"Suitcase" beers

The September issue of All About Beer magazine has an interesting feature on "suitcase" beers; i.e., the rare beers you love so much that you'll pack them home with you when returning from travels.

A suitcase beer has to be not only delicious but rare enough that it's not available around your home. The magazine's list of 99 such beers was (not surprisingly) heavy on imperial stouts, IPAs and obscure Belgian beers. It got me thinking about my suitcase beers. Here's my top five, shaped by my narrow travels in the Western U.S.:

1. Terminal Gravity IPA. This IPA is widely distributed and well-loved in its native Oregon, but it does not get enough respect outside the state, unlike California favorites such as Racer 5 IPA and Russian River's Pliney series. Terminal Gravity's offering is redolent with citrus, and extremely tasty. Perhaps the nation's best six-pack IPA.

2. Avery Brewing Co.'s barrel-aged beers. The Boulder brewery has an extensive barrel-aging program, and the best of these are a wonder to behold - not to mention difficult to find outside of the Front Range. If you can get them, Brabant and Depuceleuse deserve your attention (and something like $8 per 12-ounce bottle).

3. Deschutes The Abyss. This legendary imperial stout is the only beer I currently have aging in my fridge. I can't wait to do a vertical tasting. Happily, its 2009 vintage was more widely available than previous versions.

4. Upright Brewing Co.'s seasonal releases. This small Portland brewery is an increasingly poorly kept secret. Brewer/owner Alex Ganum completely eschews English-style brewing: you will not find an IPA, a pale ale or a porter on premises. His basic line of beers (named Four, Five, Six and Seven) could loosely be described as French and Belgian-inspired farmhouse ales, but that falls short of justly describing his innovative use of yeast and local ingredients. I avidly want to try his recent seasonals, including a Gose, an obscure German style brewed with salt; and an oyster stout, brewed with oyster juice and whole oysters in the kettle. Ganum is a brewer who is truly pushing the art of brewing forward.

5. Pelican Brewery's seasonals. This Oregon Coast brewpub has been justly celebrated with multiple GABF medals. It sits on the beach, amid the salty Pacific Ocean air and swarming sea gulls. Seasonals such as the biere de garde Bridal Ale are worth the high price.

Those are my suitcase beers. What are yours?

The Abyss lands in Durango

I arrived at my friend's house for Thanksgiving, and call me the Grinch if he didn't have a bottle of The Abyss sitting on his counter.

The Abyss, an imperial stout made by Deschutes Brewing in Oregon, is one of the best beers you or I will ever have. It's currently rated the fourth-best beer in the world by BeerAdvocate users. It won a gold medal at the 2007 Great American Beer Festival.

Naturally, I proceeded without further ado to Star Liquors, where my friend and I bought several more bottles. I'm squirreling some away to see how this legendary ale ages.

I won't belabor the point (Last winter, I wrote about my difficulty obtaining a bottle, and a subsequent review), but if you don't mind spending $11 for a great imperial stout, I highly recommend it.

Review: The Abyss (Deschutes)

Reviewing The Abyss is the beer equivalent of reviewing Kind of Blue or Hamlet: it is a work of such surpassing mastery that, really, what can you say?

To understate the case, The Abyss is thoroughly pleasant to drink.

Deschutes Brewery first released this wildly popular imperial stout in 2006. One of the first and best breweries to come out of Oregon, Deschutes had already earned plenty of respect with well-made, well-balanced session beers such as Mirror Pond Pale Ale and Black Butte Porter.

But, as Deschutes’ founder Gary Fish said recently in another publication, people were starting to say things like: “Black Butte Porter – that’s my dad’s beer.” So Fish unleashed his brewers to do something special.

The Abyss is an imperial stout. The designation “imperial” is not a mere marketing gimmick. There is much more going on in The Abyss than in a standard stout.

Deschutes brewed The Abyss with licorice and molasses, aging 33 percent of it in oak and oak bourbon barrels for the better part of a year. The 2008 reserve was released in November.

After a tragicomic quest to obtain a bottle the usual ways, Soggy Coaster broke down and bought The Abyss, which comes in a 22-ounce bomber bottle dipped in black wax, on eBay for almost $30. (See my earlier post, “Chasing The Abyss: A Personal Essay”). A bit crazy, maybe, but why should it be? A lot of people do not hesitate to drop $30 on a bottle of wine.

Soggy Coaster enjoyed The Abyss along with a dinner of potato gnocchi in a tomato sauce with Swiss chard and mozzarella (made with care by Ms. Soggy Coaster). The Abyss would also be fantastic with a steak – you just need something substantial to stand up to the beer.

The Abyss has one of the strongest aromas that Soggy Coaster has ever smelled in a beer: a thick soup of vanilla, licorice, coffee, alcohol. It feels reverential, like the musty smell from a very great and very old book.

The Abyss pours a completely opaque black. A nice, tan medium head lingers for a bit before receding.

The taste keeps the promises made by the aroma. There’s vanilla, licorice, coffee and some hop bitterness in a viscous stout body, ending with a pronounced alcohol kick (The Abyss is 11 percent ABV). Different flavors emerge at different times; one sip will taste strongly of licorice, the next is fumy booze. The substantial alcohol might ruin a lesser beer, but The Abyss is so rich that it blends in perfectly. My notes say: “bottom of the glass had a much sharper licorice taste – the monster hiding in The Abyss.”

Of course, The Abyss is not the only entrant in the category. Soggy Coaster has had the chance to try a decent range of imperial stouts this winter, including Oak-Aged Yeti Imperial Stout from Great Divide Brewing in Denver (9.5 percent ABV, 75 IBUs), Rogue Imperial Stout and Victory Storm King Imperial Stout. All were very good; Soggy Coaster has yet to meet an imperial stout he doesn’t like.

Alone among Durango breweries, Carver Brewing also makes an imperial stout. An unfortunately now-past seasonal offering, Carver’s imperial stout was on tap in January. It was damn good and Soggy Coaster looks forward to its return next winter.

The Abyss does not lack for laurels: it is currently ranked the third-best beer in the world on Beer Advocate, a sort of crowd review site. It also won a gold medal at the Great American Beer Festival. It has become so popular that its release in Portland literally draws crowds. Stores often sell out of The Abyss the same day they get it.

Few beers come close to matching The Abyss in brewing mastery and complexity. The taste comes in waves, steamrolling the drinker into noticing a different flavor with every sip. Fortunately, the 2009 reserve is already aging in oak barrels. With The Abyss, Deschutes has achieved its masterpiece. Soggy Coaster has no choice but to award his first A+.

Chasing The Abyss: a personal essay

I broke down. I am a sucker.

After months of longing and pining for it, I finally bought a bottle of The Abyss by Deschutes Brewery, clicking on eBay's tempting "Buy it now" button to send a bottle my way.

The price, including shipping: $29.28.

Ridiculous, I know.

A little background: Sometime during the long, cold winter of 2007-08, I wandered into Liquor World. In the small refrigerator where the Durango store keeps its bombers stood a few bottles of The Abyss (11 percent ABV, 65 IBUs), an unassuming-looking imperial stout.

I knew nothing about this beer, but I had always loved Deschutes Brewery. I came of (drinking) age on Mirror Pond Pale Ale. Sure, I thought, I'll try a bottle.

I brought The Abyss home and later that night dug in to the wax-covered top. I filled a pint glass, set the bottle beside it and assumed the lounging position in my roommate's easy chair.

Wow. The thick, viscous liquid, the infinite depths of taste, the velvety texture - I had never had anything like it.

My reaction was hardly unique. The Abyss won a gold medal at the 2007 Great American Beer Festival. It has also garnered an A+ rating from Beer Advocate and a perfect 100 from Rate Beer.

Since then, The Abyss has become my personal white whale. Like Captain Ahab, I have searched everywhere for my quarry.

Deschutes only makes about 1,000 cases a year of the oak-aged imperial stout. Only a fraction of that makes it to Colorado. A still-smaller portion (none?) comes to Durango.

It was released most recently in November. Since then, many times have I returned to Liquor World to search the bottle fridge for it. No luck. I know not whether the retailer did not receive a shipment or whether it sold out before I could grab a bottle.

No matter, I thought. I would soon travel to The Abyss's homeland.

My excitement grew when, a few weeks before a Christmas trip to Oregon, The Abyss was on tap at Deschute's Portland pub. Alas, it was gone by the time I arrived.

I searched in vain around the area's well-stocked beer markets. It was sold out everywhere. I returned to Durango in a sulk.

(I nearly wept last week when I learned that a Portland pub is holding a tasting of all three iterations of The Abyss, from 2006, 2007 and 2008. Life brings no justice.)

Not even Internet vendors like Bottle Trek or Liquid Gratitude have The Abyss in stock. eBay has proved my only option. Sellers on the site offer The Abyss for $25 and up. (It retails for about $12 if you can find it in a store). Fewer and fewer listings show up as we get further and further from the beer's release date.

I purchased my bottle from a seller who has sold 10 bottles of The Abyss, no doubt making a handsome profit off of suckers like me. Still, within days I will have my heavenly beer.

Now comes news from Deschutes that the 2009 edition is already aging in barrels ahead of its November release. Like Mike Myers in "Wayne's World," I can only vow that it will be mine. Oh, yes. It will be mine.