A Whale A Week: Revolution Brewing's Deth's Tar

Now in my second year, A Whale A Week is my challenge to try (with an array of beer loving friends) a rare beer for every week of the year.  Last year I had a great time with this and have continued it for 2016.  Not every beer will be a truly "white whale" beer, but all are hard to find and a treat to try!  This week we try something different.  Tired of just trying out one beer (and lets be honest how can I really shrink my cellar at this rate) each week, we're going to break out a bunch of them! 

Revolution Brewing's Deth's Tar

Revolution Brewing is one of the very best breweries in Chicago as of this writing.  Revolution was started by former Goose Island pub brewer Josh Deth in 2010 as a brewpub, and has since added on a second production facility in the Chicago area.  We visited the latter on a trip about 2 years ago and picked up this little gem at the brewery.  Named after Josh, but evoking images of X-Wing squadrons and an exploding Alderaan, this is a big 11.4% ABV Oatmeal Russian Imperial Stout.  The brewer uses Warrior hops for bitterness and English Fuggles for aroma.  The beer spends about 10 months aging in bourbon barrels before bottling.  The bottle comes in a cool red box which makes it totally worth more!  We did get to try this fresh at the brewery, and now this bottle is about 2 years old and ready to go! Beer Advocate puts this at 94 and RateBeer at 99 for scores.  

Our judges for this session are me (Rogue Leader); Sarajo (my Leia); Matt Messier (Wookie co-pilot); Teresa (masked and mysterious bounty hunter).  As most great adventures do, this one started with meeting Matt and Teresa over some blue drink at our local Cantina (the Iron Tap)--a wretched hive of scum and villainy.  Later, in a rusted out R2 unit, we discovered a message...and a bottle...

In 

a beer

glass far

far away...

Aroma: In which the rebel scum attempt to steal the plans...

Eric: Molasses.  Dark chocolate.  A bit of strong alcohol on the nose.  Coffee--more of a dark espresso with some burnt character...  Some mild oxidation with a hint of Endor's mossy forest on the end.
Matt: Light and smooth.  Not much on my palate.

Appearance: In which the dark depths of space hide many enemies...

Eric: As black as Vader's helmet.  Head dark tan to almost brown, like the murky bubbling froth of Dagobah's swamps.  Tight bubbles and very persistent.  Deep as quicksand, hiding a sunken X-Wing.
Matt: Dark as night with a small froth.  Layers nicely on the glass.

Flavor: In which the moon that is not a moon positions itself...

Eric: Lots of bourbon right off the bat.  Plenty of vanilla.  Tart cherry notes as it warms.  Super boozy like something Figrin D'an would drink during a set.  Harsh as princess' retort.  Dry and astringent bitterness of coffee and dark chocolate on the finish.  Thick and coats the mouth like mynocks on a ship hull.  Finish has a touch of metallic--like licking said ship hull.
Matt: Initially tastes chocolaty, but burns off inside of the mouth very quickly--leaving and alcohol flavor at the end.

Overall: In which the rebels zoom down a trench and bulls-eye some poorly guarded exhaust ducts...

Eric: A very good beer.  Boozy and creamy, but ends a bit dry and rough.  The bourbon is strong in this one...  4
Matt: I like it.  Being a victim of marketing, a good label with lure me in.  I expected the Deth's Tar to explode my world.  It didn't.  Still a great beer to drink around the fire.  4
Teresa: I taste root beer.  3.5
Sarajo: I give it 4 big black fists...

Overall Score:  3.9 

Your moment of Zen: Sj with her Revolution big black fist tap handle...

Beer Scene: Chicago (Musings From Chi-Town)

Continuing my travelogue of a recent trip to Chicago, and in no particular order, here are some more great places to try out if you love beer and food.

Revolution Brewing:  I have heard great things about this brewery over the past couple years, and my friend Chris suggested I check them out when in Chicago.  So I actually made this my first stop on our trip, dragging Sj with me into a somewhat shady area at night.  This is the main brewery site on Kedzie Avenue in a manufacturing district on the Northwest side, but they also have a more accessible brewpub site that I will visit on a future trip!  Upon arrival from our cab, we were not entirely sure we had found the right place, briefly worried we had been dropped off in The Hood--soon to be found rotting in a dark alley with empty pockets. 

The building is in a large warehouse with only a small, difficult to read neon sign above a small entry door to betray its identity.  Climbing a set of stairs past a wall mural that indicated we were on the right track, we came to a large open tasting room.  We arrived in the early evening and the place was pretty quiet at that point.  About half of the room was sectioned off for a private event for cyclists that was just starting, but there was plenty of space for all of us.  A large stack of bourbon barrels sat against one wall, filled with beer and awaiting their turn for bottling.  We could have just made a guided tour, but had an appointment with friends and couldn't linger too long...I was more interested in getting time to try all their beers than seeing more stainless steel fermenters!  From where we settled into the long bar, we had a nice view through glass of the brewery proper.  They are a pretty sizable brewery (60 barrel) and keg and can at the facility. 

Our servers were very helpful and gave me some light-hearted crap for not bringing them some Surly beers when they found out I was from Minnesota.  We were able to try individual sample glasses of all the beers, varying in price depending on the beer.  They had about 15 different beers on tap and we did not have the time (or capacity) to try them all...I was very impressed with the variety offered.  Beers ranged from Bier de Garde, to rauchbier made with 100% smoked malt, to several bourbon barrel aged concoctions.  I really enjoyed the Working Mom: an Imperial brown ale aged on Appleton Rum and Woodford Reserve Whiskey barrels--complex, sweet and boozy!  Also quite nice was the Red Skull Imperial Red ale and the Deth's Tar bourbon barrel aged Imperial stout.  We were able to pick up a bottle of the latter to take home with us!  I also picked up a large black fist shaped tap handle for my collection, that may have been the reason my carry-on bag was rechecked at the airport on the way home. 

Within 45 minutes of getting there, the large tasting room was getting crowded, loud and filled with folks wearing skinny jeans and touting ironic facial hair.  An old fashioned popcorn popper provided free sustenance to the hungry beer drinker (me).  We asked our server what the options were for getting a cab out of the area and he didn't outright laugh at us, but did offer advice on what streets to walk up to get back to civilization.  Hand on wallet we marched outside ready for a cautious hike.  Luckily a late-comer to the hipster bike event pulled up in a cab at that exact moment and we were able to both direct them to the proper entrance and snag their cab for ourselves.  I've become soft living in the country.

Swank bar at Fountainhead!

The Fountainhead:  This is a beer and spirits bar lined with tons of dark mahogany wood that conjures up feelings of old world pubs, but less cluttered.  My good friend Bryan took us here in between events.  The beer menu is freaking 14 pages long!  14 pages!  Whiskey and Scotch take up another 8 pages or more, so if that is your thing...drink up.  They have a small back Barrel Room for extra seating and events.  By all reports, the food is excellent as well, but we just stopped in for a drink.  I was impressed with the vibe of the place--comfortable and upscale, but not pretentious, everyone there seemed to be very relaxed and having a good time.  Service was very knowledgeable and quick when needed.  It took us a while to make our way through the huge beer list (which included tons of beers I'd never heard of) and eventually tried out some of the stranger ones.  There was a whole group of beers that had been collaborations with local breweries and chefs (including Stephanie Izard from Top Chef/Girl & Goat, as well Fountainhead's own Cletus Friedman.)  I would love to come back here again and strongly
recommend it to serious beer geeks.

The beer menu!

Bangers & Lace

Bangers & Lace:  This is a place that Shea and Kathleen clued us into, taking us there for Sunday brunch prior to our flight back to Minnesota.  We also got to meet up there with Michael, another friend and local librarian. This restaurant and bar specializes in (surprise!) sausage and beer.  They have 32 beers on tap a ton more in bottle to choose from.  Looking at the oh-so-subtle sign out front, I would never have even noticed this place much less stopped in.  They have an old fashioned long bar and a bunch of old poorly taxidermied animals on the walls, giving it a 1940-50's feel.  Tin ceilings and truck-stop stools complete the picture.  I tried a couple of great beers here, including two different Gose beers!  The brunch food was all amazing: can you say foie gras corn dogs?  And bacon sausage!  Sausage made out of bacon--the best of both worlds!  I would come back for the food alone, but the varied tap list would keep me here a while!  I was only sad that we had a flight scheduled and I couldn't hang out here as long as I would have liked. 

Beer Scene: Chicago, IL (Left To My Own Devices)

Ok, so I'll admit something to you.  This Minnesota oriented blog has had a lot of pieces on non-Minnesota beer places recently.  I've been doing a lot of small trips and love to visit new beer destinations, as well as write about them.  I want my readers to learn about new options for their future travels and it also helps me as a form of  journal.  So bear with me a few more times!

I recently tagged along with my wife for a library conference (those librarians get crazy!) to Chicago.  I went to Rush Medical College back in the late 1990's and lived in the city for 4 long and hazily remembered years.  I honestly was so busy with studies and was so cash-poor that I didn't get out very often.  One of my few periodic outings into town became a sort of tradition for me.  I would drive down to Goose Island Brewpub on Clybourn, parking in their (rare in Chicago) free parking lot.  I would then have lunch at the pub, usually nursing a beer sampler, studying for a while outside the confines of my closet sized subterranean apartment.  I could walk from there to a bookstore across the road and waste some more time and money, studying at their coffee shop.  There was also Sam's, one of the best liquor stores in town (now Binnys).  This is really where I discovered different beer styles, pushing me back into homebrewing to try making some of them on my own.  Back then, the selections were much more mundane than some of the modern Goose Island creations like sours and barrel aged beers, but still a good mix of some classic styles.  I do remember them doing one of the first barrel aged beer events in the country, held at the brewpub and with only about 10 different beers available.

As empty as you will ever see this place!

So on this fine fall day, with my wife off doing super-fun meetings, I took a cab back to my old haunt to see what was new.  Located in Lincoln Park, the brewery has been around since 1988, one of the earliest craft breweries in the USA.  There had been some recent Internet chatter about the lease being up and the brewpub closing after 25 years, but they apparently have arrived at an agreement and the place is safe for the next 10 years.  Whew!  I wandered into the venerable old place to find it virtually unchanged from my many visits over 15 years ago.  Their old event room now had a door with glass inserts sporting the Siebel Institute logo, complete with brewing students busy at study within.  When I arrived it was just after 11 AM and the pub was not busy yet, so I was able to snag a high table in the bar proper.  The bar is built as a central rectangle with four sides to sit at and be served.  Dark old woods with many years of wear dominate the place giving it a well-used and comfortable feel, like coming back home after a long absence.

My server, Cristina, was very up-beat and helpful during my stay.  Apparently all the servers need to be Cicerones, so she was very knowledgeable about her beer styles and pairs.  I ordered a sampler of 4 beers from the extensive list of beers split between pub exclusives and regular Goose Island beers--nearly 30 to choose from!  The place mat they bring the beers out on has a lot of details on how to taste beers--very slick.  I followed this with another sampler and a fine bowl of mussels in a Matilda and cream broth.  Since I ordered all the craziest beers they had on tap (Double IPA, smoked beer, sour saison) the servers had a little pow-wow trying to place them in the best order for me to drink them.  I appreciate the forethought and effort that they put into that!  Overall the beers were very good.  One of the strangest was a beer made with peat smoked apples that tasted like a combination of beer, smoky peated scotch and calvados.  Worth a try, but I wouldn't want a whole pint of it!  I was pleased with my trip back to Goose Island.  They have maintained their original feel, but with expanded selection and improved education of their servers.  A fine hold-over from the first wave of brewpubs.

Jealous?  Oh for the days of carry-on bags full of beer...

From the brewery, for old time's sake, I walked over to Binny's and discovered some new Goose Island beers there (Halia and Gillian) to take back to Minnesota with me.  Strange that the Brewpub itself only sold a few of their more easily found beers for sale, but you could get the good stuff across the street.

This was turning into a wonderful 50 degree and sunny day in Chicago, so I decided to go walkabout.  I walked about 2.5 miles through areas residential, industrial and commercial.  I walked over rattling bridges, beneath isolated overpasses, and through crowded streets.  One of the things I miss about this city is the variety.  Three blocks in any direction will bring you to an entirely different neighborhood, perhaps fancy and well kept, perhaps down-at-heel and crumbling.  I took some pictures with my iPhone, but didn't pause long enough to look too much like a tourist...no sense in asking for trouble.  Though the only time I've ever been accosted by a mugger was back in Minneapolis.

I eventually arrived at my next destination for day-drinking, Haymarket Pub & Brewery.  This is a newer brewery located in the West Loop, and has the feel of a neighborhood pub rather than a brewery.

The building is split into one room showcasing the bar and another with more restaurant style seating.  I sat at the bar and ordered some samples (per my usual routine) and tasted some beers.  Overall the beers were pretty solid, with none showing outright flaws.  The Bier de Garde with cherry was not my favorite, but the Simcoe hopped brown ale was a treat.  I ended up talking to one of the guys next to me at the bar and as it would turn out, he was a brewer at the newly opened Dry Hop Brewpub.  I had hoped to get down there to check it out, but time did not allow.  Oh, well something for next visit!  I can't speak to the food at Haymarket, but the beers were pretty good--I'd go back if I was in the neighborhood.

Miller signs?  And the logo might look a bit like the SS Death's Head... But great beer selection!

From there I walked about a mile to my hotel near the Merchandise Mart, by this time my feet were getting a bit tired.  I dropped off my spoils and hopped a cab for Local Option, a beer bar not far from Goose Island.  There I met up with my friend Eric Smith, a fellow beer geek that I've traded rare beers with in the past.  To this meeting I brought him a bottle of 2012 Surly Darkness in exchange for a Coffee Bourbon County Stout.  Many people in the bar kept noticing the bottle and gazing at it covetously.  The bar was loud, tight and small, a truly local watering hole for beer geeks.  Clientele ranged from hipsters to metal-heads, all enjoying unusual beers together.  I consider myself pretty well versed in beers, but I honestly had never heard of most of the beers on the chalk board!  One I certainly did recognize was Cantillon Gueuze on tap!  That alone was worth the trip.  I got to hang out with Eric, his wife Megan and two of their very nice friends for a while.  Eventually it was time to go and I hopped another cab (taking a while to flag one down in this mostly residential area) to meet up with my best friend Bryan Keehl.  Bryan, his friend Steve, and myself all went out to eat at The Meat Sauna (not it's real name) a Korean BBQ place where they bring out about 40 side dishes and condiments like 5 forms of kimchee, dried minnows, suspiciously gelatinous things, sea-weeds, etc.  Then you cook up your own meats over a bucket of hot coals placed in the center of your table.  I love this stuff!

Not even half of the condiments we got...

To finish up the evening we drove over to Half-Acre Brewing's tap room.  I had been to the brewery when they first opened and the place has changed quite a bit in that time.  The brewery has been getting very popular throughout Chicago and I found their beers all over (even in our hotel bar) during this trip.  The tap room was insane.  Very small and filled wall to wall with local hipsters, the place was a veritable zoo.  It was SRO and the room was filled with an incredible din.  The feel reminded me a lot of Dangerous Man in Nordeast Minneapolis.  I tried a couple of samples, and enjoyed the beers, but honestly I just wanted to escape to the cool and calm night.  I would like to try out the place again in off hours like early afternoon, rather than 10 PM on a Friday.

I had a very long day and visited a lot of friends and eating/drinking establishments.  I am not a lush.  Really.  The only thing wrong with the day was the absence of my wonderful wife, who I saw for a few minutes back at the hotel before we both fell into exhausted sleep.  Tomorrow is another day!

When the lights go down in the city...

Next Up:  Halloween Hijinx