Revolution Straight Jacket (Barrel Aged Institutionalized Barley Wine)

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

Purchased: 22oz bottle bought at West Lakeview Liquors in Chicago, IL; 2013 (2012 Vintage)

Style/ABV: American Barleywine/Winter Warmer, 13.0%

Reported IBUs: 55

Just a review? We do those too. About Revolution:

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! 

The Straight Jacket comes in a nice, fancy box, ala Firestone. The back of the box says: "We brewed our Institutionalized barley wine in the spring and socked it away in whiskey barrels to age throughout the summer and fall. Now that winter is upon us, we bring forth Straight Jacket, a humongous malt-forward ale that even an accomplished escape artist cannot resist. Aromas of dark stone fruits, bourbon, molasses, toasted coconut and vanilla come in waves as you swirl this beer in the snifter." Punching in at 55 IBUs and 13%, this should be a malt-forward beer. I'm excited. 

Revolution Straight Jacket 2012

In lower light, the beer pours a dark brown/purple color, with some hints of orange. The beer is kind of murky and hazy, and there was a pinky's worth of drowning caramel head that didn't last for long. In bright light, the beer is a murky/swampy orange, with some peppery carbonation. There's a ring of carbonation on the edges of the glass, and big glossy legs and sticky lacing. 

There's big bourbon/whiskey, and tons of barrel character on the nose. I'm also getting molasses, complex dark sugars, burnt sugars, raisins, some resinous hop stuff (pine; sap; marmalade), and some Quad-like fruits. The fruits range from berries to boozy, overripe, whiskey/rum-soaked stone fruits. The Bourbon does impart some vanilla to the nose, but I'm not getting a ton of coconut at this moment.

Oh man...I don't know if I'm just in the mood for a bourbon-barrel aged Barleywine...but this is delicious. At the moment, this is drinking like the best barrel-aged beer from Revolution. This is better than the Very Mad Cow, and better than the 3rd Year Beer. 

I mean, just wow. There's a ton of complex barrel character here, with assertive whiskey/bourbon, acidic wood tannin, and lots of vanilla/bourbon/coconut. There's plenty of toffee, caramel, molasses, burnt sugars, and even some hints at chocolate. I'm also getting lots of berries, hints of pine/maple sap, rum-soaked raisins, boozy stone fruits, and some nice hop kick on the back. The finish is boozy, with a vanilla/coconut/bourbon splash, and then some drying and lingering wood tannin. I should say drying for a malty, 13% beer, as the finish is inherently sticky and full-bodied.

Good lord...this is some special stuff. I lucked into this one, as this is the last of the barrel-aged Revolution beers from my cellar that I'm drinking. I wouldn't hesitate to pick this up again...but I'm getting ahead of myself. Obviously "Winter Warmer" is the name of this game. At 13%, this beer is designed for long, dark, cold Winter nights. Drinkability is actually really good for the style and ABV, but you still want to sip on this. Palate depth and complexity are both outstanding, with layers of barrel character, malts, hops, fruits, and more barrel...each sip lasts for 20+ seconds on your palate. At 55 IBUs, this almost seems like a toned down American Barleywine, and it's all the more better for it. There are rich and decadent flavors in this beer. Up front is big wood, bourbon, and whiskey with some sweet dark/stone fruits, and a blast of chocolate malt; that rolls into more acidic wood tannin, berries, rum/whiskey-soaked raisins, complex sugars, hop bitterness; the back end is lingering booze, coconut/vanilla/bourbon, some resin/sap/hops...the finish is boozy and sticky...and this beer changes as it warms and has a lot of variability with each sip.

Rating: Divine Brew (4.5/5.0 Untappd)

I gotta go with a Decent Divine Brew on this. This is, by a wide margin, the best barrel-aged beer I've had from Revolution. This is sooo good...it really does put the Very Mad Cow and 3rd Year Beer to shame, and those aren't bad beers by any means. At 13%, this is what you want in a Winter Warmer. If you're in the mood for bourbon and a Barleywine, you can't go wrong here. Me personally, I'm not a huge fan of American Barleywines...I find them to often be quite cloying and intense, and I have to be in the mood. But this beer right here has some really nice balance as the hops take a back seat. Honestly, I wouldn't pair this beer with anything. This is the type of beer I want to put in my snifter and enjoy over an hour or two. You know, over a football game or movie. If I HAD to recommend food pairings, I would pair this with some pecan pie or a really rich turkey sandwich with gravy. I don't remember how much this cost, but if they brew this again I will try to pick up the 2013 bottle. Damn.

Random Thought: I love it when I open a beer and I'm just surprised at how great it is. Maybe that's a sign of a good week to come.