Flights of Deschutes

Deschutes beers have been available in town for a bout a week now, however representatives from the brewery came into town today to make it official.  They hosted a release party at The Foundry tonight, featuring flights of the Deschutes beers new to our area, Mirror Pond, Black Butte Porter, Black Butte XXIII, The Abyss, and Hop Henge Experimental IPA.  I sat down with Brewmaster Brian Faivre, Digitla Marketing Manager Jason Randles, and PR Consultant Judy Campbell to talk about beer and kids.

One thing Brian seemed passionate about was aging beers.  On certain big beers from Deschutes, like The Abyss, they have a Best After date.  This indicates that the beer will age well and improve with time.  He explained that a lot of big beers, like imperial stouts, have too much "heat" in them when fresh.  Aging the big beer will help that heat mellow out and allows other flavors to come forward.  Brian explained that they have been working every year to find the right blend for The Abyss so it will b enjoyable fresh as well as with some age on it.  The trick is to have the self control to not drink the beer and let it sit.

Luckily, I still have a bottle of the 2008 The Abyss that I have been saving.  Brian said that '08 was a particularly good year and it has been aging wonderfully.  I have a feeling that I'm going to find an excuse to open it up sooner than later.