.

The taste is phenomenal. Flavors of bitter coffee mixed with a nice backbone of sweetness. The rum barrel aging adds a great flavor but doesn’t overpower the beer at all. Dangerously drinkable even at an ABV of 13.4%.

Very smooth feel with low to moderate carbonation.

Overall an exceptional porter. The 10 months of pre-purchase aging I think mellowed out the “burn” you sometimes get from fresh, high ABV beers. Definitely a sipper but so easy to drink. A definite treat to savor and enjoy. Cheers!

 

12oz bottle purchased at Pilgrim's, in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, for $5.59. According to the stamp on the label, this was bottled on June 16th, 2020.

Poured into a snifter, this was a very dark shade of brown, virtually black, with a decent sized tan colored head for such a strong, barrel aged beer. "Beer neglige" style lace.

The dominant aroma is one of rum. There's some brown sugary notes as well, and a bit of vanilla, but the rum is what stands out the most.

There's a little more to The Taste than the nose. Although rum flavor is very much inn the driver's seat, the vanilla stands out a bit more, as does the coffee, which was pretty much M.I.A. in the nose. I'm not picking up the nutmeg or the orange peel, however.

Not as full bodied as I expected. It's not thin, but it's not as big as I expected. Creamy mouthfeel.

Interestingly, although the rum flavor is quite strong, there isn't all that much alcohol "heat" coming with it. It's all quite devastatingly drinkable. However, it doesn't strike me as overly "portery", in that I'm not getting the roasty character from the malts that I would expect. It is quite good, and I'm very glad it's in a 12oz serving that has dispensed with the heavy wax of the old bombers. That would be too much of a good thing at this time of night.

Poured into a Fremont small snifter. Pours a very dark mahogany brown, appearing opaque black in the glass with quarter finger dark khaki head that dissipates to a thick cap with solid lacing. Aroma of dark toasted malt, cocoa, light coffee, vanilla an vague citrus. Flavor is dark toasted malt, rum, dark chocolate, mild coffee and light orange peel. Slightly boozy finish with residual rum and orange. Medium bodied with light to moderate creaminess. The malt body is familiar from past iterations and is one of my favorite imperial porter profiles. The rum barrel character is quite clear and this is hot enough that it has the appearance of actual rum added to the porter. Orange is an afterthought, but adds a small bit of character to the fruit from the rum. Coffee is present, but not forward. I like the change to 12 oz. bottles and would have picked up a few more of these, but coffee in stouts, as delicious as it is, keep me awake at night, so one of these will have to do this year. One of my all time favorite annual traditions and this one is fine.

Poured from 12oz bottle into my BeerAdvocate teku. Packaged on 6/16/20.

Appearance: rich, dark, murky brown hue, with a thick finger of frothy tan foam atop. I think it looks good!

Smell: sweet, creamy, malty, and roasty; there's hints of toffee and crème brûlée in here. Hints of booze and wood are subtler; I'm also getting what I perceive as a hint of vegetal quality. It's quite good, if not perfect.

Taste: the flavor has less of a pastry character, and more of a boozy, rummy character -- which, to me, is welcome. There's some dusty roast in here backup up the sweet toffee, plus hints of date and tobacco as well as perhaps a little bit of chocolate. There's a more satisfying complexity to the flavor than to the aroma -- and I'm here for it.

Mouthfeel: medium body with a bit of stickiness and a pretty good carbonation. Perhaps a little bit thinner than I'd anticipated, but still quite good.

Overall: I like this beer. The flavor is richer and more complex than the aroma would suggest, and, while it's not perfect, is damn good.

 

 

 

 

 

Dark brown with reddish brown highlights, this beer is capped with a brown head with good retention and lacing. The nose opens with orange peel, rum and cocoa, a Cointreau like blend. Mild cinnamon and nutmeg are present. Dark caramel , a touch of coffee are present. The palate opens with a prominent nutmeg note that complements the orange peel quite well. This is followed by a rather boozy rum character, a blend of brown sugar, vanilla and alcohol. The booze amplifies the nutmeg. The rum notes also pair nicely with the coconut flavors here. Cocoa and dark caramel are present on the finish. The rum character is a little astringent. Medium full in body and softly carbonated, this is a boozy treat. Still, the astringency is a little harsh, hindering drinkability.

Picked up a 4-pack of 12 oz bottles from the Craft Beer Quick Stop 7-31-20 for $19.99. Packaged 6-16-20; consumed bottle 1 on 11-6-20. Glory Hallelujah - Deschutes has gone to a small bottle format for hopefully the entire Reserve series!!

Beer poured dark brown with a nice brown head that dissipated quickly.

Nose is boozy from the rum barrels with the base roasted malts coming though as well.

Taste is a huge mild to medium roasted malt base with rum overtones coming in along with vanilla. Finishes balanced with almost a tiramisu finishing flavor. Initial sips are major warming from the barrels.

Mouthfeel is medium bodied and very smooth.

Overall a good use of the rum barrels with the ingredients. Definitely different but a good different!