Deep Wood 2025: Part 3 | Revolution Brewing
Revolution thankfully gave everyone’s wallets December off but now they’ve returned with their last Deep Wood release of the 2025-2026 season! Four beers – Dethurana and Mineshaft Gap in 12 ounce cans and Sur Lie (collaboration with Surly) and Barleywinery D.B.X.O.J. La Cerise in 19.2 ounce cans. Let’s dig into two of them!
Dethurana – 14.1% ABV
Revolution took some of this season’s Deth’s Tar – which might be their best vintage ever – and aged some in Brazilian Amburana casks for “a few months.” We recently had four different amburana barrel-aged beers (including one from Revolution) so I’m both pretty psyched and knowledgeable about this!
Dethurana pours pitch black with a fair amount of head. Unlike other Deep Wood releases, the head sticks around for a bit and doesn’t vanish like soda carbonation. Alcohol stains the glass but it’s not a leggy beer.Some red highlights show up on the rim. Aromatically Dethurana’s a buffet – chocolate and cinnamon lead the charge but there’s so much going on underneath. Bourbon, vanilla, caramel, dark cherries, raisins, and maybe even a little coffee roast. Cinnamon chocolate cake prominently came to mind.
A majority of those nose flavors show up prominently on the palate. Dethurana has big chocolate and cinnamon notes with a little bit of caramel sprinkled in. Some barrel vanilla gets mixed in with all the prominent flavors. The cinnamon (or whatever spices you may get) is done exactly right, with just the right amount showing up and not dominating the beer. It’s still big but it complements the barrel and base beer very well. It almost acts like mint where it hovers in the mouth long after the sip is finished.
That chocolate and cinnamon do hang around when done and there is some burn at the end. It’s not an alcohol burn but rather a cinnamon one. It’s not terribly prohibitive and it does add a little bit of punch to the beer. Overall Dethurana is an outstanding beer doing exactly what I had hoped – 2025 Deth’s Tar with a cinnamon stick added. And not too much. Buy with confidence!
Mineshaft Gap – 12.8% ABV
A returning beer, Mineshaft Gap has previously been released in 2018 and 2020 and not since then. Essentially, Mineshaft Gap is Straight Jacket but instead of being aged in bourbon barrel (like Straight Jacket), Mineshaft Gap sleeps in cognac. This is the first time Mineshaft Gap has featured a blend of barleywine beers (one each of sweet and dry component) as well as fire-toasted French oak.
Mineshaft Gap pours a caramel or light brown color with a ton of head. That head goes away slowly, allowing you to enjoy the crimson highlights in the glass. It might be a shade darker than Straight Jacket. Cognac blasts through your nose and dominates the aroma. Fruits like plums and grapes show up clearly and often on the nose. The cognac is so dominant that it’s hard to pick up any of the base beer.
The biggest difference between the bourbon and cognac? While still smooth like bourbon, there’s a certain sharp finish to the cognac finish. It goes away over time but it’s very noticeable at first. Mineshaft Gap somehow tastes boozier (but it’s not). Just like on the nose, any of the base beer – which I assume would have similar flavors to Straight Jacket (caramel/butterscotch/vanilla) – is nowhere to be found. It’s a smooth, cognac-dominant flavor ride across the palate featuring grapes.
That cognac flavor ride stays after the sip, with the grape flavors staying around on the tongue and throat. But when it’s all said and done I’d like more of the barleywine showing up on the palate. It’s a nice change of pace and if you’re a cognac lover this will immediately be your favorite. I guess I’m more in the bourbon crowd on this one.
Sur Lie and Barleywinery D.B.X.O.J. La Cerise
Where are the Sur Lie and Barleywinery D.B.X.O.J. La Cerise reviews? They’ll be on our upcoming Deep Wood show featuring all these beers! I can say that Barleywinery D.B.X.O.J. La Cerise was pouring at FoBAB in November and it was one of our favorites of the festival. Sur Lie is an interesting collaboration between Revolution, Surly Brewing and Herman Story wines in the vein of Oakpocalyspe Later from last season’s Deep Wood.
Pre-orders for Dethurana, Mineshaft Gap, Sur Lie, and Barleywinery D.B.X.O.J. La Cerise go live on Tuesday, January 20 at 9 AM Central. Get your No Limit soldiers together as there’s no limit on any of these four beers. Dethurana and Mineshaft Gap both run $40 per 4-pack, while Sur Lie is $30 per can and Barleywinery D.B.X.O.J. La Cerise will set you back $35 per can.
