Big Bad Baptista
Epic Brewing Company

 

 

2016 bottle poured into a snifter

A: Pours basically black with a frothy khaki tan head that settles to a light layer and leaves a little thin lacing.

S: Smooth bourbon and milk chocolate, cinnamon, vanilla, roasty, coffee, brown sugar, peppery spice, a bit earthy, faint coconut, and a hint of oak.

T: Opens with really nice spice, cinnamon and vanilla, smooth bourbon, brown sugar, toffee, milk chocolate, coffee, roasty, peppery, a bit earthy, a hint of coconut, and a faint touch of oak.

M: Full body, mild carbonation, creamy smooth, just a touch of warmth.

O: Beer #2000 for me. Coffee has faded from some time in the cellar but it still drinks really nicely.

My local alcohol and beer store had this one way in the back on the shelf. After I saw that it was a rare release, I just had to get it. So glad that I did. Great tasting and worth it if you see it.

 

 

 

 

 

ive been wanting to try this variant forever, i know its around and popular, but i have somehow missed it until now, so it was with a ton of anticipation that i got into this one, cool to find it on tap too! its the classic baptist done with vanilla and cinnamon as well to mimic mexican coffee, pretty awesome. these added ingredients contribute a lot to what is already one of my favorite stouts, making it wintery and cozy, sweeter and even more complex. the vanilla brings the barrel treatment to the fore, a denser bourbon profile here than in the original. the cinnamon hits nicely with the coffee, not spicy but warming and earthy, toasty, and unifying. still lots of dark roast to this, both from the grain and from the coffee, and along with some bitterness from the cacao, its very balanced, the vanilla doesnt make it sugary, and this is scary drinkable because of it. so smooth in texture to like all of them, woody and charred, lightly smoky and rich, not too much alcohol coming through. the cinnamon lingers a little on the tongue with the coffee, those are the last two things i taste, and i love what the vanilla and cinnamon add to this overall, leaving the base beer in tact but bringing new complexities into the mix, i think they hit the mark with this one. i dont know why thought this had chili peppers in it for the longest time, it does not, and they would be unnecessary. this is wonderful!

 

 

Pours a dark brown/black with a medium bodied milk chocolate colored head that sticks around for a while before dissipating. Aroma is of very strong chocolate, coffee, and cinnamon. Surprised the barrel aging doesn't come through more in the aroma. The flavor matches that aroma almost to the T with bold chocolate up front followed by an excellent roasted coffee flavor finished off with a sweet cinnamon. A hint of the barrel aging was in there but but as much as expected, but it probably took some of the cinnamon bite out of it giving it that sweeter cinnamon flavor. Velvetly feeling, it's not too harsh from the high octane, just the right amount of thickness and carbonation. Overall a superb beer.

 

 

L - pitch black with a large dark tan head that sticks around and leaves some lacing behind
S - Tons of bitter coffee and dark chocolate
T - Tons of bitter coffee and bitter dark chocolate up front and throughout intermixed with notes of cinnamon, vanilla, hints of caramel as well as a nice amount of whiskey on the backend providing a slight hint of peat and alcohol
F - Full bodied with a light amount of carbonation. Smooth
O - A very solid whiskey stout

3/17/21: 22oz bottle, release #15, 11.4% ABV, 2018. Aged for about 3 years in a refrigerator. Pours jet black with a small sized brown head. Smells of cocoa, cinnamon, vanilla, bourbon, coffee, and earthy hops; pleasant and sweet smell. The taste matches the smell exactly with great flavor intensity. It's rounded out from the aging and doesn't have any noticeable oxidization/port flavors. Medium bitterness and fairly strong sweetness. Medium body which fits well to balance the intensity and sweetness. It held up well with aging. Would be a good IS to share.

12/1/16: 22oz bottle, release #1, 11.7% ABV. Drank fresh. Pours jet black with a medium sized brown head; nice lacing. Smells of cinnamon, vanilla, cocoa, light roast coffee, bourbon, and earthy hops; very pleasant. The taste follows closely with cinnamon, vanilla, roasted malt, cocoa, coffee, bourbon, earthy hops, and molasses; good intensity. Medium bitterness and fairly strong sweetness. No noticeable alcohol. Average body and below average carbonation. Overall, a great Mexican chocolate IS with lots of intensity and complexity. Reminds me of stronger version of Stone Xocoveza without the chili peppers and not barrel aged.

 

Deep brown to black pour, tan head. Oh, how this beer evolves as it warms! Spice and bite up front with cocoa in support at the onset, with the results of whiskey barrel aging prominent. As the beer warms, nuance comes in--toffee, dark fruit, cinnamon sticks interact with the spice and bite. Excellent winter long-term sipper!

 

 

2018: release#19 - drank on date 01/16/2021
Appearance: impenetrable black with a hazelnut colored head with a coarse and irregular grain but compact and with a good persistence. Nose: very greedy and structured with an excellent cleansing, chocolate, coffee, toffee, vanilla, cinnamon, bourbon. It lights up and tempts the taste buds to immediately bring the glass to the mouth. Taste: on the palate we find the sensations perceived in full
nose. There is a chocolate cake with coffee, vanilla, cinnamon but also dark fruit and a hint of toasting and bitterness on the finish. The sip is greedy and truly lustful. The drink is always accompanied by a gentle and shy whiskey tone. Medium and well enveloping body and fine and medium intensity carburation.

2016 vintage. A little past its prime but still quite respectable.

 

This was for the 2018 release, so 2 years old at this point. I wonder if some of the flavors have faded. It seemed to be lacking some freshness. Not quite as good as I expected.

 

 

Release #14, 2018 vintage (10.8% abv)

I’ve wanted to try this one for a long time now. My first trip to Total Wine and I saw this on the shelf, I just couldn’t turn it down!!

Pours completely pitch black with less than a finger of dark brown head that fades to a ring. It doesn’t leave much lacing but has nice legs ftom the abv

There’s a lot going on here in the nose, most obviously fresh coffee beans which lend a mild fruitiness. The cinnamon in here must be dosed pretty hard, because it has enough spice in the nose that I could swear it was brewed with peppers. Rich caramel and vanilla round out the more aggressive aromas

Immediately up front there’s some alcohol tingle, a bit more than I expected for the abv honestly. Taste wise the coffee feels more bitter and less bright than the nose would lead to believe. The cinnamon fills the role of making it a bit brighter here, and also adds notes of smoke. In the finish, the barrel aging shines through, imparting sweet notes of maple, whiskey, vanilla, and dark fruit. A long aftertaste of dark chocolate and espresso

Obviously this is full bodied, and has mild tingly carbonation that causes this to drink drier than most of its style. The abv can be tasted and felt. Perhaps the perfect mouthfeel for a BA imperial stout

This was really incredible. It was absolutely packed with intense flavor but never felt heavy or tiring to drink. World class beer

 

Poured a black body with almost no head at all so won't even describe it. Cinnamon and vanilla come through a tad in the aroma, but mostly a roasted chocolate smell is what I get. Smooth, creamy, get some heat from cinnamon and coffee and this easy drinking beer is balanced by chocolate sweetness. The booze actually comes through bigtime on the finish, complementing this beer with a lovely heated finish.

 

L: Poured from a can to a pint glass. Had dark brown, almost black color and a thick consistency. There was a quarter inch of foamy, tan-colored head that lasted an average amount of time. Very good lacing.

S: An enticing aroma of coffee, spices, roasted malt, and chocolate.

T: Tasted of a fair amount of roasted malt (present throughout, but muted by the other ingredients), a decent shot of dark chocolate (a subtle element), lots of coffee (it dominates everything), and some spice as well (cinnamon, in particular). This is a big, robust, and powerful flavor. It's a coffee bomb, but it's far from one note. Delicious.

F: An average amount of carbonation with a silky smooth finish. Medium- to full-bodied.

O: An extremely well done, easy to drinks stout. Drinkable.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A: The beer is essentially jet black in color and only has traces of dark reddish brown near the corners of the glass. It poured with a short tan head that left a collar around the edge of the glass and some wisps of lacing on the surface.
S: Moderate to strong aromas of cinnamon are present in the nose along with notes of cocoa nibs.
T: The taste has flavors of cinnamon, chocolate, and coffee beans with strong notes of whiskey in the finish.
M: It feels full-bodied on the palate and has a moderate amount of carbonation. The whiskey lends a bit of warming to the finish.
O: This beer initially reminded me of Westbrook's Mexican Cake, although it had a lot more chocolate and of course the whiskey barrel aging.

Note: 2018 Rare Release

Serving type: bottle