The Son of a Baptist season is going
out with a bang and a barrel. Over
the past few months we've partnered
with 14 outstanding small-batch
coffee roasters to explore the
innovative flavors of American coffee
in craft beer. That time was filled with
sensory panels on countless coffees,
tons of amazing beer, jitters and a lot
of learning in the process. To finish
off the season we’ve teamed up with
Portola Coffee Lab out of Southern
California and Hotbox Roasters from
Longmont, Colorado for two final,
very special batches.
Born from passion, Portola Coffee Lab
is the brainchild of owner and
roastmaster Jeff Duggan and his wife Christa. A propeller-head rooted in science and
technology, Jeff’s approach to roasting and brewing is focused on quality – uncompromising
quality. We selected their Terra Incognita espresso blend which is comprised of Ethiopian
Harrar and Colombian Cauca beans. The two differ in their processing, dry for the Ethiopian and
wet for the Columbian. The resulting blend is floral with prominent notes of ripe red fruit, dark
chocolate and smooth caramel. From start to finish the cup is poised, precise, and refined, and
as its name suggests, reveals the natural flavors of each region. This release will be available on
nitro and CO2 draft as well as in 22oz bottles in Southern California.
Our latest partnership is with Hotbox Roasters, founded by Dale Katechis of Oskar Blues. We
were lucky enough to sample an ultra-limited Tequila barrel-aged Ethiopia Yirgacheffe, and it
blew our minds. The coffee explodes with bold flavors, the expected blueberry and
pomegranate from the bean's natural processing combined with an impressive amount of agave
and smoke imparted by its time in the tequila barrel. After the first cup we knew we had to use
it in Son of Baptist and the results are striking, to say the least.
This collaboration represents a nexus of synergetic connections crisscrossing the beverage
world, and could be the poster child for upcycling. The tequila barrel started its life out in
Mexico aging premium spirits before being retired to Oskar Blues, where it was used to produce
GUBNA. After that, it was sent to Hotbox for their barrel-aged coffee project, and the resulting
beans are now showcased in Son of Baptist.
Barrel-aged coffee beans were a completely new concept for us. We had no idea that coffee
beans could absorb so much aroma and barrel character. We are stoked on what those beans
brought to Son of a Baptist and we are excited to explore more barrel-aged beans in the future.
This release will be served on draft and in 22oz bottles in Colorado, and in other select
markets.
Meanwhile, other small batches have recently hit their markets, including: the Stauf’s Coffee
Roasters, Ethiopian Moka Harrar batch in Ohio, Larry’s Coffee with Peruvian beans in North
Carolina, Rowster Coffee featuring their Milky Way blend in Michigan, and the release made
with Misha’s Coffee, Costa Rican beans in Washington D.C.
The project will be taking a hiatus for the summer as we turn our attention to other beers in
development. Son of a Baptist will return late in the year with the nation-wide release of 12oz
cans. We will continue to feature new roasters for each release as well as producing nitro draft
for full distribution to the 21 states Epic is represented in. We want to thank all the roasters
that we have had the pleasure of working with so far. For a full list of the batches, roasters,
beans and roasts used in the Son of a Baptist project please go to: http://epicbrewing.com/the-
beers/exponential-series/item/7101-son-of-a-baptist
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