Revolution E. Norma Gene

Brewed by Revolution Brewing Company
Style: Imperial/Strong Porter
Chicago, Illinois USA

Serve in Shaker, Snifter

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On tap at revolution. Deep bourbon and caramel aromas. Thick mouthfeel with wonderful bourbon, wood flavors with a hint of chocolate.

Draft at Rev. Had a couple of these and paid the price for it later. Pours black with a thin tan head. Aroma of bourbon, chocolate, caramel, and a touch of wood. Great flavor, well balanced and nicely done.

Bourbon barrel aged, and for all the better. Very lovely wooden notes on the tip of the tongue and nose, finishing with a perfect blend of malt, wood, hops, and booze. A nice medley of a brew.

On tap at the brewery on Kedzie. Pours a black body with a finger-width, dense and creamy, dark brown head that dissipates slowly and leaves a nice lacing. Aroma is big toasted coconut with some vanilla up front as well as some chocolatey bourbon and wood, caramels and toffees, light roasts, and touches of dark fruits. Flavor is similar. Rich toffees, cocoa, and caramel with plenty of balanced barrel present. Lots of toasty coconuts, bourbon, light vanillas, and some wood that comes out a bit more towards the end. A few dark fruit notes with a light roast as this finishes rich with lots of barrel and a nice chocolate element. Somewhat dry before leaving a lengthy aftertaste with just a slight warmth following a full body and a soft, light carbonation. Overall, a pretty great, huge BA Porter that has lots of barrel notes, but plenty of rich malts and a light roast to balance. Hides the alcohol really well and drinks very nicely. Good one.

Draft at rev brewery. Pours black with tan head. Aroma of toasted wet wood/cardboard, soy sauce, chocolate syrup, and vanilla. Flavors are earthy soy sauce, dark chocolate bar, vanilla, figs, charcoal, and it finishes with coconut mixed with a long woody cardboard finish. Boozy prickly and brash. Palate ends up feeling like i just had mouth wash. Its really all over the place and frankly a mess. I’ve never gotten such soy sauce and cardboard flavors from a rev BA beer and frankly I’m surprised no one has commented or knocked it for this. I don’t know whether to feel bad for rev or our local rating crew. To answer Adam’s eventual question - No, I’m not having a bad day. Maybe they don’t blend and this came from a different barrel. Lets just say I recently added a yuck at the end of a rating that scored higher.

Draft at the brewpub. Pours black with a dark tan head that thins out. Nose is big and barrel forward. Molasses and maple, chocolate, vanilla and coconut. Rich and strong. Fresh barrel. On taste, full bodies and rich. Big barrel character that is extremely well integrated. Warming for sure but it is not hot. Vanilla and coconut. Full malt profile and tons of Complexity. Great beer.

5 oz pour on tap at the Revolution Tap Room (Chicago, IL). Pours a thicker deep brooding pitchblack pour. Dark and thicker, opaque body and edges. Brown head atop dies to a loose ring and laces ok. Sticks around. An ominous motor oil viscous feel. Aromas are marshmellows and toasted coconut, cocoa and coffee. Toffee and caramel malts, firm roast and spirit barrel mingle. Bourbon, the Woodford elements assert themselves with that coconut and vanilla, wet oak and firmly spirit laden elements. Supports the barrel, base elements showing well. Initial is bigger, firm roast and dryness, barrel tannins hit the palate. The very front shows thicker dark ominous malts, sweet thick toffee and caramel, toast, and cocoa. Vanilla, toffee, and some bigger hops and barrel tannins hit. Firm heat, coffee, and spirit into the middle and backend. A bit acrid, bakers chocolate linger on the back end. Roasty, barrel heat and presence. The beer supports the barrel, perhaps making it a bit more enjoyable than the base for me. Thinned a bit, but big alcohol presence can be a touch overwhelming at times. The Woodford barrel is assertive, cocoa and creamy silky chocolate and caramel, some toast. Backend is a bit harsh at times, dry, and barrel tannis, hops. A little harsh. A bit odd for me. It’s certainly big and brash, the aroma rich and powerful, yet straightforward. The beer progresses into a more rocky backend and finish. Solid, if a far cry from a balanced or well integrated barrel aged beer.

Bourbon County Porter. That’s about all I have to say about this. Delicious!

Sampled on tap at the brewery. Served in an 8 or 9 oz. snifter. Pours a midnight black in color with a minuscule amount of toasted marshmallow colored head. Nose is somewhat muted, but I get chocolate, bourbon, oak, and booze. Flavor packs a punch. It starts out pretty boozy, but settles down to that tootsie roll chocolateyness, toasted marshmallow, caramel, and oak. Mouthfeel is big and imposing, it’s boozy, but smooth at the same time strangely, light carbonation, and a long finish. This has been in barrels 11 months and it’s done wonders to the base beer. I thought the base was oppressively boozy before and while this still will knock you on your ass, it displays better depth than hugene. I would be eager to see how this mellows over time. Another great barrel aged offering from Rev.

Sample pour consumed at the source upon its release... Pours a deeper viscous cola black consistency, homogenous throughout, and topped with a solid khaki head that reduces down to a thin wispy film after working my way down the glass, more reddish hues especially around the edges develop... Aroma of assertive bourbon and woody barrel notes, almost like someone poured it right into the beer, marshmallow and vanilla supporting the aforementioned with chocolate undertones rounding things out. Tootsie roll bourbon throughout that mellows out after warming and is quite nice albeit pretty barrel forward... Flavors follow suit with more if the previously alluded to. Vanilla bourbon toffee and light coconut combined with the lightened heaviness of the base beer with its smooth chocolate flavors. Dark fruits reveal themselves later in the duration and finishes off with a bittersweet quality that lingers through the finish. Fuller bodied but not syrupy and cloyingly so. The barrel lightened the weight of the base beer it seems with a bit of light prickliness from the carbonation. An improvement upon the original, at least for me, as was the case for ba baracus. Big but a nice zipper all around. Booziness is a bit overwhelming in the finish though. Finish is a bit rough and unexpected.