Cuvée De Grâce
Revolution Brewing

emerge077 from Illinois

4.19/5  rDev -5.4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Pours dark tobacco brown, black in the glass. A finger of tan foam and minimal spotty lace.

At first the aroma has some autolysed yeast notes of port and vegemite, typical of longer barrel-aging periods. There’s a raisiny sweetness, also some vanilla, prune, and carob. As it warms there’s a hint of spirits.

Taste is rich and boozy, lots of chocolate, vanilla, prune, bourbon, mild toffee and oak in the aftertaste. Medium bodied with a creamy texture, well carbed, some heat and sharpness from the booze. Complex with a lot of barrel character, though it’s hard to identify any of the specific components. Overall it’s a beast, but a tasty one. Hope they continue to experiment with these barrel blends.

Thanks to Chris for this one!

Jul 12, 2020

GuyFawkes from Illinois

4.5/5  rDev +1.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Canned 12/30/19; drank 6/24/20 @ the Yarchives.

Black/brown appearance.

A rough pour yielded a big, noisy tan head; minimal lace.

Caramel, oak, dark chocolate, mild bourbon & faint smoke notes in the nose.

Creamy, thick mouthfeel.

Dark chocolate, oak & caramel flavors up front; mild bourbon & faint smoke notes on the finish.

Robust, complex and yet somehow easy to enjoy. A masterpiece. I'm going to stock up on as many of these as I can...

Jun 25, 2020

Hopheadjeffery from Illinois

4.46/5  rDev +0.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

Tasted in a snifter from draft at Timothy O'Toole's on March 14, 2020. A cuvée with this many different components is bound to be very complex. This does not disappoint. Wow!

Apr 15, 2020

stortore from Illinois

4.45/5  rDev +0.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

12 ounce can into a snifter. Canned 12/30/19, had 2/14/20. Also had on tap.

Pours a dark ruby brown, semi opaque, with a short head and some spotty lacing. Aromas of bourbon, cherries, tobacco, dates, brown sugar, oak, oats, malt, light figs, some rye, light leather. Flavors are mostly the same- bourbon, malt, cherries, oak, some char, some brown sugar and toffee, rye, light tobacco and leather. Smooth, a solid medium body, well carbonated.

A great blend. It’s kind of hard to pick it apart, but it’s so damn good. The barrels stand out, but don’t overwhelm. They could do a Cuvee every year, and I’d be happy.

Apr 08, 2020

REVZEB from Illinois

4.48/5  rDev +1.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

Midnight black with a tan ring and brown accents on the edge. Rye, vanilla, tons of oak, bourbon, bitter chocolate, earth, booze, roasted barley, leather, toffee, molasses, and dark fruit. Taste is a complex monster, but a monster that wants to be your friend. One of the more balanced strong ales in awhile, starts with the BA stout notes before opening up into the other blend elements: does well to balance booze, malts, flavorings, and wood, more earthy than nose let on. Pretty much everything from nose plus more depth to barrels, smoke, peat, red grape, and coffee. Feel has plenty of barrel character, with full maltiness, booze, barley, and earthiness.

Mar 27, 2020

GreesyFizeek from New York

4.64/5  rDev +4.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.75

This one pours a fairly dark black color, with a small white head, and not much lacing.

This smells like spicy rye bread, bitter dark chocolate, hearty oak, bourbon, caramel, coffee, smoke, vanilla, leather, dark fruit, and toffee.

There's a lot that went into this belnd, and it clearly works very, very well. There's so much going on here, as barleywines and stouts certainly have different typical malt profiles. Like everything from Revolution, the barrel character is deep, gnarly, and complex, with spicy rye, black pepper, bourbon, cinnamon, and vanilla all coming through. I get dark chocolate malt, dry cocoa, chocolate covered coffee beans, caramel candies, a hint of smoke, and even soe pine.

This is creamy, and just slightly boozy, and warming, with a surprising drinkability for how big this is.

Mar 09, 2020

BBThunderbolt from Kiribati

3.65/5  rDev -17.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4.25

Thanks to The_Game for this one, from The Rookies BIF#4. 12oz can (filled 12/30/2019) poured into 14oz teku. Poured a solid black color with 1/4 inch of light brown head that had low retention and no lacing.

Quite the mix of aromas, which is not a surprise considering this beer is a blend of 7 beers, in 3 styles, and at least 3 types of barrels. Sweet Barleywine scents are predominant, with Stout notes in the background. Some wood and spirits also show through, although it's a bit hard to define the spirits.

On the tongue, it's pretty similar, although I seem to be getting some Rye. There is certainly some alcohol heat on the finish as well.

The body was, as one would expect, full, sticky, and smooth, with a sweet finish.

Drinkability was good, I could easily have a couple of these a week.

Overall, a very nice and interesting beer. A must-try if you see it.

Feb 27, 2020

Sabtos from Ohio

4.21/5  rDev -5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Dark brown, just shy of black, with a moderate tan head settling to a short collar and a thin spotty film.

Smell seems quite sweet on the nose, but black peppery too, while it's a little roastier and more chocolatey on the palate, and also earthy. The smoothly round but medium body delivers blends of splintery yet creamy, milky vanilla oak, caramel, and date, with a crackly but fine carbonation that comes to a semi-dry finish and a warming spirit exhale. Hints of gingersnap, molasses, and mature, top shelf whiskey continue to develop, and it just keeps evolving on the palate, never easily definable.

Each sip seems like a new experience, but never a bad one.

Feb 11, 2020

michaelsmith11 from Illinois

4.56/5  rDev +2.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Wow. This beer has so many layers to it. And it should after seeing how it was made. Some how all those beers come together to make a wonderful beer. The flavors range from toffee and caramel to spicy rye and lots of barrel. It had A silky smooth feel that was really nice. What a great series of beers from Rev.

Feb 07, 2020

darktronica from Indiana

4.54/5  rDev +2.5%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.5

I'm a sucker for stout-barleywine blends, so this has my name written all over it. It doesn't disappoint. Tons of complexity, and anywhere from 55-65 degrees F, every sip is different. Don't refrigerate it too long before opening, let it warm and let it breathe. Lush and full-bodied mouthfeel, tons of barrel character, both oak from the long ageing treatment from multiple components, and also excellent contributions from some of the less common barrels.

Jan 28, 2020

4DAloveofSTOUT from Illinois

4.48/5  rDev +1.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

12oz can poured into Revolution Deep Woods stemless glass.

canned on 12/30/19.

Appearance: dark mahogany brown body with off white to light brown colored head. Head pours a thick cap which drops down to a thick ring of head that does not leave the beer during the entire drink.

Smell: So much oak in the aroma. You can smell the straight jacket and deth tar components of this blend distinctively.

Taste: Sweet malt profile with extremely dry oak tannins are the most expressive flavors of this beer. These flavors are what the beer leads with. Caramel, toffee, and vanilla are transitional flavors. Hint of dark fruits. More barrel flavors emerge in the middle of the beer including tobacco, molasses, and meaty smoke / light char. The finish has that distinctive Scottish malt profile with red wine and rye whiskey flavors mixing in.

Mouthfeel: medium bodied beer with moderate carbonation. Thinner body than usual when compared with most revolution beers. A dry finish with some booze noted at the end of each sip.

Overall: Really great American Strong Ale blend. Lots of depth with some really unique flavors found in this beer. The barrels seem do a great job of balancing the sweetness in this beer. Most American Strong Ales are overtly sweet and cloying. This Revolution blend has definite perceived sweetness, but doesn't get cloying thanks to rye whiskey and red wine flavors found in the barrel notes. As expected Revolution delivers another great Deep Wood series beer.

Jan 27, 2020