Fistmas - Revolution Brewing Company - Brewpub

Etan

Illinois

3.9/5  rDev +3.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

First bottling just appeared on the shelves. Let's check it out. 22oz into a tulip.

A: Pours an orange-ish brown with a nice egg-shell head. Good lacing.

S: Assertive tropical hop notes - pineapple, mango - and some minor slightly roasted maltiness in the background.

T: Hops come in first, with some mild citrus and mango notes, followed by spice (ginger?) and some hop bitterness. Pleasing bready grain comes in at the end to round things out.

M: Between light and medium-bodied with fine carbonation.

O: This is ok; everything's pretty well-balanced and it tastes fine. The hop + spice combination is a little weird but it sort of grew on me.

Serving type: bottle

10-24-2012 23:42:17 | More by Etan

KDawg

Illinois

3.75/5  rDev -0.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

had this on tap and it was poured into a pint glass. Pours a medium brown/amber color with a quick head

good aromas of fruitcake, malts and citrus peels. Kind of straightforward and slightly muted as well

Medium bodied with a nice feel and very good flavors of spices, fruitcake and malts

A very good christmas beer. If the aromas were more pungent this would be extremely good. It's enjoyable, but doesn't lend itself to being drunk a lot

Serving type: on-tap

12-24-2011 04:59:49 | More by KDawg

uwmgdman

Wisconsin

4.03/5  rDev +6.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

This ale pours brilliantly clear ruby amber color with an off-white head. The aroma is moderately hoppy - mainly citrus as well as moderately malt, sweet and caramel. Orange peel also comes through in the nose and melds nicely with the hops. The flavor hoppy, bittersweet, and rather citrusy, quite pleasant. The beer finishes with hop flavor and bitterness balancing out the sweet malt. The carbonation is moderate as is the body. Overall a very flavorful ale, orange peel/ginger component is nice but still subtle allowing the hops and malt to shine, well done.

Serving type: growler

12-06-2011 02:44:41 | More by uwmgdman

MasterSki

Illinois

3.78/5  rDev +0.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

On-tap at Revolution. Served in a 5oz taster glass. I'm not sure you can even consider this the same beer, as this year's batch used Nelson Sauvin hops instead of Chinook, and that's a pretty substantial difference.

A - A thin white foam settles to some wisps and a thick collar, leaving behind plenty of splotchy lacing. The body is a transparent garnet color.

S - Smells like straight up Nelson Sauvin hops. There's the faintest hint of a beer in the periphery, but it's pretty hard to get past that signature hop aroma. Perhaps the faintest bit of chocolate malt and ginger in the background. In any case, the usual suspects for the hop character - tropical fruits, earthiness, white grapes, cat pee.

T - Unfortunately the taste isn't nearly as compelling. The Nelson Sauvin hop flavors fight with the orange peel, ginger, and overall spiced character of the beer. The roast and chocolate malt flavors also seem incongruous with the hops. Complex, and not overtly 'bad', but clashes and confuses more than it challenges and stimulates.

M - Medium bodied, moderate carbonation, no alcohol, and a lightly sticky finish. Pretty easy to consume, but not particularly memorable.

D - Strange experience. I liked some aspects of the beer, but only insofar as they were reminiscent of another (far superior) beer from Revolution - the Nelson Sauvin-hopped Mr. Crowley. As far as Christmas beers go, this is actually one of the best ones I've had in recent memory, but I wish they'd just used the hops in an IPA of some sort instead.

Serving type: on-tap

12-01-2011 02:59:44 | More by MasterSki

Thorpe429

Illinois

3.85/5  rDev +2.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

On tap at the brewpub - December 27, 2010.

Pours a nice reddish-brown color with a fairly-large head that sticks around for awhile before fading down into a thin cap. The nose is intriguing, blending spices and hops quite well. Really enjoy how the spices mix in with the Chinook hops. The taste does this really well also, though it is a bit of a step down from the nose, which is reflected in the mouthfeel, where everything doesn't meld quite as well. Drinkability was pretty good, but not something I'd want a full pint of.

Serving type: on-tap

01-04-2011 01:01:15 | More by Thorpe429

beertooth

Illinois

3.45/5  rDev -8.5%
look: 5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

From the hand pull into a branded Imperial pint glass.

This beer is absolutely stunning, sharp ruby red. There's a finger of billowy khaki head that leaves thick lacing after every sip. It's a really great looking winter brew.

Those nose is a bit faint. I'm picking out orange pith, flat cherry cola, sweet malt, slight cinnamon, some pine from the chinook hops, and alcohol. The cherry notes are really poking out now that I keep smelling it.

The taste doesn't quite give me what I picked up in the nose. I'm getting those flat cherry soda notes, some bitter citrus, a little heat from the ginger. The pine flavors from the chinook are not showing up. The overly sweet, oxidized cherry soda notes are making themselves known and I'm not digging it as much.

Sticky, slick mouthfeel.

This beer was much better on draft than this cask version. Not terrible, but not something I'd get again.

Serving type: cask

12-22-2010 00:41:41 | More by beertooth

HerrFaust

Illinois

4.22/5  rDev +11.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

A-pours garnet with a generous head. I had in the wide-mouthed Mug Club mug.

S-Festive. Christmas wreath. More going on in the aroma than taste. Spot on for an American Christmas beer. I had first in a flight with, among others, the Great Lakes x-mas--a fave--and the Rev blew it out of the water.

T-The hops (chinook) really dominate. Crazy, the beer really approaches as a winter warmer, but the hops hit as crazy pine in the front, with the citrus and spice coming in at the end, some sweetness.

M-the Chinook and generous carbonation really lift this beer off the palate. Think of a SN Celebration mixed with a fuller Anchor Christmas.

Serving type: on-tap

12-02-2010 02:59:03 | More by HerrFaust

cadaugherty

Illinois

4.05/5  rDev +7.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

A nice addition to the RevBrew Lineup served in a big mug.

Appearance- Red/Amber hue with a big frothy head that holds for quite some time. The look of this beer just says holidays to me as it seems to glow in the mug.

Aroma- The ginger and orange peel come out immediately in a very pleasant way (not overwhelming the way many spiced beers can feel). For me the smell is the best part of this beer.

Taste- The spice notes are there along with just a touch of bitterness from the hops (which I am told are chinook). Again the spices are far from overwhelming and begin to fade about halfway through the beer.

Mouthfeel- Perhaps a bit thinner than I would like but the creamy foam helps round it out a bit.

Drink- This is a beer that goes down easy and could easily be sessioned over the course of a long evening at the brewpub.

Overall this was a great beer to be greeted by after walking in from 25 degree weather and strong winds, which in my head is what a Christmas beer should be about.

Serving type: on-tap

12-02-2010 02:24:43 | More by cadaugherty