I got this bottle of Deschutes Black Butte XX Porter a while ago, and my hoarding instinct kicked in. Keep it, you can't get Deschutes here, you'll never see it again! The little voice saying "Drink it!" was all but drowned out.
Finally I gave in. Woof. Truly black, and opaque. What a big mouthful, one that bears no comparison to its namesake, the eminently quaff-o-matical Black Butte Porter. Aged in oak, spiked with coffee and cocoa beans, and 11% ABV, the XX storms the chops and detonates. It's not precisely 'integrated,' but this once I'll forgive that because the blast of beer is so rumbunctious. Boozy, coffee-bitter, this is a big beer that hangs over the edges, a sumo, not a samurai.
Best news I heard today: Black Butte XXI will be out in July. May have to travel somewhere that I can buy some.
5 comments:
Porters should not be 11% ABV. Porter is only a word but it's a word worthy of a bit of respect, not to be crapped on by 'innovative' brewers. I'll stop there.
Ordinarily, I'd be right there with you, blood in my teeth. But this is more a tribute to their original flagship beer, as in "Our beer, XXth anniversary." I'll let it slide.
You can order Deschutes from www.liquidsolutions.biz, and they do ship to Pennsylvania.
Boy, do I know about the "hoarding instinct," as you put it, Lew. Crippling, sometimes. Often I'm able to talk myself out of opening a bottle of something, especially if it's hard (for me) to get.
Hi! I read your blog, very interesting topic……This masterpiece is a tribute to Black Butte Porter, the subversive Deschutes Brewery beer that has excited beer enthusiasts since 1988. These regional partners provided quality artisan factors that give this commemorative beer a truly handmade complexity. Alc. by Vol. 11%, IBUs 55.
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