Big Bad Baptist - S'Mores
Epic Brewing Company

Review: 2546
Name: Big Bad Baptist S'mores
Brewery: Epic Brewing
Location: Salt Lake City, UT
Style: Barrel-Aged Stout
ABV: 12%
Canned: Unknown
Date: 31 January 2026
I am out and about and wanted to try this Smores beer. I am serving the beer in a tulip glass at 54 degrees. The pour created a half-fingered dark tan head with poor retention. The color is jet black, dark brown, and rusty hues, opaque, with a chart at SRM 36. The dissipation of the head left no lacing on the glass. Overall, the apperance of the beer is average, considering its high ABV.
Nosing the glass, I smell anise, caramel, Maillard, smoke, marshmallows, toffee, chocolate, medium-roasted coffee, figs, vanilla, bourbon, oak, char, raisins, and molasses. Smelling the glass again, I notice earthy dirt, leather, bready, dark toasted bread crust, and malty sweetness. The aromas are sticky-sweet and burnt.
The flavors start with marshmallows, smoke, char, bourbon, chocolate, caramel, toffee, vanilla, oak, medium-roasted coffee, raisins, tobacco, and earthiness. Sipping the glass, I taste oak, anise, raisins, Maillard, and malty sweetness.
The mouthfeel is chewy and thick, finishing smooth. The body is heavy, with low carbonation.
Final Impressions: I did not enjoy this beer; it was too sweet, had an odd flavor like it was infected, and was overall off. Out of all the variants I have tried, this is my least favorite. I remember when I could not wait to try the next BBB beer and/or variant; lately, they have been duds.

 

 

this should be way better than it is, one of my least favorite variants of this all time, maybe its getting older now, not sure when this is from, maybe the 2023 release, but its really sweet, almost has a caramel sauce thing to it, i dont really get smore at all, and frankly even the original baptist stout underneath, one of my all time favorites, is really not that recognizable in this, over flavored but not even really on theme to my palate and despite it being brewed with all the correct stuff, marshmallow, graham cracker, and chocolate, maybe its something with the barrel, maybe it has some light tang or tannic character too, its hard to place, but this is sugary and doesnt quite take me there, almost a butterscotch thing to it, i dont know, just not hitting for me, especially after a night of really stellar dark beers, this didnt measure up. shiny and black, it looks pretty good, with a short tan to light brown head of nice density from the can, not crazy viscous for a pastry type stout by the current standard of the style. the aroma is a little oxidized, oak and charred barrel, charcoal and old coffee and roast, a fine low end for this, but the sweetness is insane, brown sugar and sort of a brown butter thing, maybe honey from the graham crackers but that part isnt obvious, and the marshmallow is more just sugar than specifically marshmallow to me, maybe a light hint of smoke setting the mood, but its odd right away to me. the flavor follows the nose, some age on it i think, still a lot of dark grain, the chocolate is there without being dominant. i cant tell if its the graham cracker part that makes it weird or what, its so sugary, like the top of creme brulee, and something is unnatural or almost cheap to it which really brings this down a peg or two for me, nice body and somewhat well hidden alcohol for what it is, more barrel than whiskey, some things to like, but it doesnt taste like smore and its really not what i have come to expect from this series, a let down this time...

Poured into a Fremont small snifter. Pours a very dark mahogany brown, appearing opaque in the glass with a thin khaki head that dissipates to patches with light lacing. Aroma of dark toasted malt, vanilla, coconut, light bourbon and faint chocolate. Flavor is dark toasted malt, vanilla, whiskey, milk chocolate and light coconut again; perfumy. Medium bodied with light to moderate creaminess. My last BBB variant from last year. Although this vaguely has some s'more flavor of chocolate and marshmallow (vanilla, actually), if there was graham cracker flavor, it is now subsumed into the fairly strong barreling whiskey. This was probably a poor example to drink with a year on it and perhaps the imbalance is due to age. Oddly, the vanilla marshmallow component has an odd coconut profile. Fortunately, that fits well with the other flavors here, particularly chocolate. This has the usual rich BBB malt base, but the adjuncts taste a bit more artificial than other variants. Interesting, but not my favorite one.

Look: Like other variations in the BBB series, this one pours midnight black with an extremely light and quickly dissipating head.

Smell: I could catch the whiskey barrels as I was pouring which was nice. I’m also getting the s’mores components as well - the chocolate, graham cracker, and a hint of marshmallow.

Taste: Caught me off guard a bit, I won’t lie. The whiskey is there but seems to dominate the nose more. I’ve had many variations of the BBB, this was the first one where the flavor components actually overtook the whiskey. Not inherently bad but in this case the s’mores profile came off more artificial than I would have liked. Almost tasted overly sugary. It’s not bad, but it could have been much better.

Feel: Feels thinner than it actually is and obviously at 12% ABV this one hits hard. It actually did get better as it warmed which I appreciated.

Overall: Having had many BBB variations I always look forward to a new one. However, I’d say this one is definitely middle to bottom of the pack from a taste standpoint. Having said that though, the base stout here is still so superior to a lot of offerings, that even a BBB variation that tastes a bit off from expectations is still pretty good.

Pours a dark cola brown and settles almost black in the glass with a tan head that leaves some splotchy lacing as you enjoy the beer.

The nose has a bit of the whiskey barrel, cocoa, and something that approximates a sweet cracker (the graham?) and some marshmallow.

The taste has a smidge of whiskey barrel, cocoa, some marshmallow sweetness, and a bit of dark cherry flavor that wasn’t expected. There’s a bit of s’more here, but it’s hunting for the light of day.

The mouthfeel is a bit lighter than expected for a beer of this gravity. I’m glad I tried this, but it falls short of the Big Bad Baptist reputation, IMHO.

Poured from a 16 ounce undated can into a snifter.

Look- Black, opaque, medium brown frothy head, above average head retention and lacing, large visible particulate at the edges.

Smell- Cacao, marshmallow, graham cracker, vanilla, slightly whiskey, between medium and high strength of scent.

Taste- Whiskey soaked, artificial graham cracker, slight cacao, high strength of flavor.

Feel- Medium body, average carbonation, mildly mouth coating, highly mouth warming, mildly sweet, moderately bitter.

Overall- This beer provided an average drinking experience. The bouquet was pleasant and spot on with the s’more target. The flavor was very artificial tasting with the high point being the very whiskey forward character.

Added flavors detract from what might be a nice Stout.

 

4 ounce taster, from a freshly opened bottle, at the brewery in Salt Lake City, UT.
Delivered cold and flat. Had to palm warm it for a few.
Smell drifts up; familiar BBB, but there’s an unidentified scent too.
Taste isn’t anything I expected. Like a shot of hipster cologne dumped in the glass and just obliterated this world-class base Stout. Hard to identify, definitely off-putting, very artificial. Yuckity long aftertaste. It was hard to finish the glass.
Mouthfeel is medium, so is the carbonation.
Overall, Epic missed the S’mores mark. A waste of BBBaptist.,.

 

My seventh BBB variety. This one, like the others, pours headless, dark and oily. Chocolate is the primary initial takeaway, both in the nose and on the palate. Whiskey and wood are present, but never to an excessive degree. Chocolate gives way slightly to bring vanilla into the flavor profile. As the beer continues to warm, marshmallow comes up strongly and eventually too sweetly, overwhelming the other flavors. This knocked S'Mores down a peg from the other BBB's I've had. Still, not a bad campfire option.

16oz canning this year (instead of a 22oz bomber - yay!). Pours out pitch black and yields a large foamy light tan head. Strong sweetness in the nose and palate, reminiscent of marshmallow with a definite impression of vanilla/white chocolate. Whiskey and milk chocolate as well as faint impressions of graham cracker spices. Creamy, smooth, not cloying, with minimal notes of roast and coffee. Alcohol is subdued at 12%. This is decent.