Revolution Brewing (2022)

Those prices aren’t completely out of line, just at the high end. Locally in the Chicago area we’ve seen list prices from $24.99-$26.99 and $30-$33.99.

But let’s celebrate the brewery holding the same prices for the 6th straight year on the 4 annuals:
$25 for Deth’s Tar and Straight Jacket
$30 for Cafe Deth and Ryeway to Heaven

And if you want some super awesome/nerdy beer talk, check out the brewery tastings of…

Straight Jacket: https://www.instagram.com/reel/Ck1SBwEstpc/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Ryeway to Heaven: https://www.instagram.com/reel/Ck9xEgbNUUI/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

 

They went up on the FB event a couple weeks ago, they’re on the event page on Rev’s site too:

Double Barrel V.S.O.D.M. — Single Barrel - (contains lactose)
Unblended sweet component Dark Mode Imperial Milk Stout aged two years, spending a year each in Wild Turkey Russel’s Reserve and Basil Hayden Toasted Oak Bourbon barrels. Sweet, boozy, and with equal measures of rich, chocolatey, maplely maltiness, and oak-derived vanilla and coconut.

D.B.V.S.O.R. Lux Eighteener — Single Barrel
This extra-sweet component of Ryeway to Heaven spent eighteen months in a Jim Beam Distiller’s Masterpiece French oak PX Sherry cask before finishing in a Knob Creek 18 Year Bourbon barrel for a final six months. The confluence of copious malt sugar and extended aging delivers the now-familiar maple punch we so love in our Ryewine, with a bold, balancing punch of booze and lumber.

D.B.V.S.O.R. PX Apple Brandy — Single Barrel
This extra-sweet component of Ryeway to Heaven spent eighteen months in a Jim Beam Distiller’s Masterpiece French oak PX Sherry cask before finishing in a Laird’s Apple Brandy barrel for a final six months. Unabashedly malty-sweet with pronounced notes of maple, vanilla, baking spice, and apple, you’d think we put a whole bunch of grandma’s pie in the mash. We didn’t.

2019 Boss Jacket (14% ABV) — ½ barrel
Aged in French oak WhistlePig The Boss Hog V, The Spirit of Mauve ex-Calvados Rye Whiskey barrels, this special edition of our award-winning BA English Barleywine was brewed to retain a little extra sweetness, allowing the additional malt sugars to compile layers of stupefying complexity over time. Enjoy now or store cold.

 

Can't pick date and time....??

 

Same here.

 

It's showing date/time now.

 

...and on Twitter, they're saying to pick any date, it's not binding, you still have 30 days.

 

Was there significantly less 2022 Cafe made than 2021? Just curious as Cafe 2021 still shows on your website a year later.

 

Can't wait to try the drafts and this round of cans.

Also, allegedly a 19.2oz can of Deths Tar is the perfect amount of Deth's Tar for going to the movies to watch the new Black Panther movie.

 

Cafe Deth has always lingered a little longer than others, a cut in production would make sense to me if they're trying to balance supply/demand. Even if production levels were comparable, I'm guessing Supermassive earlier in the year probably cut into demand for 2021 Cafe.

 

Additional distribution to Iowa and Minnesota may be a factor this year as well. Another factor last year was that Supermassive Cafe Deth was released a few months earlier than Cafe Deth so maybe some folks were burned out some (not me, certainly ) on BA coffee stouts (@Jsimansk just mentioned as well).

 

All accurate

 

A certain brewery did a coffee randall barleywine at fobab like 8 years ago, and it might have been the best beer there. Then they did a bottled take on it several years later, which was not great.

All I’m saying is the potential is there.

 

What's driving your all's interest in barrel-aged beers at this point in 2022, heading into 2023?

How important are concepts? ie a beer built to pay tribute to XYZ dessert or other thing
How important are specific barrels to you? ie every barrel was the same spirit, and therefore it's branded as such.
How important is NEW? Versus attempts to improve (most subtle) past beers

What else? What do you want more of? Less of?

 

I agree with @GuyFawkes; I like BA beers where the barrel stands out and complements a well-constructed base that doesn't need anything else added to it.

I don't care about new for new's sake, and I love Rev's recent focus on continual improvement of the core Deep Woods lineup year over year. Everyone's said it in this thread a million times, but I also appreciate the value in those core offerings.

I love bourbon and have some specific favorite brands, but I'm not as interested in specific branded ageing. If I saw a taplist that contained separate kegs of Four Roses Deth's Tar, Angel's Envy Deth's Tar, and Weller Reserve Deth's Tar, etc., I would probably try small pours to compare, but that's not what's ever going to drive four-pack purchases for me. I care about the quality of the final product, and if that means blending, go for it.

Related to that, I love fun blending experiments, particularly stout and barleywine blends. I would definitely be in for Revolution to explore something like Firestone Walker's anniversary blends that mix together cuvees of the core Deep Woods lineup, some aged in atypical barrels.

Edit: In other words, more Cuvee de Grace would be welcome here.

 

More cuvée

 

Using unique spirit barrels or blends of liquor barrels to create world class barrel aged stouts and barleywines. Prime example is Mineshaft Gap. The simple cognac barrels added so much complexity or brought it out within the base beer and Rev balanced it to create a perfect beer. Find those spirits or spirit combos that are going to elevate the base beers without over powering, while taking them to that next level of complex flavors. Easier said than done, right? I don’t think anyone is clamoring for Rev to do a dessert beer, but people would certainly buy it as we trust your expertise. At the end of the day the brewers need to do what they are passionate about. I’d rather have something they spent a lot of effort on because they cared about making it amazing vs being forced to make say a pastry stout and just dumping a chocolate cheesecake into the mash to say they completed a task.

 

Honestly, I’m interested in exactly what Rev is currently doing with the deep woods series. Great balance of new beers and old favorites, and sprinkling in double barrel or VS-ization to bring old favorites to new levels. I am so burned out on overly sweet, overly adjuncted, and overly thick BA beers, so the deep woods lineup has become my go-to. So to answer your actual question:

Concepts: not important at all
Specific barrels: moderately important, but not really due to the branding, but rather to how was the beer actually affected. Like when there’s a new bourbon county reserve I largely ignore the barrel branding, but will definitely take note if I loved the beer
New: moderately important. The new stuff is always exciting to try, but I tend to enjoy the improvements on current brands the best

 

Concepts and specific barrels don't really move the needle for me. If there was a way to taste the base beer and then compare that base beer to how it developed in different barrels I'd be all for that. But never seen that done before and not sure if that is even possible. But I def don't want a pastry stout. Rev's focus on barrel and blending is what keeps me interested, and the approach with adjuncts in those beers is also something I wish other breweries would do. My preference is for beers with a strong barrel presence where the adjuncts are there as a compliment to the beer and barrel.