Great Lakes Brewing Black Jack Lager

341ml bottle
5.0% ABV
I tried this beer on February 14, 2008 at "Smokeless Joe’s" in Toronto. The beer poured a reddish-brown with a very thin whitish coloured head. The aroma was malty, with some caramel sweetness. The mouthfeel was light, almost watery, and highly carbonated. The flavour is mainly malty, with a slight sweetness that gives way to some bitterness.

Tried it at Catch 22 - It wasn’t as bad as people where rating it. Full flavour - mrked malt notes - unbalanced but decent.

Darkish color, very smooth with little lager bite, good signature of hops and long medium-bodied malty flavors. Good!

Tap at C’est What? Deep amber beer with a very creamy white head. Fruity aroma of berries and light cherry/plums. Light nutty sweetness. Nutty malts and a lingering fruity finish. Not very lagerish to me.

Sampled at Beer Bistro Golden Tap Awards from a bottle. Molasses / soy sauce porter aroma. Black appearance, thick white head. Taste was actually kind of smoky and with roasted hints - is this a porter is disguise? Thin and watery is the major detractor here, but I loved the smoke aspect. Again, pleasantly surprised.

Bottled. Poured a nice garnet color with a better cap than I;ve seen on other GL beers...but the lacing is not great. No nose to speak of slight whiffs of grain over sweet toasty carmel... fizzy mouth feel and a tad watery but....there are all detectable traits of a schwarzbier here....mild , toasty malt detected, some drying from hops in the finish that is joined by a light charred astringency that is understated. The best thing from this brewer and would not be a bad Canadianization of a schwarzbier were it a bit more defined and less fizzy-spritzer qualities. I will look forward to trying this periodically to see if it imporves on tap as it has a lot of potential.

Me Likey!! Mochachino Head, nice dark amber colour, easy drink’n and a good snap of Alcohol that makes me want to lose my panties and kick back! Who cares if it’s not Rheinheitsgebot compliant? Purity is for Virgins! Forget malted Barley! I’m more interested in sowing my Wild Oats! Rack Out!

Sample from 341 ml bottle. Chocolate brown colour with a fizzy tan head. Caramel and light chocolate aroma. Chocolate, light bread, and lightly grainy flavour. Light bodied, fizzy mouthfeel. Average.