Abyss

$24? more like $28 +tax around here from what I've seen.

 

I just picked up a scotch barrel for $19 at Safeway ... After perusing this thread, seems like I should go back for a few more.

 

I've been to a few spots in Portland lately that were sold out of both, and a few others that only had one. Last year it seemed like the variants sold out pretty quickly, then further drops were seen in subsequent months that stuck around a while.

 

I haven't cracked my Brandy yet but the Scotch was my favorite of the other three. I'm a huge lover of scotch but typically beer aged in scotch barrels ends up being so peaty that I just wish I'd poured myself a Laphroiag. Abyss is the first I've had that was big enough to stand up to those barrels.

As for regular Abyss, I drink one fresh every year almost out of obligation but cellar as many as I can afford to because they're always so much better after a few years.

 

$24.99 has been the standard price I've seen in Seattle.

 

Still a good/great beer, but I also agree with you. Mostly i think the price point isnt competitive for me. There are plenty of Imp. stouts and BA imperial stouts that I prefer that are also cheaper.

12oz cans of Even more Jesus for $3.99
Lagunitas Imp Stout - 24oz for $4
KDS - $17 (and WAY better IMO)
Bells expedition stout (which a few places got last year) - 12oz bottles for $3
pFriem BA Stout - $8.99 for 13oz bottle
Dragons Milk - 12oz for $3.99
Lagunitas HW - 12oz for $2

and on and on and on.

 

This stuff is all over the place and way easier to obtain this year than last year's variants were at this same time a year ago (I acknowledge that last year's showed up again months later in pockets here and there after they were seemingly "gone for good").

I also got my variants at JB's (Spokane) last Feb. and that was the only place I ever ran into them. This year, I keep finding one variant or another at different locations. My local small town food co-op has the Brandy and the local wine shop has plenty of both. (It seems like at most places I've been to that only have one variant, it is usually the Brandy that they have. Either they made more of that, or less people are buying it than they are the Scotch.) Total Wine Northgate had only the Scotch when I was in the area visiting with family last weekend.

Haven't tried either yet. Of the two from last year, I liked the Rye the best. I thought the Cognac was...weird, though drinkable. But neither held a candle to what in my mind is the pinnacle of Deschutes' barrel-aged achievements: Black Butte Cubed. What a brew.

-- Nathan

 

If you're still looking for variants, I saw them at Shoreline Central Market.

 

Whole Foods RSQ has a ton of variants at multiple spots throughout the store.

WinCo in Kent also got more variants for $21.88.

 

I care -sigh- Oh well, No FOMO. I keep telling myself that.

 

The Variants are spendy but on the other hand they are 100% barrel aged for 1 year. For me, the Scotch takes the win this year.

 

See, this is what still boggles my mind about the PNW. I stopped by tonight a full 5 nights and one Zwickelmania after these beers were put on tap and there were SEVEN variants of Abyss available - the 4 single barrel versions + tap+ nitro + cask conditioned with coffee. And this wasn't at a sleepy spot like Upright, i had to elbow my way around to find a spot at the bar! Why is beer so bountiful in the PNW?

 

Here is my opinion. Deschutes makes an absolute shit-ton of it. Even the "rare" 100% BA versions are mass produced. Last year I hopped on the Cognac and Whiskey BA variants quickly, and then I would see them by the case 6 months later at Fred Meyer. Then at this years release I saw a tower of last years variants in the tap room.

 

we like to drink rye abyss, taste like more and more

 

-sigh- I have one 2010 left in my cellar. I would love to drink someone else's.