Revolution Very Mad Cow

Brewed By: Revolution Brewing Company (Revolution Beer LLC) in Chicago, IL  

Purchased: 22oz bottle bought at West Lakeview Liquors in Chicago, IL; 2012 

Style/ABV: Milk Stout, 9.7%

Reported IBUs: 30

I'm finally getting around to cracking open Revolution's barrel-aged Mad Cow. The regular Mad Cow is stellar stuff, so I have pretty high hopes.

Revolution Brewing is a brewery and brewpub based in Chicago. Revolution's roots are tied to founder Josh Deth, a homebrewer who began working at Golden Prairie Brewing. A few years later, while working at Goose Island, Josh dreamt up the idea for Revolution Brewing. In 2003, Josh and his wife opened Handlebar, while Josh worked as an Executive Director of Logan Square Chamber of Commerce. While working for the Chamber of Commerce, Josh found an old building on Milwaukee Avenue, and the wheels began to spin to open up a brewery. After three years of raising funds, Revolution Brewing opened its doors on February 2010. In July of 2011, Revolution added a 2nd floor Brewers' Lounge. And in 2012, the company opened a new production brewery and tap room. The brewpub is located in Logan Squre on 2323 N. Milwaukee Ave; the brewery is located on Kedzie Avenue at 3340 N. Kedzie Ave. For more information on Revolution, check out their history page here!  

If you roll over to the Very Mad Cow page, you can get some info on this beer. This is a bourbon barrel-aged Milk Stout, aged in Woodford Reserve bourbon barrels. Clocking in at 9.7% ABV, and 30 IBUs, this is going to be a roasty and sweet beer. The back of the box for this beer states: "We start by brewing Mad Cow, a big and bold milk stout that uses over a thousand pounds of Wisconsin-roasted barley per batch. The infusion of unfermentable milk sugar (lactose) imparts a residual sweetness to balance the roasted malt. After aging six months in bourbon whiskey barrels, Very Mad Cow emerges from the wood with a stampede of vanilla and caramel flavors pulled from the charred oak barrel staves. Drink it with dessert or as dessert."

Revolution Very Mad Cow

This is going to shock people, but this beer looks like a Stout. In lower light, the body is dark black, but has some hints of brown on the edges when held to a bright light. In lower light, I kicked up a finger of tan/khaki head. The head is surprisingly persistent, with a nitro/Guinness-like centimeter sticking around that won't die. It's also leaving nice lacing. 

I'm getting a lot of bourbon, vanilla, and...subtle fruitiness/sweetness on the nose. Maybe I'm pulling out molasses/caramel. There's a lot of wood as well. The roast is subdued, if not completely absent. 

Milk Stouts are already on the verge of over-the-top sweet, and this beer just bludgeons you with big vanilla, bourbon, whiskey smack, oak, wood, and then caramel/sugar/molasses. There's some fruity sweetness dancing around here, with hints of plums/raisins/molasses, and you get some booze on the back end. There's maybe a hint of roast (or light earth/coffee), but it seems to have been traded in for bourbon. 

I forgot this was 9.7%, so it must be doing something right. The alcohol is hidden well, but you do get that whiskey flavor. This is very oily, with light carbonation. And yet...I would call this medium-full in terms of its mouthfeel. This is definitely a sipping beer, and probably a dessert beer, and something you want to work on over an hour or two...or share with some friends. Complexity is just okay, and the palate depth is also good but not amazing. You get sweet caramel/dark fruits up front; that rolls into bourbon, vanilla, wood, oak; the back end trails off with more fruits, and then light earth/coffee. The finish is lingering whiskey.

Rating: Above-Average (4.0/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Decent Above-Average on this. I hesitate to say this improves the base beer because the base beer is so good. If anything, this adds a new dimension to the base beer that some people will enjoy, and others might not be as fond of. Either way, this beer is balanced and has some finesse. It's also interesting, in that you don't find many bourbon barrel-aged Milk Stouts. I would skip the food pairings and sip on this. This is a hefty beer, and will serve you well over the course of an afternoon. 

Random Thought: I don't care if the Hawks win it all or not, game one was some good hockey. Triple overtime? Yes please. Game two is going to be INTENSE.