Big Bad Baptist - Brew Master’s Keep
Epic Brewing Company

Thick, chewy almost black pour, small tan head fades quickly leaving an oily film. Nose gets some chocolate and booze, taste buds get that, some dark fruit and candy. Almost chewy, coats the tongue.
Label says aged in whiskey barrels, notes on can say bourbon barrels, yeah bourbon is whiskey, but it hasn't got the sweetness. Tasty anyway!

 

Review: 2363
Name: Brew Master's Keep
Brewery: Epic Brewing
Location: Salt Lake City, UT
Style: Barrel Aged Imperial Stout
ABV: 14.1%
Canned: 2023
Date: 14 April 2025
Returning to my cellar, I noticed I had another Baptist, so I am reviewing it. I am using a tulip glass and serving the beer at 50 degrees. The pour created a creamy, one-fingered, light tan head with above-average retention. The slow dissipation left a frothy foam on top of the liquid; there was no lacing on the glass. The color is jet black, with dark garnet hues, charting at SRM 38, and opaque. This beer's appearance is above average.
Nosing the glass, I smell molasses, dark roasted malts, toasted brown bread, oak, bourbon, leather, raisins, dates, toffee, caramel, dark chocolate, espresso, Maillard, subtle smokiness, and earthiness. Smelling the glass again, I noticed toffee, floral, and grassy.
Sipping the beer, I taste toasted bread, toffee, anise, raisins, black strap, toffee, caramel, dark chocolate, Maillard, brown sugar, flower bouquet, grassy, light smokiness, oak, bourbon, molasses, char, dark roasted malts, espresso, and earthiness.
The mouthfeel is smooth and chewy, with a velvet finish. The body is heavy and low in carbonation.
This is the best Baptist I have tried to date. Brew Master blows the other Baptists, including the adjuncts, out of the water. What I am sipping on in the glass is what I want and expect when sipping on these stouts. The barrel aging is not overpowering but brings harmony, balance, and depth to the base stout. I would have liked more whiskey punch, but that is my preference.

The pour was stout black a barely there brown head, appropriate for the ABV but I gave it extra credit for leaving sheets of lacing that are still there after I finished and then some.
The taste is, well, apparently typical Epic. The last couple I’ve have had from them have been a bit peaty, but this one is less so than several. Coffee and chocolate, dark fruit and a little whiskey edge.
The feel is appropriately viscous, very nice sipper.
OA, while it wasn’t the rye whiskey punch I was looking for, it’s a tasty stout.

16 ounce can, 2023 vintage, thanks to Brutaltruth for this one! Served in a snifter, the beer pours dark brown/black with about an inch or so tan head that stuck around a while. There's a good amount of lacing. Aroma is nice, the brew smells like burnt/charred malt, whiskey, dark chocolate, vanilla, coffee and some dark fruit. Taste is similar to the aroma, but there's also some dark bread, caramel, licorice and oaky flavors noticeable too. Mouthfeel/body is medium/full, it's coating and a bit creamy with a moderate amount of carbonation. I thought this was a good overall brew, definitely worth trying especially if you like the other beers in the Big Bad Baptist series!

Poured into a Fremont small snifter. Pours a very dark mahogany brown, appearing opaque black in the glass with a thin dark khaki head that dissipates to patches with light lacing. Aroma of dark toasted malt, whiskey, dried plums, bakers chocolate, dark molasses and a little coffee. Flavor is dark toasted malt, bourbon, dried plums, bakers chocolate and drip coffee; almost estery dark fruit in the finish. Medium bodied with light to moderate creaminess. The main taste is very similar to the base BBB, but with nice bourbon and dark fruit fruit notes. This has a unique, lingering dark fruit flavor that is one of the best finishes for a barreled stout that I can remember. Body is a bit thinner than expected, but the flavor is excellent and enjoyable. Invites repeated tasting. Purchased this year along with the other 2024 variants, but states 2023 on the can; not sure if it's a year old or dated from the base stout. Either way, it is excellent.

 

I was in love with this series for years, the original was one of the first BA stouts I fell for, and the Triple Barrel BBB being one of my favorites of all time. This is a far cry from that legacy. Great pour with opaque black body with a full brown foam head. Smell features a very smoky and boozy version of BBB, yet nose is actually pretty delicate overall, maybe some baker's chocolate there too. Taste is almost ashy with the amount of roast and booze accentuating it, char, bittersweet dark chocolate, wood root, and burnt caramel. The feel is thinning and warm with tons of roast and booze, barrel character is evident here though, the saving grace

Pours dark and somewhat thin with minimal head. Chocolate aroma mixed with bourbon barrel. Flavor is chocolate, a bit yeasty, slight barrel flavor, bitter espresso finish. Minimal carbonation, oily. Overall a decent BBA imperial stout, the yeast flavor dominates too much for me.

8/10/24
16 oz can, 2023 vintage.
4 rating

Inky, dark brown pour, clear, opaque in the glass; thick head, tan colored, densely sudsy. Deep, rich aroma; roasted and charred grains; rye spiciness; dried dark fruits; dried leather. Big dark beer flavors; chocolate and cocoa powder; powerful whiskey overtone; very minor traces of raisins and dates. Heavy mouthfeel; chewy and velvety; big alcohol warmth.

For a high ABV barrel aged beer, this one delivers a fantastic appearance. Even the smell is fairly intriguing with hints of possible flavor nuance. However, the bourbon barrel aging comes across a wee heavy-handed. Complex? Umm, okay. Balanced? Not quite. Worth exploring, especially if big, dark, barrel aged beers are a thing of yours (they are for me).

ABV: 14.1%; pouring temperature: °F: canning info: SLC 10111 (2023), date stamp on bottom of can unreadable
Source: local purchase

2024-05-24
16oz can served in a WABL sample glass. 2023 vintage, can almost but not quite read the stamp on the bottom of the can.

Pours black with a small dark khaki head, good retention for what little head there is. Smell is surprisingly mild. Booze and more specifically bourbon is very noticeable. Those are the dominant aromas for sure. I also think there's something along the lines of burnt sticky toffee pudding.

Taste is is also dominated by booze, but doesn't really give that hot sensation. Dark chocolate and dark coffee build up pleasantly, some vanilla in the background. After a bit, the booziness seeps out a bit more.

Mouthfeel is moderately thick, slight chalkiness. Overall, very nice BA stout.

Big Bad Baptist – Brew Master’s Keep 2023 - from Epic. 16 fl oz can purchased from Franklin Beer Co, Franklin, PA, 24/04/24, $12.50 (Including tax), $ 0.781/fl oz. Reviewed 02/05/24 (Review 3267). Note that I use DD/MM/YY protocol.
Undated can other than “2023” on the Front Label. Stored in reefer at the distributor, 34 degrees at home. Served at 56.6 degrees F in a hand washed and dried Jester King snifter. The final temperature was 62.0 degrees F.
Appearance – 4.
First pour – Ruby Brown (SRM 24), barely translucent.
Body – Black (SRM 40), opaque. Under direct light, same. When rear-lite, opaque with light penetrating only the edges, ruby.
Head – Average (Maximum 1.7 cm, aggressive center pour), brown sugar, high density, average retention, leaving a 0.25 cm crown and cap constantly being renewed by carbonation.
Lacing – Fair. Narrow bands of near-microscopic bubbles which eventually coalesce into torn curtains.
Aroma – 4 – Lightly sweet – roasted malt, chocolate, cherry. No yeast, no hops, no alcohol (14.1 % ABV as marked on the label).
Flavor – 4.5 – Begins slightly sweet, with distinctly more chocolate than cocoa flavor. Barrel flavors are muted and serve as a base for whatever else you taste – in my case smoothsmoothsmooth whiskey. Not oaky. No yeast, no hops, no alcohol. No dimethylsulfide or diacetyl. Mild gastric warming.
Palate – 4 – Medium; creamy; soft but lively carbonation.
Final Impression and summation: 4.25 Damn good sippin’ beer – great with a good book (not the one I’m currently reading), a warm fire, and a faithful dog.

 

 

 

wow, what a beer this is. the series has gone a little adjunct heavy in recent years, and i was worried about that this year when i saw them all come out in cans instead of bottles for some reason, but this is a no junk stout of epic proportions, elite even, killer expression of the whiskey and with awesome malt depth and smoothness, remarkable, thanks to my homie for the hookup! real strong yeah, but its not crazy boozy to me, even at temperature, and the whole thing runs more bitter than sweet, dark organic chocolate character, dense espresso, barrel char, and not a ton of caramelized richness or anything, even though this was obviously boiled for a long time and cooked down. i get hints of molasses, raisin, and bran, along with high end bourbon, vanilla, and mocha. its smooth and long, woody all the way, and definitely has some mean viscosity. i like how slow this flows, i really can taste it all, and as it warms i think toasted coconut and almond notes come in. chocolate all through it, lovely grain build and overall intensity, love the roast pushing through the sugar at the end, this is quite bitter. it is true that all the variants of this are fun and delicious, but this here is what its all about. reminds me of an even bigger version of the naked baptist that came out a few years back, which i adored, this beer needs no added ingredients. all who shared this can were similarly impressed, top notch imperial stout, no frills, insane quality!

2023 Pint can, poured at cooler than room temp, into an MIA Beer Co. taster’s snifter, in Miami, FL.
DOA on the look; small gasp and a fizz ring thing. UFOs over Phoenix dotty lacing.,,
Smells of S’mores with a tad of bootleg moonshine.
Taste is quite good! Epic’s base brew is excellent and adapts complimentarilly (!) to its treatments. The barreling is masterful on the palate, spewing hits of licorice and cacao that escape the oak dominance. The sweetness clings to the lips, but not annoyingly, welcomed even, as the elixir warms.
Long, hot, finish.
Mouth is surprisingly thin, got medium carbonation.
Overall, not my favorite abuse of BBBaptist, but a fine addition to the outstanding portfolio of Epic Brewing, in beautiful Salt Lake City!

Poured at 53° into a lovely snifter gifted to me by @GrumpyGas . Creamy tan head with a few rocks; brief cap retention leaves well preserved islands of micro dots to last sip!; heavy ring; bands of sticky lacing; black with ruby edges; medium plus legs on swirl. Caramel malt, char, sweet whiskey nose. Bitter roast malt entry; caramel & chocolate malt; bourbon in background; black licorice, almost spicy finish. Dry wooden tongue coating; medium plus body, light carbonation; some mouth warmth from 14.1% abv; not adjuncty. Overall, bitter, almost burnt, linger; barrel notes beat out base flavors thus unbalanced for me.