Revolution Brewing (2023)

BIG fan of V.S.O. Gravedigger. I had mentioned it upthread but I found it big, boozy, NOT smoky, caramel & leather forward and overall a good time.

 

Vso gravedigger is a god dam pleasure to drink

 

I sometimes get those scotch notes out of things that otherwise have nothing to do with scotch too, like a second pour of a Cleveland Old Forester pick I had this week, though it was not unwelcome in that case.

 

You expect me to go back and read things?! Readings for suckers.

But yeah, I agree with your assessment and it's really great. One of those beers that you just want to bury your nose in and don't want to end.

 

Echoing everyone else, but VSO GDB is another excellent addition to the VSO family. I get tons of toffee and huge barrel, with a surprisingly dry finish.

And for anyone on the fence, I got zero smoke which is departure from Reg GDB for me.

 

I take it the Boss Ryewye is long gone?

 

Are you in need? They sold out in the prerelease. I'd sacrifice a can. Unfortunately mine are also mostly long gone and down to my last two.

 

no worries. There was some chatter on this thread that they put some more for sale at the taproom, but that was before the VSOGD release, so I’m it’s guessing it’s long gone by now.

 

Praying to VSOGD from now on

 

No need to guess - check the "Cans To Go"... https://revbrew.com/visit/brewery/tap-room-dl

 

I find it pretty incredible that both the taproom and brewpub have 10 options of barrel aged beers To Go and several other choices.
And the Brewpub has the LIBRARY LOTTO BOX option to go as well.

 

It's almost like Revolution has a world-class barrel program that is somehow still low-key.

Wait, that's exactly what it is. For every Double Barrel V.S.O.J. that sells out immediately, there's 5 other beers in the same echelon that you can buy anytime you want.

It makes sense that they mention being "Proudly brewed only in Chicago"...for the 3rd biggest city in the US (I think?) Chicago is still a relatively low-key city that has world-class food, music, beer, theater, movies, etc.

My parents think if they step foot in the city limits they'll be immediately stabbed, but if you know how to navigate the actual neighborhoods, it's an embarrassment of riches.

I love this city and Revolution is a great example of why.

 

I mean, can we really say this anymore? Do people really think the barrel program is still mostly unknown to people? Seems pretty clear that

• Beer nerds know, whether they get distro or not
• Tavour-only nerds know
• Those that get distro know, and in general things sit at about the right length of time for the volume distributed

I think we can probably drop the whole "No one knows how good they are" argument at this point. Rev is pumping out an absolutely astounding amount of [Barrel-aged] beer. I'd love to know what that number is and compare it to other breweries.

 

He didn't say "No one knows how good they are" or that Rev's barrel program is "mostly unknown to people", he said Deep Woods is still low-key (comparatively).

We get Deep Woods distro here and both Deth's & Cafe Deth have been mostly untouched for almost 2 months at the big beer store that I go to. This store is the Binny's of Kalamazoo so the clientele is beer nerds, housewives looking for the newest Rose, blue collar workers grabbing their case of Busch along with Bourbon nerds searching for the latest store pick.

Despite receiving only ~six 4 pks of each I can walk in there today & grab a 4 pk of both Deep Woods releases with no issues so that doesn't seem like "the right length of time for the volume distributed" to me

 

Non-adjunct BA stouts - especially in 4 packs - don’t move the needle anywhere.

or you can wait 18 months and buy a lotto box so you can get 1 of the great beers and 3 mediocre beers that you never wanted in the first place.

 

I don’t think it’s the container format as much as the products they make that have more or better competition in the market. When I want a BA stout there are tons of options and Deth Tar isn’t at the pinnacle. Same (for me) with Straight Jacket and BA Barleywines. Now, their bangers are things where a good alternative doesn’t exist- Mine Shaft Gap- I’m not going to find a good alternative cognac aged barleywine easily or 2 year barrel aged scotch ale. It’s unique stuff (or the dreaded “rare” term) that sells.

 

You'll always have places that are homer-centric. Isn't Michigan that way? Cincinnati certainly is. In general, nothing moves as quick as local stuff. I don't even think there's much good beer in Cincinnati, or the state in general, but locals eat that shit up.

So, if what I said is wrong, what would be the correct way to define them no longer being low-key? It seems like exposure and 'the word getting out' is really key. Availability as a metric doesn't seem like it makes good sense.

 

You are the one that chose Availability as a metric, I just responded with my real world example. I don't have a metric to quantify "low-key" but I know Deep Woods does not fly off the shelf here so the eye test is what tells me it's still low-key

 

Not being sarcastic. What BA BWs are your go tos over SJ? For me NOTHING beats it when you factor in price and availability.

 

I get the majority like it. It’s too sweet and one dimensional for my taste so literally anything else that is available. You know what beats SJ when you factor in price? Water, so let’s not factor price into the taste.