Revocation Guitarist/Vocalist Dave Davidson Lists His Favorite Breweries

Revocation are getting ready to embark upon a full North American tour with Cattle Decapitation, Full of Hell and Artificial Brain. To celebrate, we asked shredder/frontman/beer aficionado Dave Davidson to highlight some of his favorite breweries across the world. If you live in or near any of these cities (those that this upcoming tour is visiting, anyway), you can bet your ass you’ll find the band drinking it up at one of these spots both before and after… and if you don’t, we know they’ll be super grateful if you show up at their merch table with a growler gift in hand from your local brewpub of choice. Beers up. 

Get tour dates at the bottom of this post.

Jack’s Abby – Framingham, MA

First up on my list is Jack’s Abby, a killer brewery specializing in only lagers. They brew using traditional German standards and craft some truly distinct beers all in one main style. Their kitchen also serves quite a variety of gastropub delights ranging from butternut squash and sage pizza to an Oktoberfest sausage platter. You should probably order both along with your flight of lagers.

Night Shift – Everett, MA

Just north of Boston, this brewery has been crafting some tasty beverages since 2012. Initially a pet project of desk workers who dabbled in homebrewing, Night Shift started picking up steam and has become a staple of the local Boston beer scene. They specialize in everything from sours to stouts, but my personal favorite is their Morph IPA series. It’s an ever-changing recipe utilizing different combinations of hops for every batch.

Trillium – Boston, MA

Trillium has quickly risen through the ranks and blossomed into one of the best breweries around. They specialize in some of the tastiest IPAs I’ve ever had, but rest assured they crush it no matter the style. If you can get your hands on some of their hazy, double dry hopped IPAs your mouth will thank you later.

Treehouse – Charlton, MA

Last Massachusetts brewery on this list and then I’ll move on, I promise; just had to show some local love. This place is the holy grail of dank beers. It’s more off the beaten path than the other breweries, which are closer to civilization, but I highly recommend making the trek out to western Massachusetts to check this place out. They’ve got a pretty strict limit on how many cans you can pick up but I suggest grabbing as many beers as you’re allowed; you won’t be disappointed. My favorite is probably Julius, which isn’t so much a beer as it is the actual nectar of the Gods.

Off Color – Chicago, IL

Heading west we arrive upon Off Color, a brewery near and dear to my heart not just because our good pal John Laffler is the head brewmaster, but because they put out some really unique and delicious stuff. Take the Hyper Predator for instance, a funky farmhouse ale brewed with coffee. Or the Dino Smores, an imperial marshmallow stout. Laffler, you madman! I’m glad you exist.

3 Floyds – Munster, IN

About 45 minutes outside Chicago is the city of Munster, IN, home to the rad team of metalhead brewers responsible for some of the best beers in the Midwest let alone the world. With the recent addition of master brewer Todd Haug to their ranks, 3 Floyds has become damn near unstoppable. Did I mention their food? Duck confit dumplings, miso ramen and a double bacon cheeseburger with Alpha King ketchup. Wash it all down with a Zombie Dust and you’re ready for business… or a nap. Could be both if you’re part of one of those sleep studies that you get paid for.

Surly – Minneapolis, MN

We’ve been making a pilgrimage to Surly on just about every U.S. tour we’ve done in the past few years and in 2016 we had the distinct honor of playing their Darkness Day festival at the brewery. If stouts are your thing you should already be well aware of Darkness, and boy did we become very familiar with that beverage during the course of that fest. Like a few of the other aforementioned breweries, the food at Surly is absolutely top notch. The hog frites go great with a nice pint of Todd The Axeman and their creme brûlée is a must-have if you like sweet treats like your ol’ pal Dave.

Trve – Denver, CO

There’s something about metal and beer that just goes together and Trve has found a perfect synthesis of the two with their well-crafted decor, music selection and beers inspired by various doom, death and black metal bands. They also have some of the coolest bottle art and branding in the game. In fact, I’m proudly wearing my Trve shirt as I type up this blog post. If only I had a bottle of their Red Chaos to aid in my blogging… oh well, I’ll be there soon enough in a couple weeks.

De Struise Brouwers – Oostvleteren, BE

I would be remiss if I didn’t include a few of my favorite breweries from Europe. Every beer geek who loves a good stout should know the name Black Albert. Jay, one of the main brewers at De Struise, was nice enough to put us up for a few days at his home in Belgium before the start of our Euro tour and we had a blast hanging with him and knocking back several varieties of Black Albert. After spending the better part of a day at the brewery sampling just about everything on draft along with his father-in-law Urbain (who just so happens to be the head brewer there), we were fortunate enough to leave with several bottles of “Black Damnation” which is basically Black Albert on steroids. We had many a drunk singalong on the bus courtesy of the fine folks at De Struise. Thanks for helping us hit those high notes.

Mikkellar Bar – Copenhagen, DK

One of my favorite (blurry) craft beer memories is from back in 2013 when we were on tour in Denmark with our guzzle buddies in The Black Dahlia Murder. We went on a mission to find the illustrious Mikkellar Bar, tucked away on an unassuming side street in Copenhagen. This was my first real introduction to sours and they had just about every Spontan variety on draft that day. We drank, ate charcuterie and cheese and then drank some more. It was a great afternoon, and I think we even played pretty good that night too, miraculously. And yes, we went back and drank more there after the show.

Hofbräuhaus – Munich, DE

This is THE German beer hall experience. Liters of Münchne Weisse, a polka band playing all the hits, and everyone is dressed up in lederhosen. Make sure to soak up all that beer with a couple orders of schweinshaxe and schnitzel. PROST!

And thus concludes my guest beer blog. Hope you enjoyed it… I need a cold one now. Cheers, guys!

Cattle Decapitation, Revocation, Full of Hell and Artificial Brain on tour:

Tuesday 10/10/2017 Los Angeles, CA Regent Theater *
Wednesday 10/11/2017 San Diego, CA Brick By Brick *
Thursday 10/12/2017 Flagstaff, AZ Green Room *
Friday 10/13/2017 Albuquerque, NM Launchpad
Saturday 10/14/2017 Denver, CO Larimer Lounge
Sunday 10/15/2017 Jerome, ID Diamondz Event Center
Monday 10/16/2017 Portland, OR Bossanova
Tuesday 10/17/2017 Seattle, WA Studio Seven
Wednesday 10/18/2017 Vancouver, BC Rickshaw Theatre
Friday 10/20/2017 Edmonton, AB Starlite
Saturday 10/21/2017 Calgary, AB Dickens
Sunday 10/22/2017 Regina, SK The Exchange
Monday 10/23/2017 Winnipeg, MB Park Theater
Tuesday 10/24/2017 Minneapolis, MN Cabooze
Thursday 10/26/2017 Cleveland, OH Agora Ballroom
Friday 10/27/2017 Chicago, IL Reggies
Saturday 10/28/2017 Covington, KY Madison Live
Sunday 10/29/2017 Detroit, MI Token Lounge
Tuesday 10/31/2017 Toronto, ON Opera House
Wednesday 11/1/2017 Montreal, QC Les Foufounes Electriques
Thursday 11/2/2017 Syracuse, NY Lost Horizon
Friday 11/3/2017 Boston, MA Once Ballroom
Saturday 11/4/2017 Philadelphia, PA Voltage
Sunday 11/5/2017 Baltimore, MD Soundstage
Monday 11/6/2017 New York, NY Highline Ballroom
Wednesday 11/8/2017 Virginia Beach, VA Shaka’s
Thursday 11/9/2017 Atlanta, GA Masquerade
Friday 11/10/2017 Orlando, FL The Haven
Saturday 11/11/2017 Tampa, FL Orpheum
Monday 11/13/2017 New Orleans, LA Southport Music Hall
Tuesday 11/14/2017 Houston, TX White Oak Music Hall
Wednesday 11/15/2017 Austin, TX Come and Take It Live
Thursday 11/16/2017 Oklahoma City, OK 89th St Collective
Friday 11/17/2017 San Antonio, TX Korovo
Saturday 11/18/2017 El Paso, TX Tricky Falls
Sunday 11/19/2017 Phoenix, AZ Club Red
Monday 11/20/2017 Las Vegas, NV Beauty Bar
Tuesday 11/21/2017 San Francisco, CA DNA Lounge