Revolution Brewing Café Deth + Deth's Tar Release Party

I think Deth's Tar is just ok. It's fine, but nothing special. It's an easy pass for me.

Cafe Deth on the other hand is fantastic. Super happy to see they finally bottled this. Easily one of my favorite beers they make.

 

FWIW - GI's Rares are based upon the barrels themselves, not the amount of time spent in the barrels.

 

True, but both Rares spent 2 years in the barrel. Last year's Rare reminded me a little of Haymarket's Indignant that spent around 20 months (? I'm on the phone and lazy) in barrels, so that was what I was basing this on (there's a complexity and fudginess that seems to come through more the longer the stout stays in barrels).

 

Never been to a Rev release before - are bottles typically available after the day of the event? Do we know if Cafe is hitting distro? Thanks.

 

Bartender in Rev taproom told me bottles would last past the night and hit distro. But expected variants to go quickly that night

 

Thanks much

 

No, it's the 2 years. GI may market it towards the barrel type, but if you put Regular in the barrels for 2 years you'd have something unmistakable from Rare.

 

Heresy! (Kidding)

I've mentioned this before, and I've only had one bottle of O.G Rare, and it was 5 years old by then. Didn't remind me of the Rare '15 I had at FoBAB at all. I'm curious how similar they tasted fresh (seems like still not TOO similar). I would imagine the Pappy barrels helped out a little, in that Pappy is a wheater, and those HH barrels weren't, I assume.

Also, not saying this Deth's Tar is gonna taste like BCS, because it ain't. But I'm assuming it'll be a more complex/full DT.

 

From their site...

"Back in 1979 the folks at Heaven Hill Distilleries filled a handful of new freshly charred American white oak barrels with some of their finest whiskey. It is rare for Bourbon to age in barrels for more than twenty-three years. But these barrels patiently sat for over thirty years. The extra years developed a distinct and complex character that makes them truly one-of-a kind. We filled those barrels with Bourbon County Brand Stout, and then stored them away in our Chicago Barrel House to age for two more years. With these rare barrels from our friends at Heaven Hill we believe this is one of the finest beers we have ever produced. This is Goose Island Rare Bourbon County Brand Stout for 2015."



http://www.gooseisland.com/our-beers/rare-bourbon-county-brand-stout

 

I'm aware of marketing, it doesn't mean it is true. We just elected a guy who said he is the best ever at everything. Do you believe that or do you think he is just telling you what you want to here? There is another BCBS thread, probably in the Beer News Forum where a whiskey aficionado questions the use of the 35 year barrels. Elijah Craig doesn't age much past 23 years, is that because there isn't a market or it doesn't get much better? If I found a can of orange juice from 1910 it would be "RARE," but I sure as heck wouldn't want to consume it. The 35 year old barrels make for a nice story, but contained an inferior product. The major taste difference between 2015 rare and regular are that Rare is hotter and smoother, both pointing to increased barrel time (and maybe because the 2014 regular they put in was superior to 2015s recipe).

 

Well, one of us is speculating and one of us is going by what Goose Island said so...

If all it took was aging BCBS for another year to be able to 6x their selling price, they would do it every year.

 

They also said their beers weren't infected...we all know how that wound up. Given the mark ups at a lot of mom and pops GI could triple the price of their beer and they haven't so the 6x to make more money doesn't hold a lot of water. Try Rare, try regular. I think you'll come to the conclusion that the extra year is the difference maker, not past prime barrels.

 

I dunno, I'm perfectly fine with them having been in barrels that old. The point is that they weren't in those barrels the standard amount of time. Both iterations of Rare spent 2 years in barrels. Indignant did around 22 months. This Deth's Tar is 21 months. That is the only portion of interest to me, barrels be damned.

Not sure what the argument is about!

 

Thats how I am with their BA series. It always just misses for me. Its good beer but price combined with everything else out this year and it just doesnt land for me.

 

Would love to see Deth's Tar or some of their other barrel aged beers in 4 packs of 12 oz bottles but will likely never happen. One can still dream.

 

I had a moment when I looked at my receipt from Binny's on Black Friday, where I couldn't process the price of the beer. I kept staring at the portion where it said "Bourbon County Stout - Regular x2-$19.98." I was like, "yeah, $20 a piece seems fine." Then I realized it was $10 a piece (yes, I buy it every year, and no, I don't pay attention to what it costs), and thought, "well...no wonder people line up for this shit. 16.9 oz. of a beer that tastes like this for $10 is a fucking steal!"

I like Deth's Tar and Very Mad Cow, but as you said, for the price I'm not entirely on board (no knock on the beers; I just don't like spending that type of pretzel dough on beers I don't actively low). There are plenty of other BA stouts I pass on that are similarly priced.

That would make me buy them more regularly. There's a huge difference in my mind between dropping $15-20 on a bomber of Deth's Tar and dropping $20-25 (assuming similar pricing) on a 4-pack. I'd love to stock up a little, a la CW.

 

The mini cans they do for soda would be perfect. A little mini 6 pack of 8 oz cans.

 

I'd go for a 4-pack of 16 oz., too. I've gotten used to my entire tulip glass being full, and a 12 oz glass doesn't do.