Jacked Up Red
Omaha Jack's Grillhouse & Brewery

 

On-tap at the brewpub itself. On to the beer:

More of a reddish copper color than pure red, topped with a small head that leaves a good dosing of lace around the mug. Unlike the pale ale which I tried, the aroma has quite a bit fo flavor. Aromas include passionfruit, pineapple, and a tropical punch note which makes the anticipating of tasting more exciting.

A very fruity tasting beer. I'm not getting much malt here, but the hoppiness is soft yet flavorful, which propels this beer to success. The tropical melange continues in the taste, which is lead by passionfruit and papaya. The alcohol only shows a bit of itself, but in general is hidden well. The body is nearly full, yet its very low carbonation is an opportunity missed to take this beer to the next level (not that I'll complain about the final result). It's already a good beer, with the potential of being great.

 

 

Sampled on tap at the brewery. Pours a clear orangey copper with a thin ecru head. Grapefruit and caramel on the nose, some resinous pine notes as well. Flavor is big on crystal malt and caramel, with a lightly resinous citric hop note to balance. Tastes like a regular hoppy red, not like an 8% imperial red. Still, that's better than the other two OJ's beers I had this night, which tasted more like beer-flavored tonic. Drinkable if only for the fact that it has decent balance. Still just an okay beer.

Draught at the brewpub. This beer pours a clear dark amber color with a thin beige head that has decent retention. Spotty lacing. Aroma of roasted malt and some hops. Light to medium body with a moderately malty character, and notes of hops and pine. The finish is roasty with a lingering malty aftertaste. Decent overall.

On tap at brewery, 02/04/08.

Dark apricot/peach color. Plenty of carbonation even 20 minutes after taster served.

Piney hop aroma.

Big malt flavor upfront. Some sweetness... and there are the grapefruit hops we knew would come (with accompanying bitterness).

Well balanced and flavorful. Good job, though just a touch hoppier than I personally prefer.

The menu says that this is an "Imperial Red". I have to say that everything about this beer was typical of a red ale and was right on par with what a good red ale should be. The beer poured crystal clear with a very nice deep red color. It produced some head but it didn't stick around for more than about 20 seconds. Not much in the way of visible carbonation.

It smelled strongly of crystal malts. This is how these beers get their color. In general the aroma of red ale isn't that pleasant but this one is slightly better than what it should be. Most of the nose was caramel and some basic malt. Maybe a touch of roasted malt but not much. The flavor was surprising. It was run of the mill red ale, nothing special. There was some hop bitterness and a little of the roasted malt coming through. The surprising part was that the alcohol wasn't noticeable. It claims to be 8.0% abv.

The body was light to medium and went down smooth. Had a dry aftertaste with a little sweetness to it. If you like red ales then try this one but remember that you'll be feeling it after 1 pint.