A foray into the world of beer...

For some time now my good friend Rick from the [BW] Beer Blog has been introducing me to the world of speciality beer -- all the while I have been introducing him to the world of good wine. We were commenting the other day how complementary the two pursuits have been for us, although the journey into wine is certainly more financially disadvantageous for him than beer is to me. Nonetheless, I digress.

As I have experienced more and better beer, I am starting to identify and appreciate a lot of the nuance present among the hops and barley. It really is an industry, like the world of wine, with it's own vocabulary, food pairings, deliciousness, and passion in the creation and consumption process. This weekend I got to try Deschutes Brewery's The Abyss. This imperial stout, aged in French oak, pinot noir, and bourbon barrels , has immense depth with its rich and complex flavors. Notes of coffee, chocolate, molasses and licorice pull you into the abyss, and the 9-ish percent alcohol makes it a fun ride.

I'll leave the intellectual analysis to the beer experts, but I will say that I really enjoyed this brew and my realiziation of the correlations between beer and wine is certainly an exciting one that I will explore further.

1 comments:

Anonymous said...

Congrats. The world of beer will hold a great many adventures for you. I love the shit personally. While any beer will do the trick, The Abyss let's you get drunk in style. There is nothing better after a long day on the oil rig than about 12 Heinekens, but when the wallet allows I head straight for anything from Deschutes Brewery. Here is a SECRET I want to share with you. The best way to enjoy any beer is with a fresh palate when you already have a buzz. The trick is to guzzle two beers really quickly, before you can savor the flavor. Then wait a few minutes for them to hit your system. If you do it right, you can then enter the paradise on earth that is beer drinking done the right way.