Slack Jack
Service Brewing Company

12oz can. Bottom stamp is 'BEST BY: MAR 18 25'. This is the version that is rum barreled aged, and has an ABV% of 10%.
Label notes: "Slack Jack, A nickname for the USS John F Kennedy aircraft carrier and the name of our Brewer's Reserve Barrel Aged Quad. Separated into a dozen rum barrels and cellared for over a year, creating rich layers of malt sweetness, oak aged spirit and dark fruit flavors."
Deep amber colored body. Thin finger of off white head, and this becomes an island and a wide ring. Isolated lacing spots.
Aroma of rum and oak, toasted malts, and dark fruits.
Taste is sweet and strong. Big presence of oak barrel and rum. Base beer has flavors of dark fruit - raisin, plum, prune, and a bit of apricot. Aftertaste reverts to the rum soaked oak barrel.
Medium mouthfeel. Smooth and remindful of syrup. Some alcohol vapors but no burn. Supportive carbonation.
Good mix of sweet rum and dark fruit, and then dried by the oak barrel. Just by its higher ABV% and rich flavors, this one is a sipper.

 

First tasted on draught at the brewery in Savannah, GA. These notes are from a 12 oz can poured into a tulip glass.

L - The beer is a bright copper color and incredibly clear and bright in the glass, looking just like Iced tea. Some off-white head that fades pretty quickly, which is not unusual for a barrel-aged beer.

S - Rum barrel aromas dominate, with sweet molasses that almost seems cloying. The Belgian quad base beer contributes raisins and fruity yeast notes.

T - The flavors, like the aromas are almost all about the barrel. Molasses, and wet, aged oak are the chief impressions. Underneath, the Belgian dark character again shows in raisins and dried fruits. Hops are not obvious, but if I really reflect on the palate, I can imagine I get some grassy noble hops.

F - Medium body seems surprisingly light for the huge flavors. Low carbonation. Medium hops bitterness keeps the molasses impression at bay. Some alcohol presence, but not much for this ABV.

O - If you drank this blindfolded, you'd expect the beer was dark brown and opaque, to match the dark Belgian and barrel-aged characteristics. It is surprising in its lightness and visual beauty, to go with it's depth of flavors. Some may find it too sweet and cloying, but I enjoyed it a lot.