Beer #109 - W/C 27 March 2017
BREWERY // The beautiful Deschutes River is depicted on the bottle you hold in your hand. The river gave the name to the brewery which was founded on it's banks in 1988. Deschutes started life as a brewpub in Bend, Oregon. The family and employee owned brewery has seen a lot of growth in recent years and is now one of the largest craft breweries in the USA. Sustainability is a big deal at Deschutes with the company being named a global sustainability leader in 2016. Several hundred thousand dollars have been donated to various charities over the past 2 years and the company of regularly listed in round-ups of the best companies to work for. Add to all that the fact that they produce some of the best beer in the World and it's clear they're onto a winner.
BEER // 2017 sees Deschutes once again being listed as one of the word's top 100 breweries and on the same site, their Obsidian Stout boasts a 99 rating. Obsidian was first brewed back in the original brewpub in 1988. It is made with whole flower hops to make for a more hoppy and bitter than average stout which is slightly floral on the nose. Obsidian is all about the malt though as you'll discover in the rich, roasty, coffee aroma. The combination of 7 different malts make for a complex beer with a lot to discover. There are the expected chocolate and coffee flavours but you may also detect liquorice, raisins, smoke, toffee, leather or vanilla notes. The home brewers amongst us who are inspired to replicate Obsidian will be happy to hear that the recipe is up on Deschutes' website. And in case you were wondering about the name- it is named after the Big Obsidian Flow, a huge volcanic feature 13 miles from the brewery.
BREWERY // Deschutes
BEER // Obsidian
STYLE // Stout
ORIGIN // Bend, Oregon
ABV // 6.4%
HOPS // Nugget, Bravo, Delta, Northern Brewer
MALT // Pale, Crystal, Carapils, Munich, Black Barley, Roasted Barley, Wheat
IBU // 55
TEMPERATURE // Cool 8-12C
FOOD MATCH // Oysters. Venison. Kumara Fries. Tiramisu. Chocolate Mint Cookie.
GLASS // Stout Glass