1) Okay, before I get stuck into mocking this beer, lets tackle the issue of taste. There’s supposed to be “a little bit of hop aroma” which is so little as to be non-existent. There is some very, very slight malt character in the mid-palate but there’s bugger-all else going on here. It’s a 3.5 per cent beer but it doesn’t so much taste thin, like other mid-strengths. Instead, it tastes watery, as if they made a full-strength beer and dropped the alcohol content by diluting it with water. I don’t know if this is what they actually did but it sure tastes like it.
2) Now, Iron Jack is the first beer from the awfully-named Legendary Brewing Company. Really, if you’re going to call yourself that, you need to be making beers that are – you know – actually legendary. Anyway, the brewery is essentially a front for Lion (and, to be fair kudos for them on being upfront and mentioning that on the can) and I’m struggling to understand why this beer exists.
3) Lion already has at least three mid-strengths in its portfolio – XXXX Gold, Hahn SuperDry 3.5 and Boag’s Premium Light. And the first two have exactly the same bloody alcohol count as Iron Jack. I have heard rumours it’s designed to be Lion’s answer to Great Northern Super Crisp and there might be some merit there, because I don’t understand why that beer exists either. It – and Iron Jack – are like drinking a glass of water into which someone has dunked a teabag of malt.
4) Something else about Iron Jack. It’s never a good sign when the media release only quotes your “brand director”. Yep, they’re trying to plug a beer but they never talk to the brewer. Which leads me to the conclusion this beer was created around a table in a marketing meeting rather than by some guy on the brewery floor wearing steel caps and a hi-vis vest. Including marketing babble like “We know drinkers want to buy brands that resonate with their own values or inspire them in some way”. That’s an actual quote from the “brand director”.
5) The can says “the bitterness has been kept low to deliver maximum thirst-crushing refreshment”. That’s really a nice way of saying “we’ve eliminated any flavour so as not to get in the way your boozing on, or slowing it down in any way”. Or maybe saying “yep, we took pretty much all the flavour out of this beer”. You think maybe it’s about time someone told them a beer can have flavour AND be smashable?
Free or paid for?: Like a load of other beer writers and bloggers, I got sent a can and a bottle of Iron Jack. And a stubbie cooler, which I gave away to someone else in the office.
Categories: Beer of the Week
BEER IS YOUR FRIEND 
Wow – strong post man – like it!
I tried to make myself find the positives in it. Tried really hard. But I just couldn’t find any.
Hey – sometimes brews just don’t work! I’ve got a few decent ones on my site – we can share preferences
Great Northern sells like crazy mind you. The mass beer market is an ugly place.
I get why they’re looking to snare some of the Great Northern market. Doesn’t mean I have to like it 🙂
I 100% agree with everything you have said. My XXXX rep gave me one to try and asked me what beer I was taking off tap to put iron jack on tap. It won’t be happening, the last 5 releases from XXXX/Lion have been total failures, start with the 5 seeds Night Orchard, then XXXX Summer Mango, Roam beer with watermelon, Roam beer with Tequila, and now Iron Jack. Whatever is going on in the Lion marketing/development team you all need to be given your marching orders!
Omg yes, yes to everything you just said. It’s like they don’t have a pallet, or have ever tried a beer before.
I bought a carton. The bloke in the store said they came out yesterday and they taste alright. $52 in Broome I thought this better be good first gulp no flavour might as well had a glass of fizzy water. Gave one to a mate, offered another he said nup and went home that’s saying something. Won’t be buying again back to xxxx,Carlton,vb,fosters,Melbourne anything reliable. Because let’s face it all the best music has been written and all the best beer brewed🍺
Hey Shaun the “fizzy water” character would be because this beer is lower in alcohol than those others you mentioned. It’s 3.5 per cent.
And, as I said in the above post, I reckon they brew a normal-strength beer and then dilute it to get the lower alcohol level.
Which would explain it’s watery character.
Too right. Everything said in this article is spot on. I reckon that Iron jack stuff would be the weakest beer I have ever tasted. My first response/comment was – this is like a bottle of water????
G’day mate, Check out the logo of the Lees Hotel in Ingham QLD (the original pub with no beer) is it Iron Jack & his dog walking away?
How Ironic lol
I just purchased a slab
I agree with your comments, its pretty well water. I usually drink a 3.5, either xxxx Gold, Hahn 3.5, or Coopers mid strength (when I want substance), but this stuff was extremely bland. But if I could sell water for $50 a carton why not?
I also, normally don’t comment, but this is so bad I had to.
John E
Well I tried it and thought it not to bad, as good as northern even a bit stronger I think . xxxx sucks iron jacks just a threat to all the others and it’s better than all that flowery girl bear they sell in the cities mid strength is not for every one so stop bitching
You’re barking up the wrong tree here. I respect a good mid-strength because I understand the brewing difficulties involved in making one. In my opinion this isn’t well-made. It tastes like a watered-down full strength beer. And that’s not the way to end up with a good mid-strength.
Couldn’t disagree with you more mate.
This is a terrible beer.
Very badly made.
Great review. Drank some the other day out of curosity – wow! Did i suddenly feel like an outdoorsman or what! Like they took some Heineken and added a dash of koala lee..
Piss? Weak watery piss weak. One drink. What a waste of money. Mid strength beers don’t have to taste like this. I’ve had, and more importantly enjoyed “Light” not “Mid” strength beers with much more character than this rubbish. Too much time spent in the marketing office having a collective wank than focusing on the product. Iron Jack, more like Iron JackOff!
I want my money Back!
Like having sex in a canoe.
Hahahaha I’m trying to think of the bad side to this
Iron jack should have been called ‘’weak water’’ I just had one, NEVER again.
Couldn’t agree more, Im currently 3/4 thru a slab and every sip of this crap is followed by the horrid remembrance that its only a middy.
This, after a solid 20yrs of drinking beer weekly, has got to be the worst I’ve ever had. 4X and great Northern are far better.
This actually makes me cringe before each sip and I never thought I could say that about a beer… Too the point where I had to research it online, then leave a comment.
By far the worst tasting beer I have ever tasted