Uptown and Jacked Up
AT OMAHA JACK’ S, BEER SPEAKS FOR IT

By DON SPROUL • Photos by THOMAS R. CORDOVA

WORT. It lays on the tongue rich, full and sweet. Ripe with sugar ready for fermentation, the bitterness of hops apparent and the aroma already rising, this beer-to-be holds a promise akin to spring baseball and parboiled ribs about to go on the grill. Tracy Simmons, the brew master at Omaha Jack’s Grillhouse & Brewery, is hard at work, with a hydrometer bobbing in a beaker of maple-syrup- hued liquid and a recipe notebook at hand. A baggie of hops, the bitter floral ingredient of beer, lies on his worktable.

He pours a small glass, takes a swig and offers one to a visitor. “I even like to drink it like this,” he says with a grin.

Behind him in the glass-enclosed workroom visible from everywhere in the restaurant, wort is flowing from one stainless steel tank to another, cooling in preparation for fermentation.

Beer is a passion for Simmons.

And it is much the same for Omaha Jack’s owners Mike McCarthy and Ron VandenBroeke.

McCarthy says they each had some 30 years in the restaurant business, loved beer and wanted to open their own place when they founded Omaha Jack’s.

The establishment lays claim to being Rancho Cucamonga’s only real brewery and is located in the Masi Plaza on Foothill Boulevard and Rochester Avenue, just north of the Epicenter, home to the city’s minor league baseball team, the Quakes.

It is a large and unpretentious place that prides itself on serving cornfed Nebraska beef along with a wide assortment of pasta, pizzas and seafood — including a pecan-encrusted northern halibut that McCarthy recommends along with the prime rib — or, for the especially hard to satisfy, the Nebraska chop, a 22-ounce bone-in rib eye steak.

The fare also includes burgers and tri-tip and pulled-pork sandwiches with homemade barbecue sauces in regular and “jacked-up” (spicy) varieties.

Food and beer are natural companions, and like wine, McCarthy says, different varieties of beer pair naturally with different foods: blondes and hefeweizens with fish and salads, I.P.A.s (India Pale Ale) and Uptown Rancho Brown with steaks.

McCarthy is quick to expound on the quality of the beer at Omaha Jack’s. Of the four beers entered in competition at the 2008 L.A. County Fair, three earned medals: Jacked Up Red won a gold for imperial or double red ale; Uptown Rancho Brown, an American-style brown ale, and Wood Shed Blonde, a golden or blonde ale category, each earned a silver. Those medals come in addition to L.A. County and state fair honors in 2005, 2006 and 2007. In short, Simmons and Jack’s have been delivering quality for some time now.

It’s no wonder. Simmons began as a home brewer in Seattle with a brew club at Boeing and lists stints with Redhook Ales Brewery in the Northwest, Bayhawk Ales in Irvine and Skewers Brew Pub in Costa Mesa as part of his professional resume.

Today, Simmons keeps the beer flowing by timing the brewing process to keep eight fresh flavors of beer on tap at any one time. Brew to tap is roughly a four- week process. He also has some tricks up his sleeve.

In addition to brewing an American- style I.P.A., he offers a barrel-aged Jacked Up Red — which is only available in limited quantities.

Called a big-beer because of its robust flavor and raised alcohol content, the special Jacked Up Red is aged in a wet barrel that previously was used to age Jack Daniel’s. The beer draws oak and whiskey flavors from the barrel for a deeper, richer flavor.

Simmons gets about three uses from a “wet barrel” before it loses its usefulness for the aging process.

While barrel-aging is en vogue today, Simmons says the style has its roots in an I.P.A. tradition born of necessity. India Pale Ales derive their name and flavor from their destination, as brewers in England boosted the alcohol content and hops to help preserve beer that was shipped in barrels so thirsty soldiers in India could still enjoy a taste of home, he explained.

The contents of that cask of Jacked Up Red at the bottom of the stairs in the brewer room will be used for a special event and likely be gone in a single evening, but at Omaha Jack’s there will still be plenty to choose from, including the standard Jacked Up Red.

A sampling of regular beer styles at Jack’s, from mildest to strongest in terms of alcohol by volume (abv):

Wheat Field Hefeweizen: A cloudy unfiltered American style wheat beer, lightly hopped, may be served with a slice of lemon or orange, 4.5 percent abv. Wood Shed Blonde: A golden beer described by Jack’s as its lightest brew, 4.8 percent abv.

Pitchfork Porter: A medium-bodied, lightly hopped darker coffee- and chocolate-flavored ale, 5 percent abv.

Hay Bale Pale Ale: A light-colored, full-bodied pale ale with generous flavoring from cascade hops from Washington and dry-hopped with cascade and Willamette hops, 5.6 percent abv. (Dry hopping is adding more hops into the wort after it is finished boiling.)

Uptown Rancho Brown: A malty sweet beer with a rich nutty or toasted flavor; malt and hops are balanced for a smooth finish, 5.6 percent abv.

Apricot Wheat: An unfiltered wheat beer that is flavored with apricots, 6.5 percent abv.

Six-Shooter I.P.A.: The strong hop flavor and aroma of this brew comes from the Chinook, Centennial and Simcoe hops to create what Jack’s calls a “hop lovers Heaven,” 6.9 percent abv.

Jacked Up Red: Described as an imperial red ale, this dark beer is richly hopped and malted and packs a punch at 8 percent abv.

Whether it’s a “big beer,” as Simmons and McCarthy call the rich full-bodied styles, or the lighter blonde, the pair says Omaha Jack’s has the freshest brew around and patrons can take it — by the glass, by the keg or even by the growler jug, which will keep beer fresh in the refrigerator for several weeks.

Omaha Jack’s Grillhouse & Brewery
11837 Foothill Blvd.
Rancho Cucamonga
(909) 477-4377, www.omahajacks.com