Abyss

Abyss has a "drink after", not a "drink by" date. This is the case with many of the other Deschutes specialty beers.

I love Abyss. I think that it has such a unique flavor profile compared to many of the other barrel aged stouts out there, and I like that it's not on the sweet side of that genre.

I just cracked my bottle of 2013 Abyss. It was outstanding. I hope I can get one of this year's.

 

I've been buying Abyss since 2009 when I happened to get an uninfected bottle and shortly after realized I'd stumbled across a pretty scarce beer. It was also the very first real craft beer I'd ever had, go figure.

Anyway, I've had the last 5 years fresh and with at least a year on them. I do a rolling 4-year vertical with them now and I've come to the conclusion that they're best with a year to eighteen months on them, get a little messy in the 2-3 year range, then mellow out to a VERY complex and enjoyable stout in years 4/5.

Of course, palates are unique and my sweet spot with Abyss might not be the same for everyone else, but those who poo-poo it when they crack it open the night of purchase might consider this just happens to be one of those beers which need some cellar time.

I fully understand people who crap on Deschutes for selling beer they admit won't be at its peak for another year, but it clearly states an 'after' date on the bottle and I feel like they've had enough time with this recipe to make educated calls on when the beer's at its peak.

 

I bought 3 at WF Folsom and that was two too many. I've always thought it was a very good if not slightly overrated beer, but this year's is not working for me in the least. The bitter coffee bean roastiness with the wine barrel is overbearing. Hopefully it will be better after aging for a bit, but if you aren't a wine fan, I would let this one sit or just pass altogether.

 

Was at Bottle Barn grabbing some crooked stave the other day and didn't notice em. Maybe gone already? Love bottle barn and throw them a lot of my business but I live right around the corner from bevmo and sometimes get lazy.

 

after talking to some folks about this very thing, I wouldn't count on it. Deschutes has a bug in their butts about over powering the beer. Personally I don't like the use of the three barrels which really one barley tastes as they don't do it very long or much of it. Like you said, do 100 percent of each barrel and make three variants. But that's probably not going to happen either. Abyss is so a decade ago imo.

 

Yes, I was talking about the drink after date. I wrote drink by, but I don't like to edit. I figure everyone knows what I'm talking about with these brews.

 

If they actually did that, it would benefit both them and us. They could potentially triple sales and we'd get better beer. Is the bug in their butt not wanting to admit that The Abyss could be better? It sort of seems like it lol

 

They had about 8 or 9 at Bevmo Brea yesterday.