The Abyss

Pours black as a starless night. Motor oil thick. A velvet espresso head heavy enough to hold secrets dark and hidden. Oak and coffee. Old raisins, dry and sweet. Not for the timid, The Abyss demands a worthy adversary. Drink it slowly. Linger in its depths.

The Abyss - Deschutes Brewery, Bend, Oregon

Just figured I’d start off with a Cormac McCarthyesque review of Deschutes Brewery’s newest Reserve Release - The Abyss. Unfortunately I doubt if I will be considered for the Pulitzer Prize for Beer Reviews.

In the first sip I can really taste the oak. Really. Like sucking on an acorn or making out with a squirrel. Coffee and raisins as well. Hippy baristas. A huge, delicious stout.

I’m a big fan of oatmeal stouts. The silky mouth feel that the oatmeal imparts acts as the perfect balance to the big malty flavors associated with most of the strong stouts. Without the oatmeal, I find many of these brews to be less palatable. But not this one. The Abyss is silky and sweet and malty and thick and delicious. The first sip starts with coffee and ends with a woodsy, oaky finish. This really is a delicious beer. If you can find one, buy it and drink it.

Initial music pairing - The National – Boxer

Some albums ease you in. Some artists slowly bring you up to speed. Often the listener is permitted a couple of tracks to allow the head a chance to catch up to the ears. But on this album the first track, Fake Empire, demands some sort of immediate response. Discordance in both tempo and tone rule the day. It feels as if the band is shoving this album in your face, almost insisting that you make a snap judgment. Damn that’s a good song.

The sixth track, Slow Show, offers up a timely chorus for those of you born on our nation’s bicentennial. “You know I dreamed about you, for 29 years, before I saw you.” The first Deschutes Reserve brew was released in 2005. Coincidence? I think not. At least for those born in ‘76. Drink, listen and enjoy.