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

Revolution Double Barrel V.S.O.D. Imperial Oatmeal Stout, 2023 17.9% ABV. Pours moderately thick and black, with a half-finger light-brown head that left no lacing, but did leave an oily sheen. Aroma is all sweet bourbon and roast malt. Taste is sweet bourbon, chocolate, and dark fruit, moderately sweet, slightly bitter, not much bourbon burn. Outstanding thick and smooth mouthfeel, overall world-class. Another home-run by Revolution.

 

Appearance - The beer was slick black in appearance with very little in the way of visible carbonation.

Smell - The bourbon and sweetness came through with moderate fruit notes.

Taste - At the front were notes of chocolate, blackberry, and sweet booze. The sweetness was not overwhelming but had the right balance. It was not a dessert beer. The dark berries created a nice contrast to the chocolate notes.

Mouthfeel - The body was slick with only a few tiny bubbles.

Overall - This is elite.

Pours black with little head formation. Some oil clings to the glass after a swirl. Aroma is deep roasty and toasty malts with barrel, char, and oak just beyond. Barrel notes linger throughout, and are complimented by notes of caramel, toffee, and baker's chocolate. Flavor profile is roasty and toasty malts with extreme depth. Barrel and char ooze between caramel, toffee, and molasses notes. Baker's chocolate compliments bits of vanilla. Just a shear delight. Mouth feel is thick. It's filling, viscous, and full. Overall, an amazing sipper of a beer. Plenty of barrel, but without ever smothering out imperial stout notes - developing a massive symphony of rich and dark notes.

Served in a 15.5oz Speigealu tulip from a 12oz can. Reviewed from notes. Can filled Dec 3rd, 2020, consumed / reviewed Dec 12th, 2020.

Canned 10-23-2023. Poured at fridge temp. Pours black as night. Minimal head. The nose is chocolate, black licorice, roasted malts, dark fruit, and a lot of booze. Not getting much else.

The taste is super boozy, but really nice. Very unlike most stouts. Almost borderline barleywine in terms of flavor. Maybe it's the body, which is thinner than other stouts. Some roasted malts, sweet raisins, vanilla, cocoa, and a hint of brandy.

Very intense and enjoyable. Very long finish.

Yields pitch black in color with a mohagony colored head, which immediately dissolves after pouring.

Aromas on this lead with molasses, alcohol dipped cherry piths and forest earth. Among this first impression settles a luxurious barrel complexity, revealing toasted coconut, glazed cinnamon infused rock sugar and whipped cream bonbon.

Offers a very rich and oily mouthfeel, showcasing a heavy bodied beer with just the right amount of carbonation to prevent this from becoming too overbearing.

Tastes of espresso beans with a fair amount of sugar to them to balance their bitterness, while allowing their earthiness to blend into a prominent complexity of warming, toasty barrels. The heat in this gets amped up during mid palate, producing earthy cinnamon, noble vanilla and dried berries among alcohol soaked wood, toned down by bitter chocolate and dried herbs. Finishes with scorched malts, high grade alcohol pralines, brownie batter and prevailing spices, while the barrels produce a very pleasant, almost sharp peaking dryness, which adds complexity while balancing the flavors at the very same time.

This is a very bold beer. It pushes the boundaries in regards of how complex, how heavy bodied and how barrel forward a Stout is allowed to be, without losing its overall balance. The best part is that it successfully answers all those questions.

sick to get to try this, especially on tap, its a whole lot of beer and even a little goes a very long way, totally palate coating, enormous, and just short of hot on the alcohol side of things, woody and mature without being faded or oxidized on the grain at all as some of these get after real long barrel rests, super complex, and the apparent lack of adjuncts makes it that much more exciting to me and impressive in this day and age where everything has marshmallow flavoring and whatnot in it, well done without that junk! 2023 vintage here, a treat. truly black and abyssal in color, lovely shine to it, slightly more carbonated and bubbly headed than expected, and frankly not as viscous as i thought it would be, which doesnt mean its light or anything, just that its not sludge like some of these are, quite refined really, which is part of what makes this so impressive. aroma and flavor do the same thing, heavy umami first which is cool, almost oyster sauce-esque, short of salty but also less sweet than expected, deeply earthy, way cool grain depth beyond just all the roast, beautiful build on this, elegant even with its size. i get dark chocolate, fudgey, some brownie batter character, definite molasses, traces of smoke, vanilla bean, and char. the bourbon aspect is wonderful, strong, almost dominant even in a beer this big, but its way forward and its even more prominent as this warms a little, more vanilla, honey, and luscious caramel. i like that this has some bitterness from the roasted barley, the barrel char, and an espresso wrinkle, it avoids that diabetic pitfall where a lot of these end up, but it stays rich and desserty, really high caliber stuff. the alcohol is a lot, and it slows me down more than the body or complexity this has, this is really up there and it shows. totally palate coating, long aftertaste, nuanced as they come, and worthy of being celebrated, quite a remarkable brew really, outer limit type stout, but unique and special, undeniable.

 

 

Growler filled 10/5/24

I hit up Half Time for the first time in a while the other day and just had to get this when I saw it on tap. Wanna know the best part? The keg kicked about 2 ounces short of a full fill, so they had to give it to me for free. The only thing better than a barrel aged Revolution brew is a free one

Pours completely pitch black with just a few light tan bubbles along the edge, obviously leaving no lacing

This has a very fruit forward nose and is highly complex. I’m picking up on aromas of black cherry, fig, milk chocolate, burnt caramel, smooth oak, nougat, red grape, earthy bourbon, vanilla bean, and blackberry

It’s not as sharp in taste as the aroma would lead you to believe which makes it a bit less interesting for me personally, but it’s still really damn good. On the front end of the sip I’m tasting cacao nib, raisin, vanilla bean, red grape, molasses, smooth oak, sweet bourbon, caramel, and light leather. The swallow brings notes of black cherry, burnt caramel, tobacco, port wine, smooth oak, sweet bourbon, vanilla bean, molasses, cacao nib, walnut, and poached pear

A medium full body pairs with gentle carbonation, resulting in a slick beer. Finishes surprisingly dry and drinks significantly lower than its abv

Looks aside, this one is absolutely killer. Hell, the lack of head has more to do with the short fill than anything else, so I won’t knock it down in the overall for that

 

 

Super spirits-forward

 

 

From a 12oz can. This is a blind beer review. I have no idea what it is till after the review. All I was told is it's higher alcohol. I have let it sit out a bit to warm up from fridge temp.

Look:This is a pitch black pouring beer, and it looks thick while pouring. There's no light that shines through the beer at all. There's a 1 finger brown head. The head doesn't last too long, and there's no lacing on the glass. 4.5

Aroma: The beer has a very boozy aroma. I get notes of caramel and toffee. I'm getting a ton of dark fruit in here. Notes of vanilla also shine through. I can't see how this isn't a barrel aged stout. 4.5

Taste: This is barrel aged for sure. It is actually mellow up front for a fraction of a second. The beer goes stout like on me then. I get a huge hit of vanilla, caramel, toffee, dark fruit, coffee, and chocolate. The beer has an interesting finish. I get a hit of maple on the finish. This adds some sweetness, but not over the top. 4.5

Body: This is a thick beer. It is very smooth feeling. I know it's high ABV because there's a slight burn, but the burn isn't harsh, just warming. 4.75

Overall: This is a damn tasty beer. Smooth, lots of flavor, great body. Very delicious. 4.5

 

 

Pours chestnut with a pinky of fast falling tan head. Some head retention and lacing

S: Dark fruits, oak, vanilla and candied plums. A touch of Maple and raw booze once warmed up

T: Figs, plums, praline, vanilla, lovely warm bourbon and Madera up front. Plenty of Bourbon, Pralines and a kiss of Maple Vanilla Pecan Ice Cream as this beer warms up. Finishes with a Pecan and Sourmash mix; some lovely Maple as well

MF; Chewy; subdued carbonation, sticky and warming. Glides like honey down the throat as this beer warms up

Such a lovely heavy hitter. Hits all my feels for me on a beer like this. Stellar!