[A Beer a Day] 2011 The Abyss Imperial Stout | Deschutes Brewing | Bend, OR

I have an 80's-phone-book-sized catalog of source material in the form of beer reviews that I've cobbled together at various points in the past 5 years or so, and today is the day that I tell you about the best beer I've ever tasted.  The grandstander that I am holding in my sizzling skillet right there, is a beer that is made annually, but released only in the final, dying weeks of each year -- and by "released", I mean, very selectively; secretly even, to approximately 30% of the United States.  Even the beer guys at your friendly, neighborhood Spec's hoard them, then reluctantly surrender your two-handed bottle limit as you attempt to recapture your breath after speed walking past the 1992 LSE Land Rover with Colorado plates that parked just before you.

Therefore, a helpful tip is always necessary when seeking The Annual Abyss Release, as word-of-mouth typically has them wiped from the shelves before brunch -- and may God have mercy on your soul if you have a day job.  Fortunately for this release, my little man Enzo hooked it up and got me off the hook for work for three straight post-natal weeks.  Thanks buddy!

Oh, hai!

Anyway, I'm digressing a bit here -- the point is, is that this shit is hard to come by and you have to play guitar at nights to get it.

But when I opened it, all the stresses of whirring around north and central Austin for a vanishing product made it all worth it -- Just imagine the absurdity of stressing about finding beer, right?   After sleuthing for a bit (those Austin corner stores, I tells ya), and gaming some gentlemanly-agreed-upon systems (fuck it, I sent Melissa back to Spec's) -- we were able to squirrel 5 as a familial unit -- whereupon, we quickly drank one, got so excited that we drank another, and put 3 back in cellared stock to become much more impregnated by time and oak.

But then, we took another out and shared it with friends, because, to be shared was to be believed,  And tit for tit, THIS is the best beer of the year.

The taste you ask?  Who fucking cares at this point anyway?  Its both anything and everything.  Drink it, and all your wildest dreams will come true.
  
ABV: 11.o%
Acquired: Spec's
★★★★★★★★★★