In 2009, Epic Brewing Company became Utah’s first brewery since prohibition to exclusively brew high-alcohol content beer. Having started an international aquaculture company in Utah in 1992, David Cole and Peter Erickson were no strangers to food and drink (and the art of making them well), so when they teamed up with acclaimed brewmaster and fellow beer geek Kevin Crompton to open epic Brewing in Salt Lake City, they saw rapid growth early in its existence. In 2013, Epic expanded its brewery operations into Colorado by opening a second brewery in the River North District of downtown Denver. The Denver brewery offered enough space to support growing national distribution, expansion of the popular Big Bad Baptist barrel-aged beer program and the introduction of a line of sour beers. Unfortunately, Epic closed their Denver operation in December 2022. But the Big Bad Baptist Barrel Aged Imperial Stout Series continues this year with many variants of their flagship year-round version of Big Bad Baptist, a luxuriously rich imperial stout aged in used whiskey and bourbon barrels and then infused with real coffee and cacao nibs. Today, Peaks & Pints presents an in-house flight of Epic’s Big Bad Baptist culinary confection flavor variants — a flight we’re calling Peaks and Pints Beer Flight: Epic Big Bad Baptist Variants.
Peaks and Pints Beer Flight: Epic Big Bad Baptist Variants
Epic Big Bad Baptist Cinnamon Roll
9.8% ABV
Epic Big Bad Imperial Stout is aged in whiskey barrels then infused with cocoa nibs and coffee beans — each season’s release brewed with a different dark roasted coffee. The Cinnamon Roll variant adds cinnamon buns and cacao nibs.
Big Bad Baptist Chocolate Banana
10% ABV
Epic Big Bad Imperial Stout aged in whiskey barrels then infused with cocoa nibs and coffee beans, plus banana crème and more cocoa.
Big Bad Baptist Salted Maple
10.1% ABV
Epic Big Bad Imperial Stout is aged in whiskey barrels then infused with cocoa nibs and coffee beans. The Salted Maple variant adds Vermont maple syrup and sea salt.
Epic Big Bad Baptist Old Fashioned
11.8% ABV
Epic Big Bad Imperial Stout aged in whiskey barrels then infused with cocoa nibs and coffee beans, plus cherries and natural flavors.
Epic Big Bad Baptist Black Gold 2024
14.7% ABV
Every year, Epic Brewing’s cellar team takes their decade-plus of experience of barrel-aging beer and adds a fun, high AVB Big Bad Baptist variant. This year, they brewed Black Gold made with a malt bill of Marris Otter, 2-Row, Light Munich, Chocolate Malt, Black Malt, and Roasted Barley — plus Nugget, Chinook, and Cascade hops — then aged it in whiskey barrels with cacao nibs and Utah coffee for huge bourbon notes, plus coffee and cocoa, and a thick and viscous body.
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