Epic Smoked & Oaked Belgian-Style Ale

Brewed by Epic Brewing Co.
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Salt Lake City, Utah USA

Serve in Trappist glass, Tulip, Tumbler

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Kumquat and cherry cordial on the nose. Cloudy amber, still and headless. Flavor is a strong and even blend of peat and apricot notes. Lemon zest is alos present. Peat becomes more smokey in the finish. Alcohol is noticeable but not overly intrusive. The fruity character imparted by the base Belgian ale really distinguishes this beer. There can’t be many beers like this. It is a new experience for me, and a pleasurable one.

2 June 2012, bottle. Dark brownish orange with lots of sediment. Nose is winey and sugary malt alcohol. Med body, slightly fuzzy and syrupy. Very sweet alcohol, some rancid fruit, and strong smoked sausage. Very good! ---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone

Amber-orange pour with small light tan head. Aroma of caramel, bourbon, yeast and smoke. Taste of caramel, vanilla, heavy smoke and a strong wood barrell aged presence. Very thick and heavy beer. Creamy mouthfeel. A little too much smokiness and barrel aging taking away from all the other flavours.

Aroma of sweet malts and smokey bacon. Thick iced tea appearance. Tastes of a typical belgian strong ale with smoke. Kind of boozy. I’m not convinced the smoke adds anything to this style of beer. Might be better without it. Superfluous. Still, a quality beverage.

22oz bottle from Oak Tree Discount Wine and Liquors in South Plainfield, NJ. Release #9, 9.0% ABV. Pours a murky brown body with a finger-width, creamy, tan head that dissipates slowly and leaves a nice lacing. Aroma is big caramels with a good amount of sweeter smoke and peat. Some wood and a light vanilla with a few dark fruits, toffee, a light Belgian yeast, and a touch of cocoa and honey. Flavor is similar. Lots of caramel up front with a nice, sweeter peat and smoke. Just a tad bit meaty. Some dark fruits, a light toffee-bread, a hint of honey, and some wood. Belgian yeast, a touch of cocoa, some vanilla, and just a hint of whiskey before this finishes sweet, but dry with some wood and peat alongside lots of caramels and dark fruits making up a nice malt backing. Lengthy aftertaste following a full-medium body and a soft, medium-light carbonation. Deep caramels, wood, peat, dark fruits, and a light whiskey linger nicely. Overall, a pretty cool beer with lots going on. Big peat and smoke, but lots of caramels and dark fruits to keep this on the sweeter side. The barrel aging is light, but adds a nice complexity along with the Belgian yeast. I was a fan of this one.

On tap at Beachwood. Rich and mellow aroma, with oak and very mild smoke, alcohol, brown sugar, and caramel. Dark coppery amber with light haze, topped with very thin head. Heavy body with medium carbonation and alcohol warming. Starts rich and malty with alcohol sweetness, oak, caramel, whiskey. Mild bitter finish with rich mellow bourbon. After is sweet with bourbon. Smooth.

The beer is brown in color with an off-white head. As expected, lots of smoke on the nose. Fairly nutty and a mild meatiness. Just a bit of salt in there as well. A mild sweetness of toffee and brown sugar. The flavor has a nice toffee malt sweetness, more than the aroma, to go along with the pronounced smokiness. Lots of salt, toasted nuts, and a bit of a woodiness.

22 ounce bottle into tulip glass, batch 9, bottled 11/7/2011. Pours hazy reddish brown color with a small 1 finger fairly dense khaki head with good retention that reduces to a thin ring of lace. Some minimal spotty lacing on the glass. Aromas of big bourbon, caramel, banana, clove, toffee, molasses, apple, raisin, oak, and yeast spices. Some pretty nice aromas with good strength and balance. Taste of big caramel, toffee, raisin, apple, molasses, pepper, clove, banana, oak, vanilla, butterscotch, light bourbon, and light yeast spices. Lingering notes of caramel, toffee, bourbon, oak, molasses, dark fruit, and yeast spices on the finish for a good bit. Some nice balance of malty flavors, with no cloying sweetness. Medium carbonation and fairly full bodied; with a very creamy and slightly slick mouthfeel. Alcohol is very well hidden with hardly any warming present after the finish. Quite drinkable but is still definitely a sipper. Overall this is a nice and very enjoyable Belgian style ale. I really did not notice much smokiness at all; however, it had a nice and quite complex malt flavor profile from the bourbon barrel aging. Very enjoyable to sip on.

WOW. Sampled at Slutfest 3. Still a little hot, but damn good. Clear amber pour with suspended particulate. Nice an peaty, sweet and honey, vanilla, wood, and citrus old hop spiciness. REALLY good. My favorite of the series. I think this was stranahans barrel.

Bomber, Release #7. Poured hazy deeper amber with a short, but easily-resuscitated beige head. The aroma picked up soft, smoky peat, overripe bananas, cocoa, and spicy, dark, fruity Belgian yeast.. dark fruit and peat stuck on the back of the nose. The flavor found more dark fruit than anything else at the core.. some molasses and biscuity notes too.. dry, smoky peat, tasty whiskey, and peppery yeast on the edges.. long finish with more lovely yeast notes, dry barrel, and whiskey. Medium-bodied with low, but tight carbonation on the palate.. great combo of peat, yeast, and barrel.

Bottle. Pours a hazy orange amber color with a medium sized off white head. The aroma is smoky without being imposing, caramel malt, whiskey notes, light peat, hints of fruit and peppery spice. The flavor has a very drinkable amount of smoke, light peat, mild fruit notes, vanilla, whiskey, caramel and a light yeasty quality. Medium plus bodied. I usually enjoy the Epic brews and this was no different.