Deschutes and Ladder of The Abyss

Peaks & Pints invites you to dive into our vaunted cellars as we share a vintage flight of Deschutes Brewery The Abyss, 2016-2019 at 6 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 9.

The Abyss is a mixture of several stouts. It’s brewed with black strap molasses and licorice, with vanilla beans and cherry bark added. Half of the results are then barrel-aged — 21 percent in oak bourbon barrels, 21 percent in oak wine barrels, and the remainder in brand-new Oregon oak barrels — and the mix is what’s provided in the wax-topped bombers. Peaks and Pints will pour the 2019 version, as well as the three years previous.

Named for a sharp hook in the Deschutes River in Central Oregon’s high desert, Bend was the abyss; decades ago it was a bump on the state highway between golf resorts Black Butte Ranch and Sunriver. Lumber ruled the roost until the two large timber mills closed in 1994.

Then Californian Gary Fish opened Deschutes Brewery in downtown Bend on Bond Street, back when Bond Street was the abyss. Deschutes has since grown to become one of the United States’ representative craft breweries, distributing from coast to coast and making Bend synonymous with beer in the minds of many.
Named after said river, Deschutes was Central Oregon’s first brewery. Fish hired John Harris (founder of Ecliptic Brewing Co.) from McMenamins. Legislation and a growing provincialism for locally crafted beers soon turned the microbrewer of Mirror Pond Pale Ale and Black Butte Porter in obscure Bend, into a macro success, as the state’s largest brewer by barrel count. Deschutes Brewery is still family and employee owned, the brewery is known for brewing a diverse line-up of award winning beers including the popular Fresh Squeezed IPA, Black Butte Porter, Mirror Pond Pale Ale and The Abyss.

DESCHUTES AND LADDER OF THE ABYSS, 6 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 9, Peaks and Pints, 3816 N. 26th St., Basecamp Proctor, Tacoma, no cover