Coming of Age: A Beer in Three Chapters

Some beers arrive fully dressed for the occasion. Others begin as a story, split into chapters, and slowly reveal what they are going to become.

Coming of Age is one of those beers.

At 10%, this new imperial stout was made to mark a milestone: Epic turning 21. That is a serious number for a brewery. Old enough to have history. Young enough to still make questionable decisions involving hops, barrels, and very strong dark beer.

But Coming of Age is not a single release. It is the beginning of a three-part story.

Part of this beer has already found its way into Jake Porter, adding depth, body, and darkness to a beer with roots reaching back to the early days of porter itself. Porter first appeared in London in the early 1700s and became famous as the drink of the city’s working porters. These were the men carrying goods, parcels, cargo, and all the physical weight of a growing city. The beer took its name from them, and porter went on to become one of the great historic dark beer styles.

There is also the old story of three threads, where early porter was said to have come from a blend of different beers served together. Whether that story is exact history or beer-soaked folklore, it still captures something true about porter: it was built from layers. Young beer and aged beer. Strength and drinkability. Roast, malt, time, and working-class thirst all pulled into one dark glass.

That is where Jake Porter fits into the story. A portion of Coming of Age became one of those threads, giving Jake Porter a deeper connection to the old porter tradition while adding a modern Epic-sized shadow behind it.

Another portion of Coming of Age has been canned as Coming of Age – Brewer’s Cut.

This is the beer before the barrel. The unmasked version. The first expression. A chance to taste the imperial stout as it was when it left the tank: big, dark, structured, and full of roasted malt character before oak and whiskey begin their slow work.

The rest of the beer has gone into freshly emptied Jack Daniel’s barrels, sourced from our friends at Pōkeno Whisky. The barrels had already done their time holding whiskey, and now they get a second life holding a very different kind of darkness.

Over the next six months, the stout will pull flavour from the wood: whiskey warmth, vanilla, oak, char, sweetness, and that deeper aged character you only get when beer and barrel are left alone to have a long private conversation.

That barrel-aged version will be released for Epic’s 21st birthday at Christmas, packaged properly in a glass bottle.

So Brewer’s Cut is not just a limited can release. It is a snapshot. A before photo. A rare chance to taste the beer that went into the barrels before time changes it.

Coming of Age is young now, but it was built with the future in mind.

First, it became part of Jake Porter.

Now, it stands on its own as Brewer’s Cut.

Next, it returns from the barrel for Epic’s 21st birthday.

Three chapters. One dark beer. A little bit of history. A little bit of friendship. A little bit of patience. And a very good reason to taste it now, then taste it again when the barrel has had its say.