Big Bad Baptist - Old Fashioned
Epic Brewing Company

Stouts are rare where I am at. Whiskey stouts are even more rare. Grabbed this cause options are limited. I have enjoyed a good bit from Baptist but this one just ain’t it. I enjoy the high alcohol, bit shit all I taste is whiskey and cherry. It does the job but I’m glad Founders CBS was at the same store

 

vastly better than the cherry, but still a ways away in overall quality and apparent adjunct authenticity than the best of them, which used to be all of them, if you catch my drift, this says natural flavors on the label, cherries and oranges arent natural flavors they are cherries and oranges, why not just use them, or whatever the citrus element in this is, its like intentionally cheap, i dont get it, its over the top and forced to me but less than the cherry one, which really loses the beer, this one less, a candied orange note with the black cherry, sweet all the way, and with enough booze showing through that it does do a bit of a cocktail thing, plenty of whiskey present in both aroma and flavor, light vanilla, coffee and chocolate of course too, which i think keeps the base beer a bit more in the mix, roasty, fuller bodied,more carbonation than a lot of the other variants have too, massively fruity to the point of almost being perfumed, which is true in aroma and in flavor, oak and char and charcoal, strong bourbon and fusel alcohol with it, some citrus almost pithy bitterness adding some balance, these are pleasant smells and tastes but they come across to me as dosed to highly. dark chocolate covered cherries and orange last past the swallow, and this has a lot going on, warms up pretty well, and is overall solid, although not as solid as i wanted it to be, these new ones make me nostalgic for the old ones, one of the best series ever in beer seems to be lurching toward a less glorious conclusion. a shame. weird that these were produced in both bottles and cans too, thats uncommon isnt it for barrel aged beer like this? it does approximate an old fashioned reasonably well...

Big Bad Baptist Old Fashioned from Epic. Purchased from Franklin Beer, Franklin, PA, 26/04/25. 16 fl oz can, $12.00 (Including tax), $ 0.75/fl oz. Reviewed 07/05/25 (Review 3525). Note that I use DD/MM/YY protocol.
Stamped across the bottom lip “LOT# 21195 11” but otherwise undated. Stored in reefer at the distributor, 39 degrees F at home; served at 56.6 degrees F in a hand washed and dried Jester King snifter. The final temperature is 59.3 degrees F.
Appearance – 4
First pour – Amber Brown (SRM 18), opaque.
Body – Deep Brown (SRM 30), opaque. Under direct light, same. When rear-lite, same, but some light penetrates at the edges, reddish amber.
Head – Average (Maximum 1.7 cm, aggressive center pour). Caramel, high density with a rocky top, average retention, collapsing to a 0.2 – 0.3 cm crown and a thin, partial cap.
Lacing – Good. Partial bands of near-microscopic bubbles which begin to break up into torn curtains by the final sips.
Aroma – 3.75 – Cherry with faint chocolate. No yeast, no hops, no alcohol, no roasted malt.
Flavor – 3.5 – Weak cherry and ghostly cacao. No yeast, hops. No alcohol (11.8 % ABV, according to the label). No dimethylsulfide or diacetyl. Uncomfortable gastric burning. Ends slightly tart.
Palate – 3.5 – Medium: slightly creamy: soft but lively carbonation.
Style: Follows the loose style guidelines as condensed by BA.
Final impression and summation: 3.5 (After deducting 0.25 point for an undated container) Uncredited label artist. Little flavor or aroma, mostly whiskey burn; otherwise, easy drinking. Does this taste like an Old Fashioned? Dunno – haven’t had one in 50 years.

Look: As with others in the series, pours a deep black with a very thin head that is copper in color.

Smell: Definitely getting the cherry and dried fruit, maybe some cranberry as well. Very boozy, also getting some caramel and toffee.

Taste: The whiskey comes through the strongest, but the dried fruit is still present, just more subtle. There is also a sweetness on the tail end that is really nice, almost like honey.

Feel: Heavy feel as expected, 11.8 ABV isn’t the highest in the series but you’ll still feel this one. Great sipper for a cold night.

Overall: I’ve had a lot of the BBB series - this one is good but not a top 5 in the series. The taste should be more complex. Still a serviceable offering though and I will say, true to the style this one gets better as it warms so it is a great sipping imperial stout.