On a recent trip northward, I brought along a bottle I bought in Nebraska to try with my father-in-law. This beer hails from the Upstream Brewery in Omaha. If ever even near Nebraska, there are two breweries worth the stop over, both in Omaha - one is the Upstream and the other is the Nebraska Brewery - more on that another time. Upstream is a great brewpub in the Old Market. My wife and I had a pre-lunch pint there and it was a decent bar. I'm not that into sports, but they had a small television and the Olympics were going - so I can say I got to see ping-pong finally. Now, let's talk beer.
Upstream has beer-to-go and I plucked the Oak Aged IPA from the fridge. This is a limited batch with hand-printed numbers on the labels. We tried #137 of 621.
It pours a creamy amber color with a big head. It has an unfiltered appearance and looks very thick.
The oak is apparent in the smell. The floral hoppy aroma is very pronounced.
It has a very full body, and of course is quite hoppy. There is a slight thickness to it and the bitterness starts mild, but builds over sipping. It is lively and has a mild spiciness to it.
The aftertaste is oaky and a little bitter. An excellent hop flavor remains in the mouth.
It is 6.0%, but unfortunately the IBU's were not printed on the bottle. It was brewed in November 2007 and bottled in May 2008.
Other than the brewpub, I'm not sure where Upstream beers can be found. If anyone has an update on this, please let me know. Also, I am very curious about their other beers, especially the specialty bottled series, so if you have tried one, I'd love to hear a review.
In all the Oak Aged IPA was an excellent sipper after some delicious homemade Thai food and complemented a re-watch of Blade Runner, which I hadn't seen for a long time!
Cheers!
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