Epic Big Bad Baptist

And I'm finally back. Still getting used to my new schedule so I may still not be 100% consistent again, but we'll see how things go. Moving on, a while back I bought a bottle of Epic Big Bad Baptist while in Asheville and drank it pretty soon after.

Bourbon nose with some alcohol bite in the back. Not too thick but not too thin either. Body had chocolate, a little bourbon, and some slight vanilla. The finish had a light alcohol burn and a nice roasty finish. The only weird thing about it was that the alcohol stayed around for most of the bottle and caused a kind of weird oaky burn that wasn't super enjoyable. Sometimes the roast or chocolate overpowered it but for the most part it was ever present.

For a bourbon barrel stout, it just didn't impress me very much. I mean, at least it wasn't very expensive so it wasn't disappointing in that way, but I think I'll probably stop picking up Epic stuff since I haven't been very impressed with them. Oh well.

Epic Brewing Brainless on Cherries

I haven't had much from Epic Brewing at this point. I'm not even sure they distribute to Philly actually. I picked this up after having Brainless on Peaches thinking I'd like it more since cherries work really well in most beers, but I was unfortunately wrong. Either my tastes have changed since February (not terribly likely) or this one isn't anywhere near as good as the Peach version which was really only above average.

Sort of an odd nose for a tripel, now that I think about it. I wrote that it smelled of wheat and spice with a little bit of clove. The odd part is the wheat notes but maybe I'm just crazy and smell wheat in everything. Who knows. Kind of a blah body, unfortunately. Lightly spicy but very sweet with only a hint of cherry. Got a little better as I drank more and the cherry became stronger but the base tripel just didn't do it for me. Compared to the peach version, I think the fruit just didn't cover up the inadequacy of the base tripel. Oh well.

Epic Brewing Brainless on Peaches

The other beer I opened Saturday night was Epic Brewing Company Brainless on Peaches, a tripel aged on peaches or brewed with peaches. Something with peaches at least. I'm actually not sure. Here's the website entry actually so yeah it was aged in oak on peaches and I've successfully argued with myself in the first paragraph.

Mostly smelled slightly peppery with a hint of the peaches. Taste basically followed with the spicy notes from the base tripel being the major point but with a bit more noticeable fruitiness. I will say that the base tripel didn't feel as dry as I like them but because of the fruit sweetness, I didn't actually mind it in this. I have a version aged on cherries which I look forward to trying. Curious if the tartness from the cherries will make it feel drier and come through a bit more than the peaches did. We'll see I guess.