Happy Birthday, Service Brewing Company of Savannah, Georgia! Service just celebrated their first anniversary in business, but as is usual in such cases we, the beer drinking public, get the gift. In this case, that is SBC1 Anniversary Ale, a strong ale I got at Stout’s Growlers here in Canton. Stout’s also just celebrated their first year in business this past August, so congrats to you as well Stout’s!

Service calls this an “American Strong Ale”, which I would lump into the strong ale category. In truth, strong ale is sort of a catch-all style for beers that can’t easily be pegged in more traditional categories. You can pretty much brew a strong ale however and with whatever you like and call it a strong ale-as long as it’s strong, preferably 7% alcohol by volume or higher.

Here’s what Service says about the beer on their website:

Inspired by the sweet fruits of our first year’s labor, this American Strong Ale blends Georgia blueberries, cacao nibs, vanilla bean and Savannah Bee Co honey for a decadent finish to a solid year.

Service SBC1 Anniversary Ale has an alcohol content of 7.2% by volume and is sold on draft and in 750 ML limited release bottles. I paid $8.50 for a 32-ounce growler at Stout’s.

Service SBC1 Anniversary Ale pours to a beautiful caramel color with a light creamy head and a soft nose of toasted malt and berry fruit. Taking a sip, I get a very gentle maltiness up front, crisp and gently caramel malty followed by a softly sweet fruity blueberry component and a softer still balancing grassy hop bitterness in the finish. Some rich honey flowery aroma pokes through between start and finish, but the vanilla and cocoa are barely perceptible. You can get a bit of the latter if you focus, but the blueberry is the strongest component here and this comes off more of a strong fruit beer to me.

I’ve been very impressed with the beers I’ve tried from Service, but being totally honest this is the least impressive so far. That’s not to say this is a bad beer-it isn’t and I enjoyed it very much, especially the way the blueberry pops. I think though they may have tried to do too much here, and didn’t end up with as complex a beer as they tried for.

Here’s to you Service Brewing, and here’s looking forward to SBC2-I’ll be looking for it for sure next year.

Home