Revolution Brewing (2021)

Drinking VSOJ for the first time right now. Pretty jealous of all you who have easy access to Rev barleywines. Damn

 

To be fair, VSOJ isn't growing on trees or anything, but it feels like a lot of their stuff is at times! It's pretty sweet.

 

Didn’t get a chance at the taproom yet but picked up my ryeway and maple cans. Ryeway seems drier than last year’s, but all the familiar comforting flavors are still there. A few more cans to enjoy I think before I can determine if it’s better or worse than any previous years.

Maple is a different animal. I took my first sip when it was too cold - as seems to be the trend this year, these beers really show off what they’ve got as they warm. I don’t think it’s too sweet; it seems much less sweet than maple deth, and maybe even less so than regular 2021 straight jacket. I actually don’t even get that much maple, at least in the syrupy sugary sense. Instead, there’s a slightly bitter, tannic character with a dirty ethanol odor. There just seems to be more bourbon. An interesting and frankly challenging twist on the straight jacket I’ve come to know and love.

 

Drier Ryeway sounds even better. The only thing I thought was too decadent about it last year was it's hefty roundness. A little extra dryness sounds promising, can't wait to check it out.

 

Dat Lynott’s is LEGIT!!! So glad I made it here today.

 

I felt the taproom exclusives this release were the best of this DW season. The XO Lynott's was indeed phenomenal, with deft balance and remarkable silkiness (to borrow from Rev's description) for a beer that spent 5 years in wood. The other two were immensely enjoyable as well. That Kyle's quad instantly had me thinking of the burnt sugar on a creme brulee.

While I didn't partake of the canned releases at the taproom, I found the Ryeway to Heaven to be the slightest of steps down from last year's, only because I recall 2020's having a richer body and touch less dryness. Dark Mode is sweet and cocoa-y in a very easily drinkable way. I may, or may not, get around to Maple Jacket this evening. Depends on how I feel after this DDH RH3000 Hero.

 

Double Barrel X.O.D. is the TRUTH!! Dark chocolate, smoky oak & cream/vanilla flavors...bold as fuck. You can smell this beer from 5 feet away.

Crazy how much flavor they got without any adjuncts.

I plan on stopping back in on Wednesday when they re-open for more!!

 

...everything is still on tap!!

 

Don’t worry, it’ll all be crowlered and in @GuyFawkes ’ tummy by that point.

 

Regarding Maple Jacket, we stopped at the brewpub for lunch yesterday. Our server actually gave us a "buyer beware" warning about the level of sweetness. They were not wrong.

 

This may sound like an odd question, but is it sweet in the way that when you add too much sugar to coffee, you can tell it is sweet (and even coats your mouth a bit funny), or does it taste sweet (like a pastry might)? Just trying to parse this out, as I was looking forward to hopefully trying a can or two. I’m more ok with the latter than the former, because in the former you can certainly tell it is OVERLY sweet. That sweetness punches you in the face in a bad way. “God damn that is sweet” are probably words that have come out of my mouth in that case.

 

To me it was more like the first. However, I was tasting it alongside the XOD and Lynotts, which probably made it seem sweeter. It has a sticky candy feeling to me, that wasn't to the level of cloyingly sweet but overwhelmed the base beer and barrel.

 

Very helpful and insightful. Thank you.

 

Maple Jacket is sweet up front, masks the other flavors of the barleywine and barrel and leaves a taste of maple syrup on the back. I'm not a fan. I'm going to drink another one at room temp to see if there are any differences. The one I drank last night was chilled and I let it sit for a bit to let it warm but it didn't seem to open up as it warmed.

 

I agree with your impressions. I'm a maple fan, and the sweetness became tough to overcome even as it warmed up and was (for me) overly sweet. If anything, the sweetness became more amplified as it warmed. Started to remind me of Honey Jacket by the end.

 

You had me at Honey Jacket!!!

 

I’m not sure I’ve ever had a Barleywine with adjuncts that I’ve loved. And even then, it’s only because BCS coffee Barleywine was “pretty good”.

After that, I’m not even sure there one that I like.

It’s like saying here’s a premium bottle of Bordeaux infused with coffee. Sure there’s a market, but I it ain’t me.

 

Still, for me there's something about the words maple and barleywine together that is stupidly attractive despite the fact that I just know it won't equal the sum of its parts.