BJ's Brew pub in Arlington, TX

Last Saturday I went down to BJ's Restaurant and Brewhouse in Arlington (right off of I-20). Overall I found the experience satisfactory. The Service was good, the food was a little better than average and a couple of the beers I tried were worth writing about.

Now once you get to know me you will realize that I will actually judge a restaurant by their burger. In this vein BJ's is just flat out trying to hard. I had the BJ's Burger with Bacon and a side of fries. It wasn't bad, it was clearly better than fast food, but it wasn't great. It was however large and very filling.

My wife had the jumbalia. It did have pretty good flavor though it was served more like a Pasta Dish, sort of a thick Gumbo Served over rice Pilaf. Good flavor, big serving but a bit off to what I expect of creole cooking.

For beer we got a Sampler we tried the BJ's Jeremiah Red, the Nutty Brewnette, the PM Porter, and the Tatonka Stout.

Of the 4 we found the Stout to be disappointing and the Brewnette to be .. well kinda unimpressive. the Porter and the Red though were worth more study and research. The wife had a pint of the Porter and I indulged in a couple pints of the Red, my review of the red is as follows:

Irish Reds are a variant of the basic Pale Ale. not necessarily made in Ireland or even using Irish recipes the type _Usually_ implies using a roasted Barley or other grain which gives it a rich flavor and a reddish color.

BJ's beer info doesn't say if they are using roasted grains or not but it sure tastes like it. It has a rich malty aroma and a clear, almost overstated, sweet character to the malt flavor. The Hops pairing up with the malt works but could be a bit better balanced. It does have a nice soft mouth feel not astringent in the least which is surprising since it comes in at 7.3 % ABV.

Cap Scores are as Follows:

Type: Seems to follow the guidelines of an Irish red pretty well though I am unsure that I would come any where close to matching it with the archetype I give it a 7.5

Drinkability: A bit on the sweet side for a red and that would turn of a few but over all an enjoyable beer to watch a game with. I give it an 8

Value: Available only at the BJ's and runs 4.50 a pint. Not bad for a restaurant beer really but since my standard is a six pack equivalent, I'll give it a 7 and call it average.

Total Score: 7.5 caps