Thoughts on Abyss '15.

I've had my '14 sitting and I'm getting into it New years eve so I hope some age helped it out. I haven't seen '15 on shelves yet in the Bay Area ( or maybe it's just my spots lol) but looking forward to grabbing some for sure.

 

Hopefully, I can get a bottle or two around here.

Cheers!

 

Well, I checked the Deschutes beer finder for the western part of LA and apparently only Total Wine, BevMo and a couple of better beer shops got it. This means it's probably all gone already.

This beer has always been tough to find in LA for some reason.

 

Check Beverage Warehouse. They always used to hold a bunch in the back.

 

Tastes the same as last years and the year before that.

 

Someone's trying to re-up Abyss's trade value.

 

Agreed, this year's is far better than last year's offering. Haven't had any older vintages fresh to compare this to, but 2015>2014

 

When I first started trading, abyss got me everything lol. It's still a good beer, wish it was still 12.99 tho : /

 

Agreed on this years being better fresh.

 

I'm with those who feel that this year's vintage is much better off the bat. Last year, by way of the most recent comparison, I distinctly recall a borderline harsh Pinot barrel note around release time. It also felt a bit thin. But after ~6 months, I thought it was great. I suspect even more time will help that vintage come together and reach its potential. This year, it has already tasted deeper, fuller, with more licorice and more well-rounded barrel character. It bodes well...

For those who reflexively and dismissively assume that every vintage is the same, you might wish to consider that this year's was almost 25% more barrel-aged than last year's, and presumably also spent an additional month or so in those barrels. Quite possibly, certain adjuncts may have also been adjusted in their proportion. It's not just the same beer every year.

 

I would also agree that the 2015 was better than 2014. Problem is I splurged on a 2008 from Bottleworks last year, and that vintage topped 2012-2015 easily.

 

I've seen bottles around me, but haven't bought one yet. The price seems to have actually gone down a this year; has anybody else noticed this?

 

haha.na i dont think so man is that what they do where you are from?
usually people around here don't care about that

 

Local Albertsons has both '14 and '15 on tap right now, so I hope to do a side by side tonight. I've also got bottles of both sitting in the cellar for a much later date.

 

That's funny. I had last years a few months ago and thought it was 'muddy'. My buddy said it was 'comlex'. I argued because I couldn't taste anything standing out. Just hearty.

 

I got some at the BevMo on Santa Monica at La Brea about 6 months after the release a year or two ago. I think this beer has kind of fallen through the cracks for most people these days. That store had a lot of goodies and didn't seem to be really picked over.

 

Which got it recalled from Ohio shelves since it's above our 12% cap. A few lucky souls got it before it got pulled back. Oh well, the 2014 is drinking pretty well right now.

 

I had it for the first time as the 2014 edition. Since then, I ran into an aged version the 2013 edition on tap, and snagged a bottle of the 2015 while in Chicagoland over Christmas (found a shop that wasn't a Binny's, which just got its shipment the morning I walked in).

I'd say all of them were exceptionally good stouts, though if I absolutely had to split hairs and rank them, I'd put the 2014 at the bottom, the 2015 in the middle, and the 2013 with a little over a year of age on it at the top.