Deep In The Cold Ground
Obelisk Beer Company

Deep In The Cold GroundDeep In The Cold Ground
Beer Geek Stats
From:
Obelisk Beer Company
 
Oregon, United States
Style:
American Imperial Stout
ABV:
13%
Score:
+7 ratings needed
Avg:
4.25 | pDev: 4%
Ratings:
3 | reviews: 3
Status:
Active
Rated:
Jan 09, 2026
Added:
Jul 14, 2025
Wants:
  0
Gots:
  0
Imperial stout blended with whiskey barrel aged stout

A beer as formidable as the name, but far more pleasant an experience to drink. We brewed a massive imperial stout, boiled for an exhausting amount of time to caramelize and concentrate the sugars, filled some barrels with it, but kept a portion in the tank. We then blended some stout that had been aging in whiskey barrels for over a year and blended it with this fresh batch to add some extra complexity of charred oak and vanilla. The final blend is around ~40% barrel aged to 60% fresh stout.

This is a rich, slow sipper with flavors of dark chocolate, roasty coffee, star anise, molasses, oak, and figs. Passing on this beer would be a grave mistake.
Recent ratings and reviews.
Photo of ricke49
Reviewed by ricke49 from Oregon

4.49/5  rDev +5.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5
At 13% ABV an alcohol burn would be expected, but this blended stout is incredibly smooth. I’ve enjoyed several Obelisk ‘big’ brews over the past 6 months. To me, they represent the peak of Northwest breweries in offering popularly priced* rich & heavy brews. *in other words not $25 bottles. Astoria is lucky to have this brewery in it’s semi-quiet west-end business district.
Jan 09, 2026
Photo of LiquidAmber
Reviewed by LiquidAmber from Washington

4.18/5  rDev -1.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Poured into a Fremont small snifter. Pours a very dark mahogany brown, appearing nearly opaque in the glass with a thin khaki head that dissipates to sparse patches with slight lacing. Aroma of dark toasted malt, bakers chocolate, light dry caramel and molasses. Flavor is dark toasted malt, bakers chocolate, dark molasses, hints of woody oak and dry caramel. Light bitterness in finish. Medium bodied with moderate creaminess. A nice deep stout with light barrel character, but quite nice chocolate and suggestions of caramel. Flavor depth is a little dialed back for a barrel stout, likely due to the blending. Still, overall a fine, flavorful big stout. Somewhat more cheerful than the can graphics indicate.
Aug 15, 2025
Photo of vurt
Reviewed by vurt from Oregon

4.08/5  rDev -4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4
This is a blend of whiskey barrel-aged and unbarreled imperial stout. It has the deep caramel richness that only comes from a long, long boil. It is opaque black with burnt umber highlights, and proudly bears a thick head of foam the color and consistency of espresso crema. The flavor leads with caramel, butterscotch, coffee, a few shavings of dark chocolate, and deep, deep char. There are also plenty of dark berry flavors, with a twinge of oak and a formidable earthy bitterness. It is more bittersweet than sweet, and I like that. Barrel character is restrained, but effective. Body like an amazon wrapped in a black velvet bodysuit. Soft carbonation sparkles like the stars in the midnight sky over the desert.

If the taste were equal to the look and feel, this would be one of the best beers of the year for me. As it happens, the char is a bit heavy-handed, and knocks the balance of flavors off-center. Also, it could use a bit more barrel character. The description puts the barrel-aged/fresh stout proportions at 40%/60%. A 50/50 split might give it the nudge it needs for greatness.

That said, it's still a terrific stout, and I hope to nab another can to enjoy when the weather is colder at the end of the year.
Jul 14, 2025