17 Aug Buffalo Bayou Lenin’s Revenge by Nick

Lenin’s Revenge

Buffalo Bayou Brewing Co.

Cottage Grove

Imperial Stout

ABV: 9.5%

IBUs: 50

Packaging: Draft, 22 oz Bomber

These days, you’re probably feeling like you hear too much about Russia or too little. Whichever it is you feel, you’re about to hear a little more about Russia by way of this review of Buffalo Bayou’s Lenin’s Revenge, their imperial stout. Sorry not sorry.

Lenin’s Revenge features a black label with the black buffalo silhouette. The beer’s name appears in clock lettering that looks like a stone wall in color. Some letters are backwards in order to give it a look that it may be written using the Russian alphabet. It’s nothing special, but I’ve always felt that what Buffalo Bayou lacks on its label art, it attempts to make up for with the beer inside.

I looked at the label long enough and decided that it was time to investigate. The wax dipped bottle cap sealing Lenin’s Revenge was easy enough to pry off once I found some leverage and once it was open, I was met with an overwhelming aroma of drinking alcohol and small amounts of chocolate and leather. We’ve all heard of the joke about how Russians love vodka… Maybe that’s what Buffalo Bayou was going for with Lenin’s Revenge? (Which seems odd enough since Lenin was a proponent of Russia’s “dry law.”)

Anyway, on with the investigation here. The label says Lenin’s Revenge is “as thick and black as your capitalist blood.” I will agree that Lenin’s Revenge is a pitch black stout, but the mouthfeel was not as heavy as you’d be led to believe. Does it know something about my views of capitalism?! Flavors of highly bitter chocolate, raisin, plum, and coffee intermingle, but they are also dominated by a harsh alcohol burn that, in my experience, is not typical of imperial stouts under 10% ABV. The lack of overall balance didn’t bode well for bringing me around to this beer’s ideology.