Deschutes Tasting at the Foundry

I ventured out of my beer cave and went down to the Foundry for their Deschutes kick-off party Monday night. I was stoked to get a taste of The Abyss and The Butte XXIII without popping open my bottles. Each of these beers have been taunting me every time I open my fridge, with a song that could be My Last Serenade. I fought back temptation and will now tailgate each of these brews with a pour from The Foundry.


The first time around I ordered the whole flight which included Mirror Pond, Black Butte, The Abyss, Black Butte XXIII, and Hop Henge. I’ve already professed my love and affection for Mirror Pond and Hop Henge so those were no surprise. Black Butte is within recent memory so no surprises there either. Here it is, it’s what I’ve came for The Abyss and to a much lesser amount of anticipation Butte XXIII. I’m used to getting my hands on limited release brews at the liquor store and then armor car-ing them back to my place. There, I share with the members of the FatCat crew in the protection of the casa de FatCat. However, on Monday I felt like Indiana Jones on another impossible mission through the urban jungle of Westport. The thoughts of all that could go wrong running through my head (parking tickets, no tables, incorrect tapping information, and the list goes on) but I pushed through for the treasure.

The Abyss

11% ABV

65 IBUs

My first rendition of The Abyss was presented to me in a taster glass. The nose was promising with chocolaty aromas possessing a sticky sweet character. The nose heightens my anticipation of the greatness of this brew. I take a taste and I am hit with a much thinner mouthfeel than expected and some sourness on the finish. Usually sourness is associated with a bacterial infection affectionately referred to as Brett. I let the brew warm to coax out some more character but the amount in the taster glass was insufficient. I ordered a full pour of the Abyss, which came out in a tulip glass. The sourness was still there but was considerably subdued over what I experienced in the taster glass. The mouthfeel thickened a bit as it warmed and had a mouth coating sticky character. The Abyss did possess an exceptional deep chocolate character early in the palate before the sourness took over in the middle. There was some oak character present but masked by the sourness. This was not what I was expecting out of one of my Pegasus brews. The Abyss has positive attributes, but didn’t live up to the hype for me. Between Parabola, The Czar, and Oaked Aged Yeti I have been a very very spoiled beer geek in the realm of Imperial Stouts lately.

Black Butte XXIII

11% ABV

55 IBUs

Onward fellow treasure hunters, time to check out the Black Butte XXIII. Black Butte XXIII is an imperial version of Black Butte Porter with orange zest, chocolate nibs, and Pasilla chillies thrown in. Sounds a little crazy to me. The nose gives hint to a thick sweet brew with rich chocolaty aromas coming through. XXIII start with a good thick mouthfeel and big sweetness. The citrus character of the orange peel starts in the middle of the palate and persists into the finish. The chocolate nibs are well hidden and are only briefly detectable in the middle of the palate. I did start getting some more chocolate as the brew warmed up to room temperature but was never overwhelming. The sweetness and the citrus orange peel character are married throughout this brew and last into the finish. The finish was very unique with both sweetness and citrus bite playing around. I didn’t detect the chilies in this. It was amazing how well the orange/citrus character complimented the big sweetness in this brew. The Butte XXIII was the winner of the night and I came away with treasure I didn’t expect. Awesome!

Cheers!

To Infinity and Beyond with Hop Henge

8.5% ABV
95 IBUs

Deschutes has brought their second round of releases to our area giving us THE ABYSS!!!!, Hop Henge, and the Stoic.  My Abyss has been stowed away for a special occasion, I passed on the $13.00 bottle of Stoic, and I picked up the amazingly priced Hop Henge IPA.  I’ve been happy with the complexity of the Deschutes brews I’ve tried so far.  Will Hop Henge be out of this world or will it be just another in a long line of mediocre IPAs?  Put on your space suits boys and girls we might be the first beer geeks in space!

To start with, this would be classified as an Imperial IPA based on the 8.5% ABV.  Hop Henge starts off with a somewhat small one finger head.  The nose exhibits some very familiar sour grapefruit aroma with some grainy sweetness in the background.  I remember thinking, “Well this smell is similar to tons of other IPAs, how different could it be?”  My cynicism subsided and I was ready to dive into the brew.  Holy Crap, huge flavor pops you in the mouth.  There is a medium mouthfeel with a good crisp quality aiding in the drinkability factor.  An excellent malt backbone greets you early in the palate with a balanced sweetness and subtle caramel notes.  Following the malt is an orgy of citrus hop character headlined by a light grapefruit character.  The bitterness comes in about mid-palate and coats your entire mouth without any astringency.  The bitterness last into the finish and lingers on after you swallow.  The lingering bitterness is usually when the harsher hop characters become apparent, but Hop Henge’s lingering bitterness is a welcome attribute.  I would even go as far as to say the bitterness has an addictive quality.  WOW this one is awesome!

Now there could be several reasons I’m in love with this brew: 1. It really is freakin’ awesome; 2. My palate is in need of a break from giant imperial stouts; 3. The only IPAs I’ve had in the past 3 months have been astringent fresh hop ales, so the bitterness in this beer seems way more balanced.  Right now I’ll rate this brew with 4 drunken gnomes until I can compare it to some other Imperial IPAs to confirm its greatness.  However I think this has the potential to be an Epic brew after further testing.

Some of you may be questioning my use of UFOs and outer space references in this post.  Deschutes names this IPA after Stonehenge and dawns a likeness of it on the label.  I remember watching a documentary about the involvement of aliens in the construction of man kinds early construction wonders (Stonehenge, The Pyramids, etc.).  It was on Discovery Channel or National Geographic so it must be true right?  Doing a quick search I think you can actually watch the documentary on YouTube to prove FatCat isn’t off his rocker.  It really is mind boggling how ancient people mined and moved 25 ton stones that are harder than granite.  No I’m not a diehard alien existence believer but the possibility that aliens helped ancient humans build stuff is entertaining. According to Joe Rogan another theory is there used to be a race of super smart humans that built these monuments.  However the dumb people outbred the smart people to the point smart people became extinct.  Some days it appears Joe Rogan may be correct.

Cheers!

Mirror Pond Pale Ale

5.0% ABV

Deschutes has landed and I’ve already sampled 50% of their offerings.  Who’s in for going for 100%?  Me, Me, Me.  Next up is the Mirror Pond Pale Ale for the second and final Deschutes year round brew in our area. 

The Mirror Pond pours with a pillow of fluffy white head.  Sour grapefruit aromas pour out of the top of glass inviting further investigation.  The first drink leaves me amazed at how big of flavor there is in this pale ale.  The brew starts with a toasted biscuit character and leads into a wonderful citrus hop character.  Light grapefruit dances on the palate and continues all the way to the finish.  Bitterness is present and complements the malt character wonderfully.  Everything is in balance and all the ingredients play nicely together.  There is no astringency or overwhelming bitterness to compete with in this pale ale.  This one is a winner my friends.

I’m not sure how Deschutes managed to squeeze this much flavor out of this little 5% ABV pale ale.  Although Black Butte wasn’t on my hit list, it did exhibit some good complexity.  Between Mirror Pond and Black Butte, I can say that I’m impressed with the complexity that Deschutes brings to the table.  The other positive I get out of this tasting is that I found a lower ABV brew that is loaded with flavor.  I’ve made a little pact with myself to explore some session brews this year.  Session brews are lower than 5% ABV by definition and you’re supposed to be able to drink more than one in a session without being wasted.  This year I vow to enjoy the lighter things in life.  I’ve scheduled several sessionable homebrews this year and will be looking to buy lighter commercial brews.  The Mirror Pond fits this criteria perfectly and will most likely be one of my go-to lighter brews.

Cheers!

The Smokin' Black Butte Porter

5.2% ABV

30 IBUs

Deschutes has finally graced us with their presence and bestowed upon us the Black Butte Porter and Mirror Pond Pale Ale.  Will these brews live up to the anticipation Deschutes has built by delaying their release several times?  Can FatCat move past his rejection issues and judge this brew fairly?   In the name of craft brew truth I will put my grievances aside and give the Black Butte Porter a fair shake.

Without considering any other factors, this 22oz bottle was $2.99.  That is an absolutely stellar price point and shines positive light on this brew already.  Black Butte pours opaque black with a nice tan head.  The nose reveals some grainy sweetness and a prominent bitter malt aroma.  The first thing that draws my attention is the thin mouthfeel of which I was expecting thicker.  The initial drink explodes on the palate and it’s hard to determine what is happening initially.  The thing that does jump out is the smoky character that starts in the middle of the palate and lasts well into the finish.  There is a brief grainy sweetness in the beginning that gives way to bitterness.  The bitterness plays Houdini in your mouth.  At first it seems like it is hop bitterness with some subtle floral character but then it shifts and seems like it’s roasted malt astringency.  The finish is very dry and offers a super subtle coffee note.  As the brew warms, the bitterness turns into a significant grainy/smoky character that gets a little too persistent.  The keyword for today kids is D-R-Y.

When I think of Porter, I’m thinking a semi-sweet brew with a medium-thick body.  The Black Butte doesn’t fit into my preconception and I am subsequently not a huge fan.  I’m thinking the thinner mouthfeel with the prominent roasted malt bitterness made this brew a little off for me.  If the mouthfeel was a little thicker I think it would have made the smoky bitterness a little more bearable.  On a positive note, the Black Butte does exhibit some impressive complexity for a porter.

This wasn’t a bad brew; it just wasn’t my cup of tea (or porter).  It did win bronze at the 2009 Great American Beer Festival.  The great thing is at $2.99 a 22oz, you can try one for yourself. 

Deschutes is Missing!

We've waited and waited and waited for Deschutes to finally distribute to our area.  Our distribution dates have been pushed back several times building huge anticipation.  I've visited their website drooling over their brews.  Obsidian Stout, The Abyss, Hop Henge, Mirror Mirror, Hop in the Dark, and the list goes on.  We finally get a promising lead from Beernews.org that Deschutes will FINALLY distribute.  I overlooked the fact the Beernews article mentioned we will only be receiving Black Butte and Mirror Pond.  I did however remember the article mentions we will be getting limited supplies of Black Butte XXIII, The Stoic, and The Abyss.  When the word comes last week that Deschutes is finally distributing, reality smacks me in the face.  I realize we are only getting the Black Butte and Mirror Pond in regular distribution.  No Abyss and no Obsidian Stout now.  DAMN IT!  I understand their are business considerations completely above my comprehension level involved in entering a new distribution area, but am I the only one that feels snubbed by this offering from Deschutes?  I mean we've been pushed back so many times I feel that this distribution is anticlamactic.  Hopefully this is a premature rant and we will soon get a larger selection.  Either way I want my damn stouts!