Big Bad Baptist - Barrel Strength
Epic Brewing Company

 

 

1 PT. 6 FLUID OUNCE bottle
Served in a snifter
2022

This beer pours black and is topped with an inch of mocha head that leaves spotty lacing.

The smell has dark chocolate, anise, and black coffee.

Dark chocolate upfront. Anise right after. Coffee and booze follow. I get some oak on the back end with black coffee.

Medium bodied with a dryish mouthfeel

Oaky, boozy, and anise-y.

As so frequently seems to be the case, the best BBB variants are the most straightforward ones - the ones that emphasize barrel selection with the base beer over additional added ingredients.

This one fits that pattern. It’s a touch thin on the palate, and it doesn’t hide the booze, but the flavor is top notch and spot on.

Coffee, chocolate, whiskey, oak, blackstrap molasses, toast. It’s not particularly sweet, but neither is it overly bitter. It’s balanced and very tasty.

 

 

 

On draft at Brew Bank Topeka. Poured an opaque, jet-black color with a small, brown head of fluffy foam. It left sticky lace on the glass. It smelled of bourbon, oak, vanilla and tobacco. Sweet chocolate taste with bourbon, oak, vanilla and rich molasses.

 

22oz bottle poured into a snifter.

A: Black pour with a short-lived light brown head. Thin collars of lacing.

S: Big fatty nib top note with a blanket of woody roast underneath. Black coffee. Pull of corny whiskey and barrel char.

T: Follows the nose. Huge top note of fatty nibs in the form of fudge sauce and double chocolate cake. Woody roast underneath with some smokiness. Rich and nutty coffee roast mingles into a mocha-like character. Corny whiskey is apparent, and a bit of heat and bite comes out with warmth. Not deal-breakingly so, though. That wash-y corn whiskey character is all over the finish and dominant there. Perhaps a fleeting hint of rye, too?

M: Full bodied and creamy with a nice silkiness. Lithe and airy, well fermented and without the sludgey or syrupy texture that a high amount of residual sugars would bring. Very easygoing carbonation. Bit of whiskey warmth.

O: It's fine. The whiskey character is fairly bold and a bit hot, but this is called Barrerl Strength after all, so expectations should be met. Bigger isn't always better though. It just feels like a blunt instrument and more of a simple one-two combo of big nib and whiskey character. No complexity really, and the two focal flavors are not interesting or hedonistic enough to make it anything unique or special. There's nothing wrong with it really, other than the fact that it's a bit boring in a sea of other options.

Picked up a bomber from The Fresh Market in Hendersonville 11-30-22 for $18.99. 2022 Edition with a Code 9313 R2 clocking in at 12.8% abv. Consumed 5-27-23.

Beer poured black with a very nice tan head.

Nose is nice, getting notes of chocolate and coffee.

Taste is very nice. This is not a barrel forward beer. Very large malt base takes on and displays the cocoa and coffee nicely. Barrel is very subtle with the ever so slightest touch of bourbon contributes. The hopping is adequate and along with the barrel balances this beast out perfectly.

Mouthfeel is large bodied with each sip being very full and so very smooth and satisfying.

Overall if you are looking for a bourbon bomb you are not going to get it with pretty much any BBB barreled beer as the brewing team uses the barrel to accent the beer and not dominate. I have always loved BBB over the years and their bombers are always a stupid splurge but i know i will get a quality and satisfying imperial stout.

Beer reviews are obviously, highly subjective. That being said I won’t mince words; this is disappointing. Not everyone allows price into the review picture but I do, and this bomber was over 23 dollars with tax, so that’s a factor in my feelings. If this was a 12oz bottle for 8.99 or even 6.99 I’d be a little more forgiving but I decided to splurge, against some best instincts, on a brewery who have produced some solid (to my palate) beers but not a one that I’d consider great. And, considering I left a number of bourbon country vintages on the shelves next to this at 15 dollars each it sort of amplifies the problem.

There is only so much beer one can drink be it due to time, calories, money, or the need to be presentable in the morning. So this was a wasted opportunity. This beer is very, very similar to KBS, a beer I’ve grown weary of at this point. The base stout seems sort of nonexistent and you’re really just dealing with the flavorings - coffee and chocolate. Those are presented adequately, and the coffee here is still hanging tough after at least six months. Moderately sweet. That’s kind of it. Maybe a hint of wood and whiskey and vanilla. The body is medium light, sort of thin and fizzy and forgettable and resembling a flat glass of cola that sat out all night.

All in all I’m baffled that this is presented as a sort of apex of the Epic brewers’ barrel aging skill. There’s a complete absence of complexity here and cinches the fact that I won’t be springing for any more of their pricey nonsense going forward.

 

2022
Pours a frothy semi dense brownish 1/2 finger head with moderate retention, a bit of lacing, decent legs, jet black color

Nose intense, dark chocolate, cocoa, fudgey, some roasted malt, hint of char, some coffee although not a lot, some spicy hop notes, vanilla, big buttery oak, a bit of whiskey, a bit of baking spices and cookie dough, fudgesicle, mild sweet toffee and caramel, nutty as well,

Taste is loaded with more dark chocolate, cocoa, fudge again, vanilla nougat candy bar, baking spices and a bit of cookie again, into coffee, dark roasted slight rich coffee, a bit of roast and char as well, bitterness from roasted malts and mild spicy hops, vanilla candy, a bit of nutty almond notes, hint of coconut barrel, buttery oak, mild whiskey, thick cocoa coming back late with spicy hops and roast bitterness lingering, sticky sweet finish, a bit of alcohol but not hot boozy

Mouth is fuller bod, rich, a bit creamy and chewy, thicker, fair warming mild tingly alcohol but mostly smooth, med carb

Overall basically like typical BBB but multiplied by 1.25, decent barrel characters, a bit hot but above 13% that's expected

 

22 ounce bomber, poured into a Cigar City snifter at 53°. A spacious brown head rises and fizzes down, sticks around through the experience, leaves a little lace.
Smell is barrel front, classic BBB behind.
Taste is coffee, cacao, and lively oak whisky barrel. The 13.3% ABV clocks me in the senses. Funny - as this true sipper warmed up it kinda fell apart. The whisky barrel and a bit of coffee was how the glass ended. The Baptist profile got lost the deeper I drank.
Feel is moderately high carbonation and full body without getting thick.
Overall, nice try Epic! But for the pricepoint, this varient falls a tad short despite the hype.

 

Look: The beer pours black with a dark brown head. Head retention is low.

Smell: The aromas feature coffee, dark chocolate, and roast. There are notes of cocoa and whiskey in the background.

Taste: It has strong flavors of coffee and dark chocolate. There are roasted malts and whiskey notes in the background with cocoa.

Feel: It has a full body with plenty of alcohol which has a bit of heat to it. For me, it's a bit too much on the hot side.

Overall, a combination of various elements adding complexity for a great taste.