Revolution Anti-Hero IPA

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

Purchased: 12oz CAN from a 6-pack bought at West Lakeview Liquors in Chicago, IL; 2013 

Style/ABV: India Pale Ale, 6.5%

Reported IBUs: 70

Happy 'America, Fuck Yeah!' day. I hope you grilled lots of food, ate too much, drank too much, fired your gun, and shot off some freedom works. 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!  

'Merica

Tonight's beer is a staple of Chicago, of America. Tonight's beer literally saved Baby Jesus and fueled the workers that built the Freedom Tower. I'm talking about Revolution's Anti-Hero IPA. This beer is brewed with four hop varities, and punches in at 6.5% and 70 IBUs. It comes in cans. Cans, mother fucker. I don't see the French people at Cantillon putting their beer in cans.

The beer pours an orange color, with one finger of soapy, off-white head. The body is slightly hazy, with fat carbonation lazily popping upwards. I can't think of a better metaphor for Texas. There's some clingy lacing, and a centimeter of sustaining suds.

The aroma showcases grass, pine, sweeter citrus, herbal citrus, and strong floral aromas. There's an underlying toffee/cracker thing, and some underlying sweetness. There's a hint of resinous pine/citrus in the backdrop.

Revolution Anti-Hero IPA

The taste echoes the nose, with big iced tea, citrus, pine, resinous citrus/pine, herbal kick, and floral pungency. There's an underlying toffee/cracker thing, and some hints of wheat bread.

At 6.5%, this is stupid drinkable. The can format conjurs up images of Bald Eagles slinging back this drink at backyard barbecues, or "barbeques" as us 'Mericans would call them. Palate depth is like a nuclear submarine, but this is about as complex as Sarah Palin. Once you get past the great sex and quips about Russia, she's just another republican MILF. Iced tea and pine up front; citrus, herbal hop kick, and resin in the middle; fades to citrus and cracker. Uncle Kracker. Lil Wyte. America. 

Rating: Average (3.0/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Strong Average on this. This is a classic, readily available to drink while you fire your gun, grill meats, or bang your overweight partner. It's also nice that this beer is available EVERYWHERE in Chicago. As far as IPAs go, there are so many of them...this one certainly displays ideal qualities in the style, but never goes beyond that. Which is fine. Can't a brewery make a solid IPA, put it in a can, and make it widely available? That's what I thought. Pair this beer with Freedom, "barebeques," post-Republican MILF coitus, and Baby Jesus.

Random Thought: Happy Anniversary, America. 

Pipeworks & Tired Hands Present MariLime Law

Brewed By: Pipeworks Brewing in Chicago, IL  

Purchased: 22oz bottle (Batch #155) bought at West Lakeview Liquors in Chicago, IL; 2013

Style/ABV: Imperial IPA, 8.0%
Reported IBUs: ?

YARRRR, it's not even Thursday, but that won't stop me from having an Unofficial Pipeworks Thursday™. Today's beer is for all you sea lawyers. Yarr. About Pipeworks:

Pipeworks has humble roots. The brewery was founded in Chicago in 2011 by Beejay Oslon and Gerrit Lewis. The duo were both homebrewers that met while while working at West Lakeview Liquors. In

"Take to the sea!"

2011, they began to raise money for their brewery using the online Internet site, Kickstarter. Olson and Lewis were both educated at De Struise Brewery in Oostvleteren, Belgium. With that knowledge, and the money from their kickstarter, Olson and Lewis created a unique brewery that is smaller in size, and intended to brew smaller batches of beer. The company's motto is "small batches, big beers." And indeed, since the brewery has been around, they've been releasing a lot of one-offs and small batch releases. At one point - and maybe still - the goal was to release a new beer every week. You can read more about the brewery at their website HERE.

The MariLime Law is a collaboration between Pipeworks and Tired Hands Brewing. Tired Hands Brewings is a micro brewery/brewcafe based out of Ardmore, Pennsylvania, founded by Jean Broillet IV and Julie Foster in 2011. They focus on small batch beers that are inspired by the farmhouse brewers of France and Belgium. You can read more about them here. The back of the bottle reads:

"Ninjas from two clans have teamed up and hit the seven seas to bring you an IPA like no other. Pipeworks and Tired Hands have set sail with Simcoe, Centennial, and Sorachi Ace hops in hand. We've also added enough lime zest and juice to keep the scurvy at bay. Enjoy this unique collaborative effort before you walk the plank, ya Scurvy Ninja!"

Maritime Law, the best kind.

Between the Sorachi Ace hops and the added lime zest/juice, this beer should be limey. But more importantly, what a name. MariLime Law. All I can think of is: "You're a crook, Captain Hook, Judge won't you throw the book, at the Pirate." 

The beer pours into a hazy, golden-yellow/honey colored body. I kicked up a finger of hazy, off-white head. In bright light, the beer is a hazy/juicy yellow color, with some gold/orange tones on the edges. The head is white in bright light, and a hazy coating (supported by lively streams of tiny carbonation) is settling atop the beer. There's some lacing and the usual DIPA stuff.

You definitely get lime in the aroma. This beer doesn't mess around, with huge lime juice, lime, lemon, some pungent pine, big catty hops, and lots of that Sorachi Ace dill/grass/lemon. There's also big guava on the nose. There's some sugars on the nose too, so you get some lime-candy-sweetness. This beer actually kind of smells like the Dakeyi Guava Hard Candy.

MariLime Law Ninja

Like the aroma, the lime juice shows up to fuck shit up like the Kool-Aid Man. The lime juice compounds the Sorachi Ace hops, giving big lime, lemongrass, and dill notes up front. Once the lime zest/juice gets tired of partying, a characteristically Pipeworks/Ninja Imperial IPA emerges, with a nice cracker/biscuit character, and lots of resinous and pungent pine, big lime/lemongrass, and hints of dill. It's an interesting beer.

I wouldn't change anything about this beer. I know the lime juice isn't integrated into the beer per se, but should it be? The lime juice brings out the Sorachi hops, the Simcoe adds some fun catty citrus, and there's hints of a sharp herbal backing as per the Centennial. This is a nice blend of hops, and the juice/zest works. The 8.0% is completely undetectable; and this is medium-full in mouthfeel, with slightly lazy carbonation (probably diminished by the juice). Palate depth is good, complexity is a bit 1-D. You get big lime juice/zest, and Sorachi Ace up front; that rolls into more lime, some resinous pine, hints of herbal hop spice and dill; the back is trailing herbal hop spice, more lime, some cracker/biscuit, and fade to lemon/pine/dill.  

Rating: Above-Average (4.0/5.0 Untappd)

This is a very Strong Above-Average. I really like the novelty of this beer, even if it is very much a novelty. This beer is also brewed with four of my favorite things: Sorachi Ace, Simcoe, and Centennial hops, and lime zest. I think for the better, the lime juice stands out. I believe Pipeworks has a tangerine Saison coming down the hatch, so I look forward to seeing how that goes. This beer has a rustic edge thanks to the strong dill/lime/lemon notes; you could pair it will mashed potatoes with dill seasoning, leafy burgers, grilled lamb, Greek food in general, or you could maybe even try going the sushi route. At around 9 or 10 bucks a bomber...this was worth snagging. Get it if you can.

Random Thought: Tomorrow is like Friday, and Friday is a workday. What a sham. When the 4th of July falls on a Thursday, employers should be obligated to give you Friday off. Tomorrow night and Thursday will be relaxing days, and then on Friday I get to begrudgingly haul my ass to work for a few hours and pretend like I'm being productive. Yay.  

Revolution & Firestone Walker Dos Osos

Brewed By: Revolution Brewing Company (Revolution Beer LLC) in Chicago, IL (Firestone Walker Brewing Co. in Paso Robles, California )

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

Style/ABV: India Pale Ale, 6.6%

Reported IBUs: 75

Some things in life aren't fair. Like Revolution Brewing teaming up with Firestone Walker to make an IPA. Who knows when these two will collaborate again, if ever...and that's just a huge tease...I hope. 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 Dos Osos, or "Two Bears," is a collaboration brew between Firestone's lead brewer, Dustin Kral, and Revolution Brewing. The reference to "two bears" comes from the bear on the California state flag, and the bear for the Chicago Bears. This beer is being dubbed a "Central Coast IPA," aka a West Coast IPA brewed in the butt-fuck boonies I call home. This is a no-nonsense IPA, using

"bright, floral, and fruity"

some 2-row, Munich, and cara-pils malt; and Warrior, Chinook, Centennial, Cascade, and Citra hops. This one should be bright, floral, and fruity...just like bears? 

This one pours a nice golden-amber/apple juice color, with a finger of soapy, off-white head. a nice transparent body, and tons of carbonation streaming upwards. In bright light, the body is still a darker gold/juicy color; the head just veers a bit towards off-white, and is sustaining quite nicely. 

The aroma is super bright, with fresh tangerines, bright tropical fruits, some hints of orange/pine, peppery spice, peppery apple, cracker, and maybe some of that advertised passion fruit. 

Revolution & Firestone Dos Osos

Wow, this is an amazing IPA. As if you weren't expecting anything but the finest from Revolution and Firestone. It's very drinkable, with bright citrus, tangerine, passion fruit, trailing peppery spice and apple, some cracker/biscuit, and a caramel-malt backbone. There's a kiss of lemon and grass, and this covers the hop spectrum giving flashes of a Pale Ale, IPA, and Double IPA. It does lean towards West Coast, with big floral hops.

The mouthfeel on this is near perfect; medium-full with good supporting carbonation, and great palate depth. The hop flavor is greater than the hop bitterness, but the hops provide a nice, soapy coating on the tongue. The malts provide a solid backbone. At 6.6%, this is very drinkable. Complexity is okay, veering towards sweet: you get citrus, tangerine, and passion fruit up front; that moves into some grass, hemp, lingering citrus, lemon, cracker; the back end is soapy hops, cracker, and hints of spice. This finishes more on the biscuit/malt/cracker side than straight up dry.

Rating: Above-Average (4.0/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Decent Above-Average on this. Pretty good stuff...very drinkable, in fact. It's almost a shame that this isn't available in a 6-pack format, because I would love to kick a few of these back on a Saturday or Sunday. But, you can only do so much. As a standalone IPA, this is certainly Above-Average, but probably won't change your outlook on beer. Nevertheless, at around 8 bucks a bomber this is priced fairly, and would pair well with a grassy/leafy burger, any dish with a grassy/leafy twist, edamame beans, fried chicken, salads, or lighter barbecue food. Good stuff, of course. 

Random Thought: Ugghhh. Can the White Sox lower the bar any further? There is suck, and then there is what the White Sox did during their double header on Friday night. I feel sorry for for football.