Institutionalized - Revolution Brewing Company - Brewpub

Etan

Illinois

3.68/5  rDev +0.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

On-tap during the Very Mad Cow release.

A: Clear light amber with a nice cream-colored head.
S: Light citrus and dried fruits. Mild yeast and a touch of booze. Smells like a pale ale.
T: Sweet tangerine, dry spice, bit of bitterness, caramel, warmth, dried peach.
M: Medium bodied with slight carbonation.
O: Definitely one of the fruitiest barleywines I've had - lots of pale fruit notes from the esters and hops. A little odd and a bit too sweet, but otherwise interesting.

Serving type: on-tap

11-17-2012 03:08:17 | More by Etan

homebrew311

Illinois

4.23/5  rDev +15.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Served on tap at the brewery. Appearance is deep orange, tawny, with tan ring of head. Nose is full of grain, molasses, pine, and honey. The taste is somewhat sweet with plenty of molasses. Sweetness is quickly countered with a swift kick of pine hops. Nice balance overall. Mouthfeel is mild with moderate carbonation. Overall very nice, great balance, looking forward to the straight jacket.

Serving type: on-tap

11-16-2012 23:22:21 | More by homebrew311

KDawg

Illinois

3.38/5  rDev -7.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

This note was taken at the Oktoberfest party on 9/22. Poured from tap into a 1L Krug. Pours a caramel/toffee color with a small head.

Big and rich aromas of hot caramel, toffee, malts and some booziness as well. It isn't too boozy though.

Full bodied with noticeable booziness. It's definitely on the hot side along with notes of hot caramel and malts.

Too boozy on the taste for me. The aromas hold the richness, but it was a touch too hot for me. It took me a while to finish my 12oz pour.

Serving type: on-tap

10-10-2012 17:09:28 | More by KDawg

MasterSki

Illinois

3.03/5  rDev -17%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

Firkin at Night of the Living Ales.

A - Transparent amber body with quick-dissolving light tan foam.

S - Boozy, with harsh alcohol, burnt sugars, stale hops, green apple, and red fruits.

T - Taste is a but better, as there's some pleasant caramel and cotton candy sweetness. However, it's plagued by obvious alcohol and overly bitter and astringent hops.

M - The feel is appropriate for the style, other than a bit of boozy warmth. Smooth, full body, with a pleasant chewy texture.

D - One of the few beers that I didn't want to finish. I ended up pouring this out after struggling through a few ounces. The barrel-aged version is significantly better.

Serving type: cask

03-05-2012 18:15:20 | More by MasterSki

jegross2

Illinois

3.93/5  rDev +7.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Reviewing the Institutionalized, a barleywine made by Revolution Brewing Company.
Score: 86

9 oz tap pour served in a snifter glass and enjoyed on 02/24/12 at the Revolution Brewpub. Review is from iPhone notes.

Appearance: This brew is a translucent "deep garnet red" color that turns orangish-red when held up to light. Served with no head save for an off-white creamy ring of head around the glass. Decent oily and frothy lacing mix with average retention. 3.5/5

Smell: Sweet caramel malt, ginger and barley. Some hops. Not a very strong or complex aroma. 3.5/5

Taste: Moderate booziness blended with earthy hops and caramel up front. Barley, piney hops, caramelized brown sugar and spices. There is a very rich malty sweet backbone, a touch of fruitiness and a little black pepper. This is a bitterer barleywine, but not nearly as bitter as the Sierra Nevada Bigfoot. There is a distinctly "orange" or tangerine citrus rind in the background of the flavor profile as well. This barleywine is quasi DIPA-like. There is a really nice mix of hoppy and malty sweet goodness. This is a sipper. 4/5

Mouthfeel: Medium-full bodied, light carbonation. Dry and rich mouthfeel. Malty and slightly bitter in the finish. 4.5/5

Overall: A super solid barleywine. I am finding myself enjoying this style more and more as time passes. I think the key for me enjoying my barleywines is that they need prominent IPA-like qualities to balance out the barley/caramel maltiness.

Recommendation: I realize that barleywines can be expensive to manufacture, but $7 for a 9 oz pour felt a bit hefty here -- especially with the Gravedigger Billy on tap for $1 more. Casual beer drinkers will probably not enjoy this one, but craft lovers should certainly give this one a whirl if you are looking to try something by Revolution that you have not had before.

Cost: $7 for a 9 oz pour.

Serving type: on-tap

02-25-2012 17:42:28 | More by jegross2

AgentZero

Illinois

3.45/5  rDev -5.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

A - Reddish brown beer that was pretty dark and cloudy. Small off-white head that left some minor lace and splotches.

S - Lots of dark fruits, caramel, and prunes. This is a very sweet smelling beer that's fairly malt forward.

T - Thick tasting and pretty fruity with a bit of cherry taste and a lot of dark fruits. It is sweet with brown sugar and caramel. Not really much hop presence or toasted malts in this one.

M - Full bodied an syrupy.

O - Found this to be pretty sweet, although I liked it a little better than the barrel-aged version which was much too rich. This is okay, but a little one dimensional and lacking subtlety.

Serving type: on-tap

02-03-2012 05:39:39 | More by AgentZero

Thorpe429

Illinois

4.05/5  rDev +11%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

On tap at the brewpub - December 27, 2010.

Pours a reddish-garnet brown color with a single-finger white head. Pretty good for the style. Low retention time but fades into a nice collar. The nose is really quite nice with a good amount of dark fruits, caramel, molasses, and brown sugar. Really quite sweet in the flavor with some noticeable hops, though not too far over the top. Mouthfeel is nice with a creamy body and nice carbonation. Mild booze throughout. Drinks well. A full snifter of this might be a bit much, but I enjoyed the half glass that I had.

Serving type: on-tap

01-04-2011 01:25:16 | More by Thorpe429

nkersten

Illinois

3.58/5  rDev -1.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Poured into a 5oz taster at the brewpub. Color is a reddish orange with a thin creamy white head, nice retention and lacing. Smell is very fruity and sweet, lots of ripe fruits and cherries, slightly bitter and some alcohol. Taste is very similar, but with the alcohol showing through first followed by the cherries and fruit, very sweet with a slightly bitter finish. Mouthfeel is quite thick, coating, and syrupy with a light carbonation. After the first sip I was glad I didnt order a full pour due to the strong alcohol flavor and smell, but as i got to the end of the glass it definitley started to grow on me. Not a bad attempt, although the style American English Barleywine is a bit confusing. I look forward to trying more focused barleywines from revolution in the future.

Serving type: on-tap

12-02-2010 00:06:30 | More by nkersten

emerge077

Illinois

3.9/5  rDev +6.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Pours a dark high-clarity scarlet copper tone, a thin cap of foam that faded over time, down to a wispy skim and then a thin ring. Not much in the way of lace, but for a 10.5% barleywine, that's to be expected.

Dried cherry aroma, syrupy sweet and a little bit nutty also.

Syrupy body, low carbonation, big dried cherry, almost a fruit reduction sort of flavor. Plum, date, sweet dried fruits dominate. Almost more of an English BW or Old Ale in character. Seems like a prime candidate for barrel aging. Cherry really pops out as the most defined flavor, with the rest playing minor supporting roles.

A small snifter is about all I can manage of this brew, but it was a fine nightcap to ring in the month of December, walking out to the first snow flurries of the year.

Serving type: on-tap

12-01-2010 03:18:23 | More by emerge077

joshuaseresse

Minnesota

3.65/5  rDev 0%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Had on tap while on my visit to Chicago this last weekend. Notes from 11-14-2010:

A - Clear ruby brown with a finger of white head that dissipates into strong foam ring around the edges - to the left a bit (perhaps because of the angle of the bar.)

S - Sweet and crisp apples, both dark red and green, apple cider, caramel and brown sugar. Sweet hops, something along the lines of citra or other citrus hops.

T - Really sweet and overly too hoppy for my kind of barleywine. Leathery shoe and bits of smoke. Stiff and sweet but maybe it was because it was a pretty new batch and on-tap. Hmm...

M - Zingy, crisp burts and tingly. Quite a bit of carbonation. Lighter than I like, but bit syrupy...more on the lighter side though. After taste is a bit boozy, especially when it warms.

D - easy to drink especially for 10.5% but it goes down easy(er) Good try at this barleywine, but needs a bit of age for me. Don't get me wrong, but I like my barleywines a bit drier and leathery than this.

Serving type: on-tap

11-16-2010 20:59:49 | More by joshuaseresse

cadaugherty

Illinois

3.03/5  rDev -17%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

If it looks like a duck and smells like a duck, it should taste like a duck...right? Well not so much.

I was very excited to try this beer when it was made available to the Mug Club. I am a fan of RevBrew so their first barleywine made me sit up and take notice (color me on the blue line). Unfortunately I have to say once you stop smelling and move on to tasting disappointment sets in. The taste reminds me of a too young port that needs 5 more years in the bottle before it is ready for its coming out party. It is thick on the mouth and it is hard to finish a whole 8 oz snifter. Rev take my advice and throw this in a bottle or a cask for 6-12 months.

After the treat that Thee Destroyer and RepoMan Rye were this was a big setback for Revolution. Hopefully this is but a bump in the road for one of Chicago's best up and coming breweries.

Serving type: on-tap

11-15-2010 06:57:57 | More by cadaugherty

jrallen34

Illinois

3.13/5  rDev -14.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Revolution's new barleywine which was the first beer recommended by the server, sounds great, right? Not such much, what is this mess. The description is an American style English barleywine. The Englishness shows off right away in the aroma which is dead and boring. Light caramel, hops, skunky???...The looks is an ugly clear garnet with a light tan head, great lacing though. Not what a bw should look like...The taste is an equal disaster boring dark fruits, caramel and LOTS of alcohol on the finish.

A train wreck, avoid.

Serving type: on-tap

11-13-2010 02:03:20 | More by jrallen34