Deschutes Obsidian Stout

12 oz. bottle. Opaque dark brown colour with a mostly diminishing frothy tan head. Dark chocolate, coffee, and lightly roasty aroma with light citrus notes. Dark chocolate, fruity, lightly roasty bitter finish. Medium bodied, but a bit thin.

Bottle. Black body, small chocolate head. Fruity aroma, mild roast notes. Flavour is muted with mild roast that lingers with a strong bitterness in the finish and aftertaste. Thin palate. Disappointingly ordinary.

Aroma of roast, coffee, and a little dark chocolate. Rich roast flavor with expresso. Just seems to lack some more thickness just barely. But overall i do like and will have it again

Best before 2/10/2006 bottle sampled with OldGrowth on 1/1/2006. Transluscent, deep coal brown, moderate tan head with good retention, though it is not overly fluffy or full. Licorice, barley, and a touch of coffee begin to emanate from the glass, but are lost amid a dry, bitter, dulling black-patent malt-like note. Seems to weaken the aroma. No hops or yeast present either. Fortunately, the flavor seems nothing like the aroma (oddly enough), bringing creamy coffee to the table, with light caramel and playful acidity from the roast. Medium body overall, with a silky texture. Chocolatey and creamy, with all of your stout flavors, yet not overdone. Very low hop apparency, no fruitiness. Easy drinking, yet by no means simple and obsolete. It brings a richness of flavor, with no alcohol apparency, that few stouts of this gravity are able to match these days. Hell, there just arent many of these being made any more. Refreshing and drinkable without comprimising flavor is a fantastic trait (if I may interject my opinion) that more beers need to have. Barley flakes, light choco-coffee notes and low to moderate carbonation which is relatively unnoticed. If I could just get a little more out of the aroma. . . .

Best Before Date December 2006, Sampled January 2006
Pours a deep black color and is topped by a three-finger thick, light brown colored head that slowly recedes in a large bubbled mass. The aroma is dominated by roasted notes; I get notes of deeply roasted espresso, acidic notes of cold black coffee, and some sweet dark chocolate aromatics up front. The aroma is quite nice.

The taste is sharp, with a burnt acidity to it up front. This is balanced by a soft creamy mouthfeel that starts in the middle and carries through almost to the end. The finish is dominated by roasted notes quite similar to the finish of an espresso; acidity and roasted / burnt notes. For all of the roast character it is quite smooth, it is lack that burnt-husk astringency that can be found in some stouts. Having said that, the roasted acidity here is a bit too much; there needs to be a bit more something (sweet malt would do it) to balance it out. Perhaps a bit of age would do the trick as well; I have a feeling this might mellow out over 6 months or so.

<font size=-4>Purchased: <a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/Places/ShowPlace.asp?PlaceID=698>Plaza Liquors, Tucson, AZ<font size=-1>

Bottle, from trade with acertain. Ok nose, Coffee, licourice, chocolate, little fruitiness, cherry/grape. Good head, brownish black color with nice lacing the whole way. Bitter flavors, roasty. Pretty much like aroma, but so much more intense. Medium body, lite creamy smooth mouthfeel, bitter dry finish. Surprised by how much difference I got between the aroma and the flavor. Great flavor, really enjoyed this one. Thanks acertain.

This bottled brew poured a large sized head of thick frothy medium sized mostly lasting brown colored bubbles good thick lacing. The body contained no visible carbonation, was opaque and black in color. Its aroma was unnoted. Its mouth feel is semi-flat smooth and malty. Its flavor contained mild chocolate mild coffee mild roasted malt notes. All-in-all very nice brew.

Pours black with tan head. Taste of coffee and chocolate. Seems thin for a stout not as thick as others, but still tasty. Has chocolate aftertaste.