Deschutes Obsidian Stout

Brewed by Deschutes Brewery
Style: Stout
Bend, Oregon USA

Bottle. Black body under a dense tan head leaving even coats of foam on the glass. Great aroma - a complex mix of acidic roast malt, plum, and smoked fish. Whereas the aroma gave you a balanced dose of roast and base sweetness the flavor focuses on roast malts. However it’s not like munching on a handful of special roast - it has a certain mellowed out charcoal thing lacking a big acidic punch. That fades away after the start exposing the underlying plum/raisin base which carries into the finish but not without lingering charcoal dust. Medium mouthfeel. I’m really enjoying this stout because it’s not another f’ing dry stout - it strives for balance between sweetness and roast and does well at it.

Roasty and black as night. Some nice hopping adds to the complexity, and makes for a nice ending to a long day at work.

Poured black with a tan head that was so dark it was almost brown. Head lasted a long time and left goo lacing. Nose of chocolate and coffee. Mouthfeel is rich and creamuy, and flavors contain burn malts and some hopts. Nice bitter finish. Great stout.

Sampled on 11/29/2006 at the November meeting of the Junedale Beer Klub. Brought by nordstrum... Tasting notes: Murky dark brown color with a light brown head. Not much in the aroma and the flavor was fruity and yeasty. Is had a slightly dry finish. Rating: 6 3 5 3 12 = 2.9. This was one of the stouts that I was really looking forward to trying, but was pretty disappointed. However, I have a fresh bottle in the cellar that kenb sent to me, so I am really looking forward to trying this beer again and hopefully having a better tasting experience with it... -- UPDATE (12/22/2006): I decided to get around to trying the bottle that bitbucket sent to me sooner rather than later... Color in the glass is black (actual color of the beer when held up to the light is a clear, very dark mahogany color). Th initial pour produces a very large, dense, whipped cream-like head that is tan in color. It slowly collapses, but leaves a small residual head that has good lacing. The aroma is roasted malt and semi-sweet chocolate morsels. The flavor is robust and is roasted malt, semi-sweet chocolate, and a little bit of some char/burnt taste. The long roasty finish also has a burnt quality to it with a moderate amoung of bitterness to balance out this beer. A nice, bitter, dark/semi-sweet chocolate flavor lingers. This beer is medium to full bodied and has a nice silky smooth feel to it. This bottle of Deschutes Obsidian Stout was much better then my first tasting experience and I am quite pleased. This beer has lived up, if not exceeded, my original expectations. New rating: 8 4 8 4 17 = 4.1. Thanks again go to Ken for sending a bottle of this tasty black brew to me!

Aroma of tasted malt, a little coffee, and maybe a hint of chocolate. Guiness color and a vigorous dark tan head. Beautiful. Starts with coffee. Quickly followed by very smooth toasted malt. Then a bit of bitter follows. I’d call this well balanced. The finish is a nice toasted malt with bitter along the sides of the tongue. Excellent.

Brownish/black body with no head. Sharp aroma, alcohol and dark fruit. Malts, hops and chocolate dominate the flavor. Smooth ending.

12 oz bottle. Pours black with a slow forming head that starts off brown, finishes creamy tan almost guiness like. Sweet aroma, like freshly cut hay. Strong raosted coffee and malt flavors. Silky feel. Really good stout.

Bottle on 11/30/2008 at the 3rd Annual Richmond Industry Gathering. Dark brown body with ruby highlights. Big roasted malt and dry grain aroma with big toasty notes. Big roast and yeast flavor and some toasty notes. Medium full body wtih moderately low carbonation. 7/4/8/4/14 - 3.8 11/29/2006: Sampled at the Richmond Beer Industry Gathering 2006. Dark black body with a small light brown head. Sweet coffee aroma. Sweet coffee flavor with some mild bitter in the end. 8/5/8/3/15 - 3.9