Beer Review: Revolution Brewing's 3rd Year Beer

Reviewing the 3rd Year Beer from Revolution Brewing Company out of Chicago, Illinois. This brew, created in honor of the company's third year of existence, is a wheatwine brewed with piloncillo and aged for four months in Jamaican rum barrels.
Score: 92

Tap pour served in a 5 oz taster glass at the brewpub and enjoyed on 02/06/13. This review is from iPhone notes.

Appearance: Served with a ring of head around the glass. 4/5

Smell: Vanilla, rum, molasses, faint wood and malt.  Caramel and toffee too. 4.25/5

Taste: Very barrel flavor forward and slightly boozy. Sweet rum, molasses, vanilla, dark sugar and a little biscuity malt. A distinctive vanilla cake flavor comes through as the beer warms up. There is a lot of alcoholic warmth, but this is nothing unexpected at 11.2% ABV. This brew is definitely a sipper, but the more I sip, the more I like it and the more I find the brew complex. I can imagine this mellowing out and aging well with some time in the cellar. 4.2/5

Mouthfeel: Full bodied, low carbonation. Slightly sweet. Faintly dry. 4.2/4

Overall: A really nice and complex beer by Revolution to celebrate their three years of existence. It's a little boozy and hot fresh, but the flavor profile should age well as the beer mellows out over 6-12 months. I would recommend snagging a bottle while they are still around; this is one of the better wheatwines I have had to date.

Recommendation: Snag a couple of bottles from the taproom and be sure to age one.

Cost: $5 for a 5 oz taster glass or $9 for a 9 oz glass.