Revolution Brewing (2019)

“There’s a Revolution Brewing in my diaper”

 

Please do this before my 3rd and final kid gets too old!

 

"My parents deserve a Straight Jacket!"

It's nice to have options as a consumer.

 

Or
"Was I an accident when I got you to the front of the Deep Woods Release line?"

 

My dad, The Boss Ryeway
Deth by Cuteness
Melting infants take the Ryeway to Heaven

 

“Deeeth - Deeeth by cuteness? I don’t get it. Is that a play on words?”

 

Boss Cryway (aged 9 months prior to release)

 

"Dad Used My Bottle As A Makeshift Growler For DBVSOJ Pours "

 

This one just sounds like a geriatric pickup line to me.

(but I'm sober, and that's never a good look for my mind)

 

All this talk about straight jacket prompted me to revisit a can last night from the most recent release.

I know that this batch did not have any VSOJ in it like the prior batch, but still surprised at how different this year’s is from last year.

Anytime I post about this, I feel like people think that I am hating on SJ. I’m not, I like it, i buy it, and I have traded for it. That all said, I just feel like the most recent release seems a bit too watery in consistency, and I feel like had quite a bit more of that “fusel alcohol” taste in it than I prefer. I miss that deep richness in last year’s vintage that I so strongly associate with a world class English barleywjne.

 

I agree on this year's Straight Jacket...it didn't seem as good as the previous iteration, and being released the same year as VSOJ probably wasn't doing it any favors.

Above average, certainly, and still one of the better beers in Chicago, even if it was an "off" year.

However, seeing the barrel folks at Revolution really dig deep and experiment, and succeed on such a high level...I wonder if maybe Straight Jacket is the same, but our expectations have changed.

 

I wondered that too. Trying to stay impartial, but difficult obviously when I have the bias associated with knowing how good last year was, and yet, it was not really the same beer since it had a bunch of VSOJ in it. But I can’t help but compare that on some level. And obviously their game is stellar, so with so many great beers, is that affecting me? Probably some.

 

To this point, a few weeks ago Fischman's had a...2013? 2014? Straight Jacket keg on. It was good...but I was disappointed. Whereas, when the beer was fresh, I thought it was INCREDIBLE.

If I know the crew at Fischman's, I bet they took every precaution to keep that keg in proper conditions and a high ABV barleywine shouldn't be a candidate to age poorly anyway.

Personally, I think the bar has been raised, and it's my personal, unreasonable hope that they scale BACK on the Deth's Tar stuff so that they are aging more and more Straight Jacket every year so the have more & more of the stuff to age longer & play with. 2017 Straight Jacket should be the norm with tons of older vintages, and VSOJ itself should flow from every water fountain in Cook County.

This plan of mine obviously takes 0 economic concerns seriously. But it also takes into consideration that they do barleywines better than they do stouts...in fact, I'd argue that they do barleywines as well as or better than anyone in the US. I hope they lean into that!!

 

I have never had the opportunity to attend a release or try all the various cool barrel treatments and experiments they have played with. That said, I feel like they should certainly prioritize BW over stout, since I feel like they do it much better (comparative advantage if you will). I feel like this is what you were saying, but let me know if I misinterpreted.

I’d love to see 2-3 SJs released every winter (SJ and 2 variants).

I know they released honey and strawberry just recently, and I’d certainly love to try those, but I don’t know enough about them since I went MIA to know if that is going to be a new thing (every summer), or if this was just something cool to do this year. I’m a stickler for the SJ and variants, but I am not requiring the season to be winter .

 

I suppose that depends on how many more mid-life crises their brew team has.

 

I actually appreciate you guys mentioning this again, because I felt a little crazy when I tasted SJ this year. It was great, but not next-level great like the first time I had it (last year). I thought it was just because I had recently had the magical VSOJ, but I think B_E is right that the lack of VSOJ in the SJ recipe has (understandably) lessened the impact.

On the other hand, I'd prefer as much VSOJ exist in the wild as possible, so if that means none being introduced into SJ, I'm perfectly happy having a top-tier BA barleywine that isn't quite as good as it was before VSOJ came around.

 

Big fan of the Rev barrel program, but both SJ and Ryeway were a noticeable step down this year.

ryeway 2017 was fabulous and I was quite disappointed in last year's.

 

I've never been the biggest SJ fan which is why I was hesitant to go all out to try VSOJ. Glad I did though, VSOJ is a completely different animal.

 

Tried this year's SJ, and agree - pretty "meh" - oh, and if Rev ever scaled back their Deth's Tar series (esp Cafe Deth), there might be an accidental fire.
Not that you heard it from me of course.
*glares*

 

Scaled back...not a chance! When at the Midlife Crisis party I'd say the amount of filled barrels racked up in there is about triple to maybe quadruple than the amounts I ever saw in the past.

Fear not and be on the lookout for Hazy Hero cans, really great stuff!