Abyss

Not 100% sure if it was Cognac or Rye, but saw it recently at Stogie & Hops (Lynwood, WA).

Also saw Rye and regular at Central Market Poulsbo. Both Mill Creek and Shoreline Central had regular Abyss last week. PCC Greenlake had regular and Rye last month.

Marina Market in Poulsbo WA had all varieties a couple weeks ago also.

Always check the Metro Markets around Seattle too.

*Side Note* 100% agree with your opinion on the Rusty Nail v Abyss. You could also throw in the Deschutes Black Butte Birthday XXVIII if we are talking readily available stouts/porters vs extremely limited releases in the area.

 

Rye is still around, shouldn't be too tough to find bottles of it.

edit: as @JasonJYoung mentioned, it's Stogies n' Hops. Rye variant.

 

Comments like this have me super excited to crack one of the Abyss bottles in the cellar. I agree the BB XXVIII was great and can still be found everywhere.

 

Hey, what's up Brandon! Curious to hear thoughts on any of the three Abyss variants, when they are consumed.

For real, I'm loving the latest Black Butte Birthday. Unbelievably, I'm still seeing lots of these bottles on shelves throughout town. QFC was knocking a couple dollars off their bottles recently ($14.99). Saw again today for $15.99.

Honestly, it's getting somewhat difficult to distinguish various barrel aged dark beers from one another. Aside from some drinking extremely hot or overly sweet, I don't even stress anymore. Thus, I gotta put Epic's BA Big Bad Baptist ($11.99-$13.99) on the list as a STEAL!!!

 

Hey Jason -
Yeah, BBB XXVIII is their best in at least the last 3 years. I wasn't a fan of the Baptist, but I'll chalk that one up to being an aetheist. Seriously, though I thought the Barrell profile was weak and the body profile too light for me.

Not to say it's bad, just not in the same class as Abyss / BBB / BA Fremont stuff for me. Truly first world problems, but hey I'm not living in Ecuador anymore.

B

 

Deschutes barrel program is top notch. They just make so much of everything that the bottles are lacking a key ingredient of Rarium.

The Black Butte3, BB 28, 2014 Mirror Mirror, BBA Abyss are all world class to me.

 

QFC also knocks another 10% off when you by 6 or more 22oz bottles (mix & match) Drove the price down on the XXVIII to allow me to stock up for the future.

Definitely my favorite beer of the year (so far)

 

Here's hoping Fremont's expansion cuts the amount of Rarium found in their annual BA releases.

 

Saw the regular BA Abyss and Rye Abyss today around Portland. Two different Whole Foods (Burnside & Fremont) and John's Market had them.

Damn, 6 bottles of Black Butte XXVIII for around $81-$82. That is a nice haul indeed!

 

Not sure if any of you guys had murder in the rye but it is one of the best beers I have ever had. It won a gold at GABF under a different name. Sadly it is brewery/pub only and I got the last bottle at the brewery itself, which adds quite a bit to the precious rarium. I know the bend pub was cellaring some and thats why they were "out". Im curious how they intend to bring them out.

 

Hah. So remarkably limited that the PCC by my house still has both variants from last year.

 

Yeah, but it plays well outside the NW. They seem to have gauged their home market pretty well; there are still a few bottles of Rye around town, but not many, and I haven't seen Cognac in a while.

 

I guess Relatively Limited doesn't sound quite as good.

 

Huh, I never had a problem finding them on the shelves months after the release. This year sees both increased production and an increased price tag (now $20 at the brewery) - getting closer to Deschutes variant pricing.

Expect prices for all beers in the Seattle area passing through a distributor to go up a bit beginning with tomorrows orders BTW.

 

You'd think increased production would decrease the price, not increase it.

 

Scotch Barrels are popping up more and more, I really enjoyed Silver City's Big Magnificent Bastard. I feel that Scotch Barrels have much more impact and variability though, for the most part Bourbon tastes like Bourbon, there is some variance sure, but not nearly as much when you're comparing an Islay Scotch to one from the Highlands, etc... Nice to see more than just "we Bourbon barreled the balls off of this beer!"

 

A lot of Craft is going up on 10/1. I've heard its mostly going to be breweries like Deschutes, Sierra, Full Sail, etc... Who haven't had a price increase in years, expect the new price floor to be $11-12 / six pack, or $1.89+ / 12 oz.

We shall see.

 

What's the reasoning/justification/law behind the increase?

 

That brandy barrel Abyss sounds divine.