Deschutes Brewery
With The Great American Beer Fest going on in Denver, Colorado, I thought I would try a brew from a brewery that is starting to expand its reach in the United States. I am talking Deschutes Brewery.
Deschutes recently was looking for a brewery to expand on the east coast and
they visited many towns to pick the right town. The brewery is a few years
away, but their expanded reach because of their east coast brewery
will exponentially get bigger. Deschutes is a family and employee-owned
brewery. They believe that every pint of beer worth brewing is worth sharing with
everyone. A pint shared has a dose of three things;
community, experimentation, and ingenuity. They brew with a
balance and drinkability and invested with quality and consistency. It's their
DNA. Deschutes was created in 1988, in a small public house in downtown
Bend.
Obsidian Stout by Deschutes Brewery
Tonight I am trying one of Deschutes Brewery's Year Round selections. I am trying Obsidian Stout. Obsidian Stout has an alcohol by volume or an ABV of 6.4% and a bitterness or IBU of 55. Obsidian Stout won two beer awards in 2015: Silver at the Australian International Beer Awards and a Gold at the International Brewing Awards.
Appearance of Obsidian
The appearance of this stout is dark and black. The head or foam has a tan appearance to it, almost like chocolate milk. The foam pours thick but settles and leaves a thin lay atop the beer. The aroma is not what I expected. I notice right away it's almost like a milk stout aroma. I notice the espresso notes in the aroma that have a bitter notion. There is a subtle hop note that plays off of the espresso aroma. The next note I noticed was a roasted aroma like ground espresso. The last aroma note I noticed was a subtle sweet note. The sweet aroma was a chocolate note with a subtle vanilla aroma.
The taste is where I want to see the aroma come out and see if the notes are as noticeable in the taste of this brew. I took my first sip and I notice the hop bitterness come through first. It fairly noticeable and hits you right away, then slowly gives way towards the other taste notes. I notice after the hop note was the roasted notes. It was like taking your first sip of a freshly brewed espresso. Getting the freshly roasted espresso beans and the bitterness from the espresso. In terms of aroma and taste meeting, this is where the bitter aroma from the hops and espresso meet. The more and more I take sips of Obsidian, the more I begin to notice the chocolate taste notes on the edge of my tongue. In terms of mouthfeel I would have to say this beer is light to medium. The beginning sips are light and it finishes with a creamy medium body. I think that there is a bitterness to this brew that is cut by the sweetness of its finish, reminds me almost of a Milk Stout in that way.
Obsidian Stout by Deschutes Brewery
Overall, I thought Obsidian was a good brew that brought a little of everything. It gave someone that looks for hop bitterness the note it looked for. As well as giving stout fans the light and creamy body. I can see why this brew would win awards and I think that I need to try this in Nitro form. I think it would add a layer of complexity and layer of deliciousness. I think the bitter and sweet balance has the right balance and caters to both sides of the stout. Not many stouts attempt to add a layer of bitterness to the style, but this was done well. Could be a little too much for some, but I think the subtle sweetness at the end to cut it was the right idea.
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