Unplugged Jack
Acoustic Ales Brewing Experiment

22 ounce bottle into a snifter.

Pours dark, opaque, a quickly dissipating one finger head, some lacing. Smells of roasted malts, lots of oak, whiskey, vanilla, some chocolate. Taste also leads with the roasted malts, the whiskey is more prevalent now. Also oak, vanilla, some chocolate, a little coffee. Kind of an odd bitterness on the back end. Smooth for the ABV, good body but a touch thinner than I would have liked.

Good beer, enjoyed drinking it, but I think it could have been better. The barrel aging was done well, but the base needs a little more body. maybe a stronger malt presence. Worth a try, though.

 

Dark cola brown bordering on black. But thick and forboding. More heft behind it than cola. Decent brown head dissipates quickly but accumulates in the edges against the glass.

First thing that jumps out of the nose is whiskey. Definitely smells like Jack. There's a distinct chocolate wave, then it basically smells like a jack and coke.

Kind of muted approach before jumping in to bitter that some bit chocolate some bit hops. There's a it of jack on the back end. Finish is jack and coke aftertaste and bitter.
A bit thin and subdued for a BA stout. Personally I prefer something a little thicker, rounder, woodier, maybe some vanilla and depth. This tastes less like a barrel and more like if I took a chocolatey stout and poured a depth charge of Jack into it. Underwhelmed :(

This has a deep, biting whisky and hop finish. And it dries out with that bitter chocolate taste. It's not really sweet. There's just some heft to the body when you take that first sip. Maybe there is something in the barrels that has been helping eat the sugar-- the slight hint of something going sour is in the background.

Black and modestly fizzy in the Affligem chalice with a silky mouthfeel. Not very boozy at all. The chocolate taste becomes more pronounced as you sip. I wouldn't have thought of molasses, but you can imagine that sulfurous note in the back of the throat as the bitter flavors churn.

Yet another in a recent rash of 22 oz bottled brews from Acoustic. This one came from Barons Market on West Point Loma. I can't say it's much of a bargain, but for the chocolate enthusiast it's one to try.