Deschutes releases Peanut Butter Obsidian Stout, Coconut Abyss, & Black Forest variants

Deschutes Brewery is set to release three fun new twists on two classic stouts in 2022. Peanut Butter Obsidian Stout was recently released in early April, and at the end of this month Coconut Abyss will also see a bottle release. Then coming this Fall is a Black Forest cake version of the iconic The Abyss Imperial Stout.

The Abyss Coconut is the classic Russian Imperial Stout this time brewed with roasted coconut, licorice, cherry bark and vanilla beans and aged for 11 months in Whiskey barrels. Similar in strength, it clocks in at 12% ABV but with a flavor profile including notes of toasted coconut, coffee, chocolate, and vanilla.

On Friday, April 29th Deschutes is hosting a release party for Coconut Abyss at their Bend, Oregon brewpub with bottles on sale, the beer on draft, and food pairing specials. Expect to see it hitting the Portland pub and soon thererafter bottleshops in 4 pack 12 ounce bottles retailing for $19.99.

Bend, Oregon’s Deschutes Brewery was founded in 1988 and they first released Obsidian Stout that same year, it’s been a mainstay in the lineup ever since. Obsidian is a multi-award winning American Stout that doesn’t get the recognition it deserves as a balanced and drinkable 6.4% abv year-round slightly bolder alternative to it’s little brother Black Butte Porter.

Obsidian Peanut Butter Stout is a spin on Obsidian that was inspired by the peanut butter whiskey that has been so popular in the last few years. Deschutes brewed it with real peanut butter, and milk sugar to give it the creamy Jiff flavor we all know and love. But far beyond just adding the Dessert stout element, they also blended in a whiskey barrel-aged stout to add complexity, strength, vanilla tannings, and spiciness. Peanut butter and whiskey are pretty much classic Americana products at this point, so what better delivery mechanism then a traditional American Stout. The final product packs much more of a wallop than the original Obsidian, this one clocking in at 9% ABV with 40 IBU’s. Look for Obsidian Peanut Butter this April in 12oz bottles and 4-packs that retail for $11.99.

The Abyss is a more modern classic, a barrel-aged Imperial Stout that helped ignite the trend of aging dark beers in boozy barrels. Abyss was first introduced in 2006, and it sort of snuck in under the radar only to explode in 2007 after it won a Gold medal at the Great American Beer Festival and Men’s Health named it best stout in the world. In the ensuing years it has become one of those beer geek cellar staples that people buy a case of every year and sock it away into their cellars. It has went on to win more than 50 awards, and a few of those were just recently. Winter 2020 brought the first ever release of The Abyss in 12oz bottles, and in 2021 they actually made enough to keep it in stock all year. But the now classic example of motor oil barrel-aged stout intense complexity is once again becoming an annual November release and as they have been doing the past few years, it has two new much rarer special variants.

The Abyss Black Forest is again the same Russian Imperial Stout base, but this time brewed with chocolate, cherry and vanilla and aged in Bourbon barrels. Also 12% ABV, and also in 4 packs of 12oz bottles for $19.99. However Abyss Black Forest is further out in development and still pending a new label/packaging design for it’s release in October 2022.

Last but not least, if you can’t wait for the next Deschutes barrel-aged beers spring release than you can look no further because their  Alesong Brewing & Blending collaboration Maskerade is out now and just won a silver medal at the 2022 Oregon Beer Awards.

This big barrel-aged Imperial Brown Ale was raised during the pandemic, aging for 18-months in brandy & bourbon barrels, then blended with Dee Wright Imperial Brown, a 2021 Great American Beer Festival silver medal winner from Deschutes’ Bend, Oregon pub. Notes of toffee, brown sugar, brandy, butterscotch, vanilla, and whiskey​. Maskerade was just released this past December 2021 in 500ml bottles at Deschutes Brewery’s pubs and tasting room with limited distribution in Oregon.

13% ABV | $14.99