Blackberry Finn
Revolution Brewing

 

12 ounce can into a snifter. Canned 11/4/21, had 1/7/22.

Pours a good looking purplish red, somewhat opaque, with no head and no lacing. Aromas of bourbon, caramel, blackberries, malt, some oak and vanilla, light tobacco, a spicy smell. Flavors of bourbon, blackberries, vanilla, malt, caramel, some oak, a spicy taste. Smooth, a very good medium body, appropriately carbonated.

Another solid effort from Revolution. While it doesn’t seem the base beer is Straight Jacket, it’s really good and the blackberries- which really stand out, enhance it further.

 

Pours a burgundy-brown with a muddy translucency. Head is a finger and a half of khaki that is quick to fizzle away. Aroma is blackberry, delivering a little fruity, fleshy sweetness. Toffee, fig, caramel, and molasses develop the barleywine sweetness. That sugariness is curtailed slightly by a glimpse of bourbon and barrel, bringing with it a touch of heat. Alcohol remains well ingrained, especially with the initial sweetness. Faint resiny hops add a little extra depth. Flavor profile is more blackberry sweetness, much like the aroma, but brings with it a little blackberry tartness. Fig, toffee, and resin hops develop the flavor profile. Bourbon, and especially barrel, are a lot more present in the flavor profile than the aroma, and with that, a little extra alcohol heat is present. Mouth feel is medium-thick with a crushed silt texture that feels like it's been stamped out by the weight of alcohol and heat. Overall, great depth. Blackberry adds a little extra to this barleywine without totally obscuring or massacring the barleywine quality Revolution Brewing is known for creating.

Served in AM Membership 2023 glass from a 12oz can. Canned 11/04/2021. Consumed/reviewed 03/14/2023.

Canned 11/4/21

I recently found some older Straight Jacket variants that I’ve been wanting to try for a while and I’m quite excited. I’ve never had a Barleywine with blackberries, though it sounds like it would work. Let’s crack it open and see what it’s all about

Pours a reddish medium brown with 2 fingers of tan head that quickly fades to a ring and leaves minimal lacing

The nose here is very jammy and mixes well with the base beer. I’m picking up on aromas of burnt caramel, molasses, jammy blackberry, dark toast, charred oak, sweet vanilla, poached pear, and light pecan

It’s a bit more abrasive with its fruitiness in taste, but still very good for it. On the front end of the sip I’m tasting jammy blackberry, leather, sweet caramel, charred oak, earthy bourbon, tart raspberry, vanilla, and light raisin. The swallow brings notes of blackberry ice cream, tart raspberry, molasses, sweet caramel, earthy bourbon, toasted oak, raisin, light molasses, and smoky tobacco

A medium body pairs with gentle carbonation, resulting in a smooth beer. Finishes mostly dry with a fruity tartness that drinks well below 13.6%

Oh yeah, this one is good. It was probably better fresher, but the fruit is still very present in this one. Always a treat drinking some sort of Straight Jacket

 

Poured from a can at fridge temp. Pours a very dark purple with head that fizzes out in seconds. The nose is very blackberry forward. Alcohol comes through on the nose right away - solvent style. Some oak and an earthy aroma. The taste is interesting. Bitter blackberries. Wood and fruit. Alcohol is very detectable. Tart. Maybe a touch of vanilla and maple. The intense sweetness and the slight bitterness makes the aftertaste a bit odd. Overall, not my favorite. I just don't know if the blackberry mixed well with the barleywine.

Sampling a cellar temp 12 oz can that was sent to me by @brutalfarce. Thank you!
Pouring into my trusty snifter the beer pours a rich purple or plum color with a fizzy purple head of 1 cm that fades quickly to almost nothing. Only a small actively spinning island of bubbles in the center of the glass reminds me that this is not merlot in my snifter!
The aroma on this brew is a mix of oak barrel notes, some vanilla, fusol booze hits and of course a big hit of blackberry jam. Not quite as sweet as I thought it may be more of a fruity and slightly tart fruit nose.
I take the first sip and find a smooth textured medium bodied beer with very fine and gentle carbonation. The fizz is noisy in my mouth but isnt tingly at all. Very gentle and easy drinking beer, which is dangerous with 13.6%!!
Flavor is a nice mix of some brief toffee and vanilla and some bourbon hints, moving to tart blackberry jam notes. No hops anywhere and I dont get any biting or warming booze. this drinks much smaller than it is, Im glad its in a 12 oz can so I dont hurt myself too quickly!
This is quite the tasty brew and Im glad to have had the chance to try it, wasnt quite sure where this would go, but it definitely works IMO.

Can purchased and drank at Revolution Brewpub in Chicago, IL.

This one pours a dark murky brown-ish color, with a small head, and lots of lacing.

This smells like oak, vanilla, caramel, breadiness, and tons of blackberry jamminess.

I think this works better as an odd little fruited barleywine experiment than Strawberry Jacket did. There's lots of blackberry here, but it seems to vibe in better with the dry, toasty, slightly roasty, and very bready malt character from the base beer.

This is medium bodied, creamy, and with a sweet jammy finish. As the beer warms up, it does seem to sit heavier and get sweeter, though.

I really wasn't sure what I'd be able to get out of this one. It was much better than Strawberry Jacket.

Big thanks to The Andre who muled this four pack back from Chicago for me this weekend. I wasn’t planning on drinking tonight. Handling this 12 oz. can changed my mind. Instantly.

The pour is very dark with a bruised purple glowing around the edges. The nose is entirely sweet blackberry to this guy. I like blackberry. Someday I’ll tell you the story of the blackberry patch & the ground hornet nest. When it’s a little less fresh.

Blackberry Finn mixes genres like a good “No Sleep ‘Til Brooklyn” guitar riff. Blackberry jelly with an extra cup of sugar is ascendant with strong echoes of a fine mead. Alcohol is intense. Big oak before the less aggressive mid-palate stuff checks in: vanilla, brown sugar, toffee after you’ve had a swig of bourbon. To wrap this up we return to chocks full of blackbeery with a touch of blueberry. Stupid drinkable. I’m slugging this like the 2 for 1 special is about to expire.

Well, Revolution, your quest to ruin my liver, kidneys, & Tuesday morning are on track. Excellent beer that borders on bloody fantastic.

12 oz. can. Brown tinged purple with a fizzy pink head. Smells of bourbon and oak with tart berries and some toffee. Tastes of bourbon, lots of oak, tangy berries, sweet caramel, but then cut by berries again. Bourbon and lingering wet sock oak flavor linger. I can't wait to meet another person who perceives that really pungent barrel oak flavor in old ales and barleywines as wet socks. I can't be the only one. Sweet, but tart berries make it easier to drink. It does become pretty sluggish about 2/3 of the way in. It gets points for being fascinating, but in the end I don't see myself drinking this again in any more than tiny quantities.

 

 

Canned 11-4-21

I had no idea what to expect from a double barreled, fruited barleywine, my imagination completely failed me.

It's a fairly ugly, muddy purple and doesn't have much of a head. The berries are faint in the aroma, leaving plenty of room for a decadently boozy, vanilla infused toffee dessert. On the tongue the berries are prominent up front and at the finish, jammy and a bit tart. In the middle a wonderfully sweet, perfectly barreled barleywine shines through. This is just amazing, so glad I got to try it, thanks FBarber!

 

 

Vintage 2021.