Revolution Brewing (2022)

I would say concepts based on a product are not something I personally look for. It's certainly fun to try a taster of something like that, but not something I would bet $40 on a 4pk just to hope it worked out.

I personally like different branded barrels and it seems like if you age something in a tater barrel, then people tend to trip over themselves to buy it. For example, I would guess ORVW Deth's Tar would sell out instantly vs Jim Beam Deth's Tar, standard/blended Deth's Tar, etc. Heck, just look at Bourbon County. I feel like those have been fairly successful. Either way, that's more of a personal preference, but I think it's fun.

And just because I don't work there and I realize the logistics are a nightmare, let's say there are 3 barrel types in a blend, it would be cool to have one of each and then the blended final product in a 4pk. I feel like when Goose did that with the Easter Eggs, a lot of people went crazy trying to find each barrel type. But I'm lazy, so put them all in one box so I don't have to chase it, haha (which I realize Goose eventually did for the individual barrels).

While "new" may not mean everything needs to be turned on it's head, I do feel like some innovation is needed to keep people interested. Even going with Coconut this year, I feel like there was a lot of good feedback. Or what @HouseofWortship mentioned about different spirit barrels paired with different bases have really led to some outstanding products.

And I also like the extended aging and individual blend components that have been released. I know those are draft-only and sometimes to-go in crowlers, but those probably bring me into the taproom just as much as the main product itself.

EDIT: And I feel like the season pass thing was a great addition to the buying options!

 

My 2c: more madeira!

Personally, I feel those type of barrels work well with barleywine, strong ales, scotch ales and the like.

 

I'll echo support for Rev continuing on what is more or less the current trajectory - part of what I love most about each Deep Woods offering is the tight focus of each and the self-imposed one-adjunct limit implemented to date. To answer the questions:

• Concepts vis-a-vis some sort of tribute is interesting but not a primary driver for me. I'd be more interested in extended aging (more double or triple barrel options) or cuvee.
• Specific barrels are intriguing but really I'm just looking for more broad spirit-driven treatments like Mineshaft, Boss Ryeway, and Lumberstruck. If there's some exceptional barrels that lend themselves to occasional one-off variants of Deth's Tar that would be cool, but I could easily see too many getting exhausting. I personally tend to be more price-sensitive with beers highlighting specific brands - I know that a barrel with a haughty pedigree doesn't always yield a barrel aged beer worth a huge price premium in my opinion (looking at Bourbon County here).
• New is important in moderation - I think Thundertaker (rye-based) and again Lumberstruck (what I understood to be a different base than Straight Jacket) are nice examples of departures from the core Straight Jacket, Deth's Tar, and Ryeway that fit very well into the overall lineup. I personally wasn't sold on Dark Mode, but still looking forward to trying the double-barrel version.

I've made this call a few times, but Very Special Old Mineshaft is long overdue!

 

New weird shit and "concept" beers are things I/we can get a ton of other places, so for some of this stuff I'm focusing on what I'm looking for from Rev:

Specific barrels aren't super important to me, but old ones, ones getting multiple barrel treatments, etc., that's something I really, really like; everyone can get me a BA stout in Elijah Craig barrels, but far fewer places are willing to throw said stout in barrels for literal years. Obviously the "VSO treatment" is an easy way to get people interested, but just letting more time and different barrels work their magic on the beer is a ton of fun for me. Things like Straight Jacket are always standouts vs. the field, but having almost an entire lineup of BA beers without a ton of weird adjuncts added makes you guys really dependable for my "pastry boi fatigue."

Likewise, new isn't that important to me here, as long as things like VSOx don't count as new; I feel like Rev has enough interesting options that watching them get dialed in over the years is just as fun, if not more so, than trying something new. I go to new stuff for a lot of other breweries mainly because previous beers haven't been good enough to justify buying yearly (at least, in terms of BA beers).

As a kind of specific side note, something I'd love to see Rev do is a thing Haymarket used to(?) do: For their anniversary a few years, they'd release their BA stout, Indignant, and then offer pours (and flights) of various ages of the same beer--you'd get, say, a 6mo. Indignant, 13mo., 22mo., 36. mo, etc. Obviously this isn't viable for every beer, but I think it would be very cool if you guys were able to have Deth's or SJ over a span of a few years, as a flight (or even mixed 4-pack). Especially given how much of a rep Rev has gained for careful aging and barrel treatments, getting to do a walkthrough like that ourselves would be really cool.

 

The event on Friday - based on past years- will the special taps last into evening? Weekend? Or go quick?

thanks

 

This year they have lasted through the weekend.

 

Agreed, especially when breweries like Bottle Logic already have such an extensive catalogue of successfully nailed inspirations. I think trying that would force Rev in a direction they aren't well known for and have avoided well, which is frankly a practice that people actually appreciate about Deep Woods.

Rev is better at identifying characteristics that aging has pulled out or developed, and focusing on accentuating or contrasting them well with perhaps only one or two additional ingredients might be better than aiming to emulate some sort of existing pastry or dish. And even then, only sparingly, keeping a heavy focus on excellent expression of "clean" or no added ingredient barrel aged beers.

 

not really an answer to the questions originally asked but i definitely appreciate Rev’s unwillingness to “settle.” considering they distribute a fair amount of their Deep Woods series, they could easily rest on their laurels yet they always make these little tweaks and fine tune their beers. i’m even more appreciative that they do so with the core of the series (Deth’s Tar, Straight Jacket, Ryeway). it’s good to know that those beers are going to be bangers year after year. then you get the double barrels, special barrels or VSO iterations on top as a big bonus. love and respect to Rev.

 

Keep doing what you are doing! Especially with interesting barrels; without adjuncts is what I love from Deep Woods Series the most. Most importantly, Deep Woods Series to me is a barrel forward beer that emphasizes the barrel notes of a beer, but is not boozy and very smooth. The Revolution barrel program has become masters of flawlessly nailing a balanced barrel aged beer and this is your true calling card in my opinion.

Canned 4 packs of:

I would enjoy Revolutions take on a "Double Barrel Deth Tar" specifically in bourbon and port barrels.

Rye Whiskey Deth Tar
Wheat Whiskey Deth Tar
Port barrel Deth Tar.
Cognac Deth Tar.
Apple Brandy Deth Tar
Grand Marnier Deth Tar. (did I go too far?)

Also any thoughts of barrel aging an English Old Ale in bourbon or brandy barrels? You guys are so talented at brewing/blending barrel aged Barleywine that I feel like you would make one hell of a barrel aged Old Ale.

I will also mention that I loved coconut Deth way more than I ever expected to... Hazelnut Deth Tar would also be interesting to try. Again would like to emphasize. I would prefer less adjuncts and more barrel profile emphasis in your barrel aged beers. If you spend the time to put beer in barrels let it have the bigger presence than the adjuncts. Don't cover the barrel up with "candy" (adjuncts).

As far as fruited Deth variants, the recent Deth by Raspberry and Deth by Currant are both too fruit forward. Go back to the balanced approach. Both beers were way to tart and had too much fruit presence that took away from the Deth Tar presence.

This is just my two cents. Thanks for asking!

 

sign me up for this! 1, 2, 3, 4 year deth’s tar 4-packs!

 

Overall Interest

• No or single adjunct barrels aged stouts that compliment the barrel flavors rather than trying to make a barrel aged stout that's been painstakingly aged for nearly two years taste like vanilla, hazelnut, cocoa, vanilla, and whatever else. It kills me when a brewery talks about aging a stout/barleywine in some super specific barrel for 18-24 months and then get all excited about adding a fuckload of toasted coconut to make a "coconut bomb". Just doesn't make sense.
• Extended aged (i.e. 18+ months) barleywines
• Unique or different barrels other than bourbon/rye, specifically apple brandy or cognac. For whatever reason I have not liked wine or rum barrels
• I know you all spend a ton of time picking one coffee to make Cafe, but 3 Sheeps up in Wisconsin canned a few different coffee varieties and the differences were pretty stark. I get that you pick the best one but showing off the differences in varieties of coffee could be at least an interesting draft only.

Concepts

• Couldn't care less but things like the Garrett's popcorn brown ale and other branding collabs like what Half Acre does with Morton Salt is super cool. Trying to recreate a drink or dessert usually ends poorly.

Barrels

• I don't care a ton about the brand of barrel the beer is aged in. I'll leave that to the brewers, Marty, etc on what brand of barrel provides the most character for a beer. Yes, it'd be cool if you could say we got 5 King of Kentucky barrels and we let Straight Jacket sit in them for 3 years but you may also be able to achieve the same results with barrels from a "lesser" bourbon.
• I thought the Beer Temple single barrel experiment last year was so cool similar to what bourbon does with single barrel picks, something like that for season ticket holders could be another unique thing to offer the ability to purchase.

New

• I love that Thundertaker came out again and hope it continues to come out. It's very obviously a different beer than Deth's Tar and having that option is great, and it also helped that was very good. Same with Dark Mode. It's something different even though I didn't enjoy it as much as regular Deth's Tar it was nice to try another stout from Rev
• The On & On Half Acre collabs were awesome. More of those would be cool to show off new offerings on a more one-off case if it's difficult to add a new recipe and SKU to the Deep Wood rotation

 

Just my opinion here: I am a sucker for apple brandy, cognac and armagnac barrel-aged beers, regardless of the base beer's style. So much good that can come of that.

Mostly agreed on rum barrels... I know good rum barrels can get very expensive because of age/condition concerns as they get reused more than, say, bourbon barrels. As a result, rum barrel-aged beers I've tried have been hit or miss for me (including the 2021 Cuvee de Grace having such a high percentage of rum BA components, I liked 2020's a lot more). Quality, and the type of rum (white, dark, spiced, coconut, etc), can make a huge difference, and in my opinion, this can make or break the resulting beer. Rum can very easily take over the entire profile in a detrimental way.

Same goes for wine. I generally like big stouts with tannic, vinous qualities, but I don't typically like wine barrel-aged stouts. In my own personal experience, wine barrel-ageing is much better suited to lighter bases, and white wines tend to yield more successful results (despite the fact that my wine consumption is probably 90% red, 10% white). I'll mention Cambridge Brewing Company's Arquebus as an example that I think is sublime; they used sauternes barrels for the 2017 vintage, and you get some really lovely, delicate notes of florals, honey, and minerality that complement a drier base barleywine.

 

Concepts: I like the trend of mimicking the bourbon market with one-off special barrel treatment (e.g. Bardstown’s secondary aging in wine barrels), blending only of different spirits or different bourbon mfg with more detail about the blending noted, extended aging of same base formula & blending (a la Gueuze-style), mixed packs vs 4-pack of same beer.

Barrels: The specifics seem to interest the brewers & that concept generally tends to then reach the beer consumer. It’s interesting and sciency, so is a draw for me personally.

New: Innovation is the main thing. That could be improvement of existing beer or creation of same brand with different treatments or formulas. The trend of mimicking a flavor profile (e.g. cinnamon roll) still being done but would appreciate the mixed 4-packs in this area. Even like the “Beer for” series by Off Color would be nice to see as a mixed option (e.g. Tacos, Pizza, Burgers, Brunch in one 4-pk).

 

rev implemented this idea a few years ago in their coffee Eugene brand. It wasn’t really marketed well enough to create interest, at least not that I could tell. But I had fun tracking down different 6 packs. The roaster was on the bottom of each can alongside the packaging info

 

I think it would be interesting to have an event / flight / something where it’s possible to try the dry and sweet component recipes alongside the final product (and try your own ratio). Would be neat to get that perspective to what goes into the blend from a recipe perspective.

 

Hot take.

Just keep on focusing on the depth of character of the beers, which continues to grow each year, and Rev should be set for a loooong time.

And if you have time, a BA Ole Ale and BA Quad would be fun.

 

Hansa in Libertyville is my favorite roaster in the area. That'd be a cool choice.

Onyx coffee would make Cafe Deth $100 a 4 pick.

 

First not important at all. Second only in terms of finished product quality / taste. Third yes, but not new for newness sake, rather where tweaks on certain ones won’t really do more for me, selfishly.

One example re: new I’ve shared before — vanilla and coconut deth. They’re well-made beers, but for me they just don’t go with the base. Regular is great, fruited ones are on par with Clare’s at its peak, and Cafe was BCBCS killer and will put it out if its misery again this year having had both. But for vanilla and coconut, I don’t think tweaks would make me any more likely to purchase. So there would prefer a new BA imperial stout.

I am aware this could be a bad business decision given how much is built around a particular beer family with marketing and ops, but for me personally that means little. Have similar feelings on Heroes, for another day. *ducks*

 

Concepts are not important to me.
Specific barrels are fun
New is good. Very special old is better.

More of:

• Blending of the key pillars of the Deep Woods Series (Deth Jacket, Straight Ryeway, Deth to Heaven, etc.),
• Single cans of limited Deep Woods one-offs like a more formal version of the 2020-2021 crowlers

Less of:

• Long breaks between Deep Woods seasons