Double Barrel V.S.O.J.
Revolution Brewing

 

 

 

On tap at the Gnome Craft Pub in St. Paul 1/20/2023. Boozy, sweet and thick. For me this is about as good as a barleywine can get.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Canned 12/29/22; drank 3/10/23 @ the Yarchives.

Mostly opaque brown/orange/purple appearance.

A slow pour yielded a small, noisy tan head which quickly dissipated; no lace.

Leather, oak, caramel, bourbon & faint plum notes in the nose.

Thick, sticky mouthfeel.

Fig, leather, oak & plum flavors up front; bourbon heat & faint raspberry notes on the finish.

After a subpar V.S.O.J. in 2021, this restores my faith in the project. Fantastic.

Canned 12/29/2022

a: extremely dark ruby in color with one finger khaki colored head, which recedes fairly quickly (and noisily by the way) to a razor thin line around the edge of the glass.
s: caramel, molasses, loads of dark fruit (raisin, plum), vanilla & oak
t: more melted caramel, molasses, brown sugar, raisin/plum, vinous, sweet bourbon, vanilla and some rye added in for good measure.
m: high viscosity (thick & quick sticky), medium carbonation.
o: Wow, this is fantabulous. Just an outstanding barrel aged barelywine from Rev, which is unsurprising from them given their track record. I cannot fairly compare it with VSOJ as I've not had that beer in some time. What I can say is this beer delivers. Well done once again, Rev.

Great nose, dried fruit, alcohol, vanilla, boozy, caramel

 

Hype confirmed.

Rich, decadent, layered caramel w/ chocolate-covered raisin, crème brûlée, & warming booze on the finish. Usually the mouthfeel from Rev throws me off, but it’s a touch heavier here, and the carbonation works in its favor to cut the sweetness throughout.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dark amber brown, sticky syrupy viscosity, not much foam or lace to speak of.

Leathery aroma, maple, toffee, noticeable oxidation.

Rich flavors of bourbon, rye, and toffee. Waves of caramelize sugars reminiscent of maple or the brown sugar bourbon glaze I make sometimes for smoked ham. Thick chewy feel, syrupy and chewy.

Overall it’s very good and fun to try, lots of rarity being tasted here it seems. Nice to try at a local fest, and not jumping through hoops to buy it. It’s the best BA BW i’ve had, that goes to OG Wooden Hell, King Henry, and MOAS.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Canned 12/29/22

Here it is, the beer that got my to finally use Tavour after I’ve had it downloaded for years. Once I heard that they might get some I got my ass right on there. After just recently finally getting to try regular VSOJ, the timing is perfect for this insanely decadent double barrel aged version. Let’s see if it lives up to the hype

Pours an opaque dark brown with a finger of tan head that quickly fades to nothing and leaves no lacing but has wonderful legs

This shows so much complexity on the nose, similar to VSOJ but leaning more heavily into the fruit. I'm picking up on aromas of dates, sweet bourbon, molasses, roasted peanut, fig, brown sugar, toasted oak, burnt caramel, rye bread, tobacco, and light vanilla

For everything going on here, this has a gentle evolution to it. Super complex but I wouldn't call it aggressive. On the front end of the sip I'm tasting sweet bourbon, toasted oak, fig, black cherry, sweet maple, molasses, burnt caramel, rye bread, toffee, light vanilla, and red grape. The swallow brings notes of charred oak, sweet bourbon, roasted peanut, cocoa powder, black cherry, toasted walnut, tobacco, sticky caramel, vanilla, molasses, light port wine, and rye bread

A medium full body pairs with gentle carbonation, resulting in a slick beer. Finishes mostly dry and not anywhere near the listed 16.8%. Barleywine should not go down this easy

Holy shit, this is amazing. It's up there with some of the best beers I've ever had. I loved VSOJ, but this definitely beats it out. I'm so glad I got back on Tavour for this, and even more glad I have another can left

 

 

This one pours a golden dark brown-ish color, with a small head, and not much lacing.

This smells like concentrated caramel syrup, port wine, charred oak, floral spice, vanilla, black cherry paste, spicy rye, and milk chocolate.

This is much sweeter than regular VSOJ, and really most of the Revolution oeuvre. It’s a knock only in that it makes regular VSOJ better to me – but Revolution is really only in competition with itself and the rest of its dense and malty catalogue. We all win in this competition. The barrel character is immense here, sticky sweet, but charred and almost floral, with lots of rye and almost port-like flavors.

This is medium bodied, slightly syrupy, like concentrated barleywine jelly almost. It’s not really boozy at all.

Revolution calls this the pinnacle of their barrel program. For some it might be – but regular VSOJ is the zenith for me. Nonetheless, this is just stupid good and I’m so glad to be able to try it.

Though it appears to be an opaque mahogany, it's actually a dark yet clear garnet with a short tan head that quickly disperses to a sparsely bubbly film.

Sweet dark fruit forward maple explodes right up front before gliding into several threads of insane char complexities like vanilla creme brulee and candied pecan all exhaling warming salted caramels.

At first seeming too sweet, it impresses more after each sip. While this is surely a beautiful beer, I'm not not sure I prefer it over "regular" (anything but) VSOJ.