Topic Archives: Almonds
Epic Quadruple Barrel Baptist is big, bold, and blew us away
In the world of imperial stouts filled with various dessert-like additions, Epic Quadruple Barrel Big Bad Baptist stands alone. This big bottle of ridiculous is how you make a decadent pastry stout.
Big Bad Baptist was supposed to be released under another name – Jack Mormon Imperial Stout, back in 2011. Epic Brewing made a barrel-aged imperial stout brewed with Jack Mormon roasters coffee. Unfortunately, the state of Utah rejected the “Mormon” name, even though it was a homage to their coffee roaster.
Brewery co-founder Dave Cole is a California Baptist and decided to integrate his real-life “Big Bad Baptist” roots into the name.
In that first year, Big Bad Baptist scored a 100 on RateBeer.com, and still maintains that high mark today.
Since the launch, variants of this coveted imperial stout have been released, including a Double Barrel, Triple Barrel, and Big Bad Baptista Imperial Stout. Each one takes a creative step forward. Now there’s Epic Quadruple Barrel Baptist and it really is the best Baptist we’ve ever had.
The brewers at Epic racked their imperial stout to both whiskey and rum barrels. Meanwhile, the team barrel-aged their own coffee beans, coconuts, and almonds. Basically, the only thing that’s not barrel-aged is the cocoa nibs. You might read all that and think, there’s just too much going on here.
You’re not wrong. There are some imperial stouts out there that are packed with chocolate, vanilla, strawberries, lactose, even cookies, and cereal. Some taste great. Some of these coveted imperial stouts are just muddled in flavor. That’s how Epic got this beer right. Scroll up and read everything the brewery put in the beer. Now read the next paragraph.
Every flavor is present in every sip. Your first taste starts with this rich, chocolaty imperial stout which gives way to a balance of subtle almond, coffee, and coconuts that finishes with a mix of vanilla oak and toasted rum sugar. That’s what blew us away. All these flavors are very much there in a beautiful balance, from start to finish. To us, that’s the crossroad of imagination and brewing talent. Epic didn’t just throw all the buzz-worthy additions to a barrel-aged imperial stout and expect a line outside. This is a symphony of barrel blending, and we were some morose tipsy folks when the bottle ran dry.
Epic Quadruple Barrel Big Bad Baptist is available in 22-ounce bottles – an extremely limited release hitting distribution now.
Style: Imperial Stout (w/ Chocolate. Barrel Aged Coffee. Barrel Aged Coconut. Barrel Aged Almonds. Barrel Aged. Whiskey. Rum.)
Hops: Nugget, Chinook, Cascade.
Malts: Muntons Maris Otter Malt, Briess 2-Row Brewers Malt, Crystal Muntons, Weyermann Light Munich Malt I, 2-Row Chocolate Malt 2-Row Black Malt, Roasted Barley.
Availability: 22oz Bottles. Extremely Limited Release.
Debut: Late Oct/Nov 2018
12% ABV
Pastry stout fan? Wait until you read the name of this Evil Twin & Westbrook collaboration
Evil Twin Maple Bourbon Barrel-Aged Imperial Mexican Biscotti Toasted Coconut Cake Break is a future bottle potential. The name is quite the mouthful.
Evil Twin is in the process of building their first brick and mortar location in New York City. In the meantime, Jeppe Jarnit-Bjergso has “gypsy” brewing stateside at various breweries -one being Westbrook Brewing in South Carolina.
The origin of this mega-collaboration starts as Evil Twin’s Biscotti Break and Westbrook Brewing’s Mexican Cake Imperial Stout. The two brewing teams combine the two beers into one beast of a beer – Imperial Mexican Biscotti Cake Break. They didn’t stop there. Barrel-aged variants surfaced Double Barrel Aged Imperial Mexican Biscotti Cake Break, aged in Marsala wine and bourbon barrels, and Evil Twin Maple Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Mexican Biscotti Cake Break.
if you didn’t know pastry stouts are alive and well in the brewing industry, then let this serve as your official notice. Half the lines at breweries on Saturdays are for pastry stouts. A beer name like Evil Twin Maple Bourbon Barrel-Aged Imperial Mexican Biscotti Toasted Coconut Cake Break is enough to make a beer geek break out in a sweat.
Evil Twin Maple Bourbon Barrel-Aged Imperial Mexican Biscotti Toasted Coconut Cake Break is slated to be a 22-ounce bottle release. The brewery has not yet announced this offering.
Style: Imperial Stout (Coconut. Coffee, Cinnamon, Almonds, Cocoa Nibs, Habanero Peppers. Barrel Aged. Maple Syrup Barrel Aged.)
Availability: 22oz Bottles
Debut: TBA
10.5% ABV
Evil Twin Maple Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Mexican Biscotti Cake Break debuts
Evil Twin Maple Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Mexican Biscotti Cake Break debuts as October comes to a close.
What started with two highly sought after beers: Evil Twin Biscotti Break and Westbrook Brewing’s Mexican Cake Imperial Stout. Since Evil Twin was gypsy brewing until Westbrook’s roof, the brewery’s opted to combine the two beers into one beast of a beer – Imperial Mexican Biscotti Cake Break. The result was dark, bold and complex.
Now some barrel-aged variants will be available to fans – Double Barrel Aged Imperial Mexican Biscotti Cake Break, aged in Marsala wine and bourbon barrels, and Evil Twin Maple Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Mexican Biscotti Cake Break.
The latter uses the base mash-up, an imperial stout brewed with coffee, cinnamon, almonds, cocoa nibs, vanilla and habanero peppers, aged in maple bourbon barrels. A mouthful? Yes. Sound delicious? Of course.
Evil Twin Maple Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Mexican Biscotti Cake Break will be available in 22-ounce wax top bottles for the first time in the last week of October.
Style: Imperial Stout (Coffee, Cinnamon, Almonds, Cocoa Nibs, Habanero Peppers. Barrel Aged. Maple Syrup Barrel Aged.)
Availability: 22oz Bottles
Debut: Late October 2017
10.5% ABV
Ultimately pretty epic. Evil Twin Imperial Mexican Biscotti Cake Break
Evil Twin Imperial Mexican Biscotti Cake Break. Meet the mashup of two highly sought after beers that is sure to instill panic in the beer geeks. Let the sweating commence.
Evil Twin, who is building a brewery on their own in New York, has been contract brewing for years at Westbrook Brewing in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina – the birthplace of Westbrook’s Mexican Cake. “Cake” started out as a way to mark the brewery’s anniversary. Morgan and Edward Westbrook brewed an imperial stout with cocoa nibs, vanilla beans, cinnamon sticks, and fresh habanero peppers. Since then, the beer has become a hot commodity, selling in the secondary market for hundreds of dollars. Don’t even ask how much beer traders are asking for barrel-aged variants.
Then there’s Evil Twin Biscotti Break. As the name suggests, this imperial stout mimics the coffee shop dessert, brewed with vanilla and almond, and coffee.
Evil Twin Imperial Mexican Biscotti Cake Break slams together the best of both those beers. An imperial stout brewed with coffee, cinnamon, almonds, cocoa nibs, vanilla and habanero peppers. Both beers are awesome treats.
The result? An even bigger beer. Two dessert beers meeting in one glass could be overwhelming. Not in this case. As the beer warms, cinnamon chocolate and vanilla start to pop. Subtle elements of the two beer threads are far from a challenge to find in each sip. The only thing subtle here are the peppers. Two epic beers in one bottle. We thought only shampoo and conditioner could pull that off.
Evil Twin Imperial Mexican Biscotti Cake Break is a 22 ounce limited release.
Style: Imperial Stout (Coffee, Cinnamon, Almonds, Cocoa Nibs, Habanero Peppers.)
Availability: 22oz Bottles
Debut: Late November/December, 2016
10.5% ABV
Dessert: New Belgium Cherry Almond Ale
New Belgium Cherry Almond Ale is a future bottle potential by the Colorado/North Carolina based brewery.
Quite obviously, cherry and almonds highlight the future beer, with a touch of chocolate for good measure. The base beer is not mentioned.
With a vibrant splash of cherry, and gentle chocolate aromas, our Cherry Almond Ale delicately balances malty sweetness, with a refreshingly bitter finish.
New Belgium Cherry Almond Ale is slated to be a 12 ounce bottle and draft release. The brewery has not yet announced this offering.
Style: (w/ Cherries, Almonds)
Availability: 12oz Bottles, Draft.
Debut: TBA
5.8% ABV
Wicked Weed Montmaretto returns as a flagship offering
Wicked Weed Montmaretto takes leave of the brewery’s Canvas Series and returns as one of the brewery’s flagship beers this month.
In case the name was not suggestive enough, Wicked Weed Montmaretto boasts a favor reminiscent of amaretto – the Italian liqueur. The name is actually Italian for “a little bitter,” making a sour ale with almonds and cherries even more genius.
Montmaretto is aged in neutral wine barrels (barrels that have been used to the point where they are basically just oak vessels that don’t impart an flavor), when a secondary fermentation takes place on cherries. The beer is blended with beer aged on almonds, where a balance is struck for the final beer.
Wicked Weed Montmaretto is a 16.9 ounce bottle offering. The beer dons amazing new artwork, seen above.
Style: American Wild Ale (w/ Almonds, Cherries. Oak Aged.)
Availability: 16.9oz Bottles
Latest Release: August, 2016
6.9% ABV
Wicked Weed Montmaretto seen in 2015, part of the Canvas Series. Pic: Beer Street Journal
Check this: Evil Twin Bourbon Maple Syrup Barrel Aged Imperial Biscotti Break
Evil Twin Bourbon Maple Syrup Barrel Aged Imperial Biscotti Break sounds a bit crazy right? Well, it’s coming. Soon.
Evil Twin teased the upcoming release today – not revealing the whole label, but you can obviously tell what this beer is, and it’s a doozy.
The series began with Imperial Biscotti Break, an imperial stout that mimics the dessert, brewed with almond, vanilla, and coffee. Variants have also included an edition with cherries, Barrel Aged Biscotti Break, and Pappy Biscotti Break (aged in Pappy Van Winkle Bourbon barrels).
This edition finds this well loved imperial stout, aged in maple syrup bourbon barrels. (The same kind of barrel that makes Founders CBS a beer geek wet dream.)
Evil Twin Bourbon Maple Syrup Barrel Aged Imperial Biscotti Break will be either a 22 ounce bottle or 16 ounce can release.
Style: Imperial Stout (w/ Vanilla Beans, Coffee, Almonds. Maple Syrup. Barrel Aged. Bourbon.)
Availability:
Debut: TBA
11.5% ABV
