Deschutes Brewery Black Butte XXVI – Imperial Porter at 10.8% ABV | 60 IBU (C$23.00 at Zyn, 650 ml, no packaging date or best before, acquired 15-Dec-2014, reviewed 23-Jun-2020)
Appearance: deep cola red with one finger of loose light beige head diminishing gradually to a thin ring, spotty lacing. (4/5) Aroma: complex, cocoa nibs, red berries, bourbon, molasses. (9/10) Taste: moderate-high sweet, moderate bitter. (9/10) Palate: medium-full body, moderate-low carbonation, off-dry moderate bitter warming slightly tart finish. (5/5)
The Great Cellar Drink Down continues. What? I’m in quarantine in a (supposedly) sold house, so I can’t get anything fresh, and who knows how long my collection will go into a storage unit after we pack up here and find a new house – could be months, easily, subjected to wild temperature variations. No, better it end here, with dignity: cue the swelling orchestra.
The final in a four-vintage vertical, this is now six years in the bottle. My first time for this vintage, though it has a similar recipe to the XXVII from yesterday. It’s actually slightly smoother than that one, but it’s hard to know for certain whether that’s ageing or just recipe variations. Regardless, this kicks it up a notch to some truly next-level territory. I’m not actually sure I’ve found the sweet spot yet for these: they’ve certainly continued to improve with age thus far, so it’s at least conceivable that this improvement will continue. (18/20)
9/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com
