Brewery #7: Mac & Jack's Brewery

Mack & Jack's is the first Brewery I have gone to that doesn't actually have a taproom. This brewery gives tours once a week on Sundays at 3:00 and it's the only way to get a sampler of beer directly from the brewery. They also have a retail store that is open throughout the week where you can buy growlers and pints and other souvenirs.

I think because it was a Sunday before a Monday holiday that everyone and their mothers decided to show up to the tour. There were probably 50 people there and the brewery was short staffed for the day. The tour started about half an hour late and then once we finally got free beer I had finished it before the tour guide actually started talking. I think this would be a great free tour if you get lucky and go on a day when there's only about a dozen people. Because so many people were at our tour, the samples were small and you couldn't really hear what the tour guide was saying. I did get to see the inside of the brewery from right up close, which they don't let you do at the Redhook tour, so that was pretty cool. I'd also recommend going on a day when it's not cold and raining because you're standing outside or in an open warehouse for most of the tour.

One interesting tidbit that I picked up on the tour was that Mack & Jack's got their start selling to the Woodland Park Zoo. I thought that was pretty neat. There's a reason this beer is so popular in Washington, it's some of the most flavorful beer I've had on this tour so far.

Serengetti Wheat (4)

Good, solid wheat beer. A hint of orange and the wheat isn't overpowering. I wish I could've gotten a bigger sample of this one.

African Amber (4.5)

This is their most popular beer and you can find it in almost any bar in Seattle. It's a unique, malty amber with a great flavor. This is one of my favorite beers.

IPA (3)

For an IPA this one really isn't too bad. It's less hoppy than most IPAs and if I had to drink one, I would probably pick this one.

Porter (4)

This is a great porter. Not too watery like some of the ones I've had recently and it had a nice hint of coffee in it. I really enjoyed the combination of flavors in this beer.

The beer at this brewery is great quality and I'm honestly a little disappointed that they don't have a taproom. The tour was ok, but if I compare it to the Redhook tour it really needs some work. I'd say the beer is a 4 and the tour was a 3, giving Mac & Jack's a rating of 7. I bet if I went on this tour again in the summer with fewer people I'd raise the score quite a bit.

Brewery #6: Maritime Pacific (Jolly Roger)

The Jolly Roger fits it's name to a T. It's a tiny bar that's covered in pirate garb and smells like fish. The entire floor is one big painted pirate's map and there are skulls and treasure and parrots all over the ceiling and walls.

The place was packed, and because of it's size, it only took about 30 people to do the job. When we got there, there wasn't a single place to sit. We waited a while for the table and when one finally did come up and we went to sit down, we were told there was a waiting list for the tables. This meant people at the bar, who already had seats, got to move to a table. This freed up a couple of seats at the bar, but when I went to sit down, the waitress told me I couldn't sit there because it was a regular's seat. Rude! Just when I was about to say "screw it" and go somewhere else, a waiter finally cleared a table for us. Needless to say, the Jolly Roger was not off to a good start.

We finally got the beer and Kyle hated all of it because he thought it tasted like fish. Luckily, my smelling and tasting senses are not as easily linked, so I thought some of the beer was actually quite tasty. Aside from the bad service, this place was not too shabby.

Clipper Gold Hefeweizen (4.5)

This was a really great hef with just a hint of lemon in it, even without the addition of an actual lemon. It's a very smooth, cloudy beer. I'm not sure what makes it cloudy, but whatever it was, really added to the flavor.

Nightwatch Dark (4)

This was a good, malty, dark amber. The taste was just right.

Portage Bay Pilsner (3.5)

Good, solid pilsner. It was sour and dry just like a pilsner should be.

Old Seattle Lager (2)

This beer had a very mild flavor. I couldn't point out any good or bad tastes. To me, that means the beer isn't a very good one. This is the one Kyle was convinced tasted like fish.

Seasonal Dunkel (2)

Kyle described this one as going from good to bad to terrible. The aftertaste was pretty chalky and I had a hard time finishing this one off.

I didn't have any food at this bar, but the beer was pretty hit and miss. I'd say with the bad service, the serious need for expansion, and average beer, that the Jolly Roger deserves a 5 on the rating scale. A 3 for the beer and a 2 for the bar. I don't think I'll be going back to this place any time soon.

Brewery #5: Hales Ales

If you haven't noticed, I've had to mess with the template a few times to get the comments option to work. Since I don't know much about html I had to resort back to a generic google template. It's not my favorite but at least people can tell me what they think.

As far as ambiance goes, Hales really isn't the best. If you're just going for dinner it feels too much like a bar and if you're going just to drink it feels too much like a restaurant. I wish we had gone on a different day when the brewery is open to take the tour. I think that would've been it's one redeeming quality.

The waiter at this place was really creepy. He accidentally spilled one of the samples on Kelsey and kept giving us free stuff for the rest of the night. Which, was pretty great, except that meant he kept coming by and getting awkwardly close and breathing really heavily. Not my favorite guy, but I gave him a little credit because he probably saved us $20 on his own dime for spilling a little beer. Thanks Kelsey for taking one for the team.

The sampler at this bar gives you a choice of any five beers they have on tap. We got two samplers for a total of 10 different types of beer. It was brought out on this big tray and the beer was set on top of a chart with the names on it. The only problem was, there were more beer names than beers on the tray and it was difficult to tell which was which. The waiter told us when he brought the beer but it was hard to remember. So I made my best guess as to what type of beer I was having, you guess is as good as mine as to whether or not I'm right.

It was brought to my attention during this meal, that I should be rating the beer on some type of scale. This would help with my lack of adjectives to describe the beer. There were multiple suggestions, some complex and some kind of kooky, but I think in the end I may just rate the beer on a scale of 1 to 5 and the bar on a scale of 1 to 10. The extra 5 points for the bar will include the ambiance and the food and the overall good time that was had.

Wee Heavy Winter Ale (4)

This was a decent winter ale with a little bit of spice. I would say this beer is good but not great. The most anyone could get out of me at the table was "pretty good".

Cream Stout (3)

This beer is a nitro and to be honest, it's a little weird. I don't think I like the mixture of the cream and the stout and making it a nitro unfortunately didn't help much.

Nut Brown Ale (4.5)

Great beer! This one has just the right about of nuttiness and tastes pretty smooth. I actually wrote "Not too nutty. Yummy yummy" on my notes.

Mongoose IPA (2)

Since I've been sampling beers I've had to try quite a few IPAs. I'm not really a fan of this type of beer, but I have come across a few that aren't too bad and even a little tasty. This is not one of those beers. This IPA tastes like flowers. So much so that I made a sour face after trying the beer, quite similar to that of biting into a lemon.

El Jefe (2.5)

This hef was too orangey. It also has that familiar taste that I have really grown to dislike in hefeweizens. I have no idea what that taste is, but I know it every time I taste it.

Kolsch (2)

Hale's german style beer. I'm guessing this is a lager because of the sour, unrefreshing taste. I didn't like this one at all.

Hales Cream Ale (2)

This was a nitro but it wasn't cold enough. Almost like they had poured the beer half an hour before bringing it out. It reminded me of flat bud light and pee. Maybe if it had been the appropriate temperature for a nitro I wouldn't have noticed the bad flavors.

Pale American Ale (4)

This one had a lot of good flavors and was pretty rich for a pale ale. No one else seemed to like it but I really enjoyed this one. It was a nice contrast to the horrid cream ale I'd had right before.

Hale's Special Bitter (4)

This one is also a nitro and actually the best of the three they have on tap. It had a good amount of hops and went down smooth.

Obrian's Harvest Ale (3)

The best I can give this beer is an alright. It reminds me of an ESB, which could be why I'm not a huge fan. Jenn really did like this one, so for anyone else who's an ESB fan, this beer might be good for you.

Overall, I'd say the beer at this bar deserves a 3 on the rating scale and a 3 for ambiance and food. It was a pretty average bar and really didn't impress me on any level, and for that, Hales Ales deserves an overall rating of 6.

Brewery #4: Dad Watson's (McMenamins)

McMenamin's was a blast. The beer was unique and the atmosphere was fun. The brewery is located in Fremont, which apparently is a pain to get to on a Friday night in traffic. However, it was worth the long wait and the long walk after we gave up on sitting in traffic and parked the car quite a few blocks away.

I really liked McMenamin's beer, especially the Ruby Ale. The sampler had 6 different beers and there were more on tap. Everyone had a lot to drink at this bar, so the pictures are a little goofy. I'm guessing this won't be the only time I get some hilarious pictures out of this little project.

Ruby Ale
This is McMenamin's raspberry ale. I've had cherry beer and apricot beer and even blueberry beer but this was the first time I've had raspberry beer. I found it rather delicious. It tastes like fruit juice and mixes really well with the Terminator Stout, which I'll get to later.

Hammerhead Ale

No one could decide if this was an IPA or not. The menu described it as a hoppy pale ale, so I guess you could call it an IPA if you really want. I thought this beer was really good. It had a rich flavor and the hops weren't overdone.

India Pale Ale

I thought this beer tasted like nail polish. I hated it. Everyone else at the table thought it was pretty good but no one could tell me why. I might be a little bit biased because I don't like IPA's but even if I did, I think this beer would still taste like toes.

Porter

This is your typical chocolate, coffee flavored porter but the blend seems to be a little off. It tasted a little funny but I can't put my finger on what was wrong. Overall, it was nothing impressive.

Terminator Stout

The Terminator is a good stout. It's a little watery but had good flavor and was easy to drink.

Seasonal Madness (Nut Brown)

I'm not sure if the nut brown is actually their seasonal or if they just ran out of the seasonal and gave me the nut brown. I could definitely taste the nuts in this one and I rather enjoyed it. I give this beer a thumbs up.

RUBINATOR

This was my favorite beer of the night and it's not even a real beer. This is the combination of the Ruby Ale and the Terminator Stout. It's not on the menu and I never would've thought of it without Kelsey mentioning it. I think there should be more raspberry stouts. The subtle fruit flavor is a good contrast to the typically thick, chocolaty beer. It's a great mix and if you ask for it the waitress will definitely know what you're talking about.

So there you have it, Dad Watson's was a fun brewery with some great beer. This will do it for the long list of McMenamin's breweries since the beer is the same at each location. If you ever want to check another one out they're in Queen Anne and Seattle too.

Cheers!