I picked up Epic Brewing Company Big Bad Baptist Solstice a few weeks ago from Total Wine. This is a 13.2% barrel-aged stout with clove, star anise, and pomegranate. I have been trying to review more stouts/barrel-aged stouts. This big beer pours black with a two-finger beige head. The aroma is sweet and dark, with spiced notes of licorice and light pomegranate juice. The flavor is cloves, licorice, pomegranate, and orange. This beer has a full (thicker) mouthfeel. The finish is boozy, with faded licorice and some spiced pomegranate. The aftertaste is light licorice and fruit, but fades as the booze lingers. This is not a bad beer, nor is it a good beer. I found it interesting, D+ interesting. I don’t think I would recommend Big Bad Baptist Solstice. I mean, this isn’t terrible. Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers!
I was in Portland, Maine, for a beer tour reunion and received a gift bag. It had Allagash Brewing Co. Curieux in it. This beer is 10.2% ABV. Curieux is a Belgian-style Triple aged in Bourbon barrels for seven weeks. Allagash uses Allagash 2-Row Malted Barley Blend and local pale malt grains. They also use their own house yeast, Nugget, and Hallertau hops. I took a tour of Allagash and found out that this beer is aged in Jim Beam Barrels and has been using said barrels since day one. I highly recommend visiting Allagash. This beer pours a deeper gold with a creamy one-finger white head. The aroma of Curieux is sweet, oaky, and light caramel. The taste is boozy (not too much), vanilla, oaky, caramel, and light crispness. This has a medium mouthfeel. It finishes oaky, with light booze and vanilla. The aftertaste is spiced, with fading sweet notes. This Curieux does not drink like it’s 10.2% ABV. I found it to be slightly refreshing. It is A+. This is not a beer I can drink multiples of, but I can’t just drink one. I would say that Curieux is a more everyday barrel-aged beer. I think this one is one I’d really recommend. Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers!
I picked up another Epic Brewing Big Bad Baptist. This one is Coquito, a 12.8% ABV barrel-aged stout. It is aged in whiskey and rum barrels with cinnamon, vanilla extract, and rum-soaked coconut. A Coquito is a Porto Rican cocktail. This stout uses Marris Otter, 2-Row, Light Munich, Chocolate Malt, Black Malt, and Roasted Barley malts. There are hops such as Nugget, Chinook, & Cascade. I have found out that this particular stout is no longer in production, but you might still find it on store shelves. This beer pours pitch-black with a thin, one-finger, quickly fading beige head. The aroma is sweet, cinnamon, vanilla, and boozy notes. This beer has a strong boozy flavor, with cinnamon and vanilla notes. The mouthfeel on this stout is full. Then it finishes with a cinnamon boozy flavor. The aftertaste lingers with alcohol and cinnamon bun flavor. This was a good barrel-aged stout. It’s a B. The vanilla flavor turns into cinnamon bun frosting flavor when combined with the coconut and rum barrels. I would somewhat recommend this. I think you have to like this style of beer or the types of barrels. I still think I would try another Big Bad Baptist. Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly!
I always see Epic Brewing Company’s Big Bad Baptist beers at Total Wine, but I have never purchased any of them. That is, until now. I purchased Big Bad Baptist Samurai, a 13% ABV barrel-aged stout. This beer has been aged in traditional Sake barrels. This is one of many in the Baptist series. This beer pours a rich, oily, inky black with a one-finger brown head. That head quickly fades into itself. The aroma is chocolaty, coffee, and Umami. The flavor is chocolate and coffee upfront, Umami flavor in the middle, and light sake on the back end. The flavor is smooth overall and has a fuller mouthfeel. This beer finishes with a sake and Umami flavor. The aftertaste is almost like a light soy sauce, and the umami flavor that does linger for a few seconds. This is a big beer that is on the boozy side, and it’s a high B+. If you are into barrel-aged stouts, then I would recommend Big Bad Baptist Samurai. This beer is not too harsh. But they aren’t for everyone. Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers!
I have been to Brewer De Haan Man in Bruges, Belgium. They produce Straffe Hendrik, and this particular beer is the Xmas Blend Barrel-Aged Quadruple, which is 11% ABV. This beer is only available at Christmas time in 750ml bottles. This quad is bottled fermented and aged in American or French oak, either a whiskey, rum, or Bordeaux, and Calvados. They also use young quadruple ale as well as barrel-aged beer. This quad pours brown with a one-finger cream beige head. That head sticks to the top of the beer like a creamy film. The aroma is of vanilla, sweetness, and it’s boozy. The flavor is sweet, vanilla, booze, and light nutty flavors. This has a full-bodied mouthfeel. Then this beer finishes with a rich vanilla and boozy flavor. The aftertaste is light, with sweet vanilla notes that do linger for a while. This Xmas Blend is a delicious beer that gets an A+. It is 11% ABV, but that is not really reflected in the flavor. I would highly recommend this to you. It has a good, strong flavor without being too overpowering. This would be a great addition to any holiday party. Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers!
I have been looking for Dragon’s Milk Emerald IPA. This New Holland Brewing Dragon’s Milk IPA is an 11% ABV barrel-fermented IPA dry-hopped with Lotus hops and aged in Oak barrels. Dragon’s Milk is a division of New Holland Brewing that does all the barrel aging of their beer and makes bourbon as well (www.newhollandbrew.com)(dragonsmilk.com). This beer can be purchased at Total Wine (http://www.totalwine.com) or on the Dragon’s Milk website. This IPA pours deep orange with a one-finger white head. The aroma is hoppy, citrus, and vanilla. The flavor is a combination of orange and vanilla, and it is strong and bitter. This beer has a full mouthfeel. Then it comes to a vanilla boozy finish with small amounts of citrus flavor. This IPA has a boozy vanilla oak aftertaste that lingers just long enough. This IPA sounds interesting when I heard about it on social media, and it is. It does taste almost like an 11% ABV beer, but the hops help it not taste like 11%. It has good barrel flavors without being overly oaky. I think Dragon’s Milk Emerald is an A, and I recommend it! Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers!
I purchased Zenith an Oak Aged Petit Saison from Vista Brewing in Driftwood, Texas (http://www.vistabrewingtx.com). This beer is 5.3 ABV and is a collaboration with True Anomaly Brewing in Houston, TX (http://www.trueanomalybrewing.com). This beer uses grisette with a touch of flaked oats, aged for six months in French oak barrels until it reaches its peak. The house cultures come from True Anomaly. I bought this beer will tour the brewery not long ago.
Zenith pours gold straw color with a two finger white head. The aroma is light, funky, fruity, and light on sweetness. The flavor is funk, fruity, (mostly green grape and apples). It does have some light semisweet flavor and is a bit dry, without being too dry. This has a light feeling in the mouth. Then it has a soft funk fruit dry finish. The aftertaste is not sweet as the initial taste, but it is light on fruity with some funky apple. This is a good beer. I give this a B. It is lighter than I was expecting and light on ABV. I would recommend it if you are at Vista Brewing. You can find this beer and other Vista beer at Spec’s (https://specsonline.com) or reach out to the Vista Brewery.
Now Vista Brewing itself is mostly outdoor with a huge acreage of land where the food is farm to table, the tap room and brew house are indoors.
The tour I had was with the same crowed, well almost, from my Belgian beer tour. This tour was with the owner Kent Killough. During the tour be had samples of some of the beer that will be hitting the tap room soon. At the end of the tour we had a nice outdoor dinner. Which was delicious.
We did have a flight of three beers during dinner. They were good. Over all the atmosphere at Vista Brewing was great as were the beer and the people. I highly recommend going there if you in Driftwood, Texas. Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers!
Dragon’s Milk started as its own beer, then became the name of New Holland Brewing’s reserve series of stouts. This is Bourbon Barrel-Age Coffee Chocolate Stout. This stout is 11% ABV with Madcap Bolt Coffee. Bolt is the type of strong roast from Madcap Coffee, Grand Rapids, Michigan, not far from Holland, Michigan, where New Holland Brewing is located. This stout pours thick black with a two-finger milk chocolate colored head. The aroma is roasted coffee, chocolate, bitterness, and light bourbon. The flavor is roasted strong coffee, dark chocolate, bourbon, vanilla, and boozy. This has a full feeling in the mouth. The stout has a bourbon and chocolate coffee finish with a slight bitter dark chocolate boozy aftertaste. This is an okay bourbon barrel-aged stout. I would give the lowest C-. It is just too much strong coffee with not enough chocolate. But I have had much worse. Would I recommend this? I would halfway, but you have to like big coffee, chocolate, bourbon barrel-aged stouts. Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers!
From Melle, Belgium, Delirium Black Barrel Age by Brouweij Heuyghe is Delirium Nocturnum aged in oak bourbon barrels for nine months. I have only seen this bottle in Belgium, but I finally saw it at my local Whole Foods. This beer is 11.5% ABV. This beer pours a deep brown with a two-finger beige head That head is slow to fade. The aroma is of vanilla, bourbon, alcohol, and spices. The flavor is vanilla, almond, bourbon, and light-tasting dark fruits (some raisins). This has a somewhat full mouthfeel. Then, it comes to a woody bourbon and caramel aftertaste. This barrel beer finishes with a woody vanilla and caramel boozy flavor. This beer is a good barrel-aged beer that is not overly heavy and alcoholic. The Delirium Black is an A. This is definitely a beer worth drinking and sharing. It has such a great balance between the delicious flavors. Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers!
I bought this Chimay Grande Resérve from the Chimay taproom and restaurant while on a Belgian Trappist Beer tour with BBM! (Belgian Beer Me!). This Chimay is from 2019, February of 2019 to be exact. This Chimay is 10.5% ABV. This beer is aged 40% French and 60% American oak barrels. This beer undergoes three fermentation processes: cave, barrel, and bottle. Chimay does this type of beer, every year with a different barrel or liquor. This 2019 Chimay pours a deep brown with a two-finger steady beige head or cream. The aroma is boozy licorice, oak, and some dark fruits. The flavor is okay, boozy, caramel, licorice, and vanilla. This big beer is light-bodied and smooth. It has a fuller feeling in the mouth. Then this beer finishes with a sweet vanilla and caramel. The aftertaste is semi-sweet yet lightly boozy with hints of vanilla. This be is fantastic and delicious. I give Chimay Grande Resérve 2019 Oak and A+. This is a beer you don’t want to miss, I highly recommend this. It is just perfect and well-made. Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers!
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