MacTarnahan’s Summer Grifter IPA

They say a picture is worth a thousand words… well… Mr. Dave leaves me a little speechless in this one, so I guess that picture is well worth it…   This was a good night of tasting… about half way through… and Mr. Dave was in rare form like I would expect.  We (Mr. Dave, Mrs. Heather, and I) drank a bunch of good brews, screwed around a bit, and ultimately had an enjoyable evening. 

As far as this little brew from Mac’s, is really wasn’t bad at all.  The nose is sweet with hints of caramel.  The body is light and hoppy. The finish is smooth and easy.  In those three sentances you have a reason to buy this brew again… overall a great little beer that goes well with any hot summer day. 

On a side note, definition for ‘grifter’ is interesting… makes me think of the carnie folk when the fair comes to town and then I think about drinking one of these brews with some of the carnies while sitting around a burn barrel… then we all get drunk, I pass out, and I wake up without a wallet but with a tattoo of Mr. Dave’s strange face from the picture below on my ass… interesting indeed… 

JBB6 Rating: Will Buy Again

MacTarnahan’s Black Watch Cream Porter

Long day yesterday.  Woke up too early so had to sleep in my car to get enough energy to make it in to the office… it is actually quite comfortable in there.  I just set the phone alarm for a 25 minute early morning power nap and I am good to go. 

So… after a long day like this, I always look forward to the beer of the night.  I have about 8 or 9 different ones in there now and basically just pulled from the front, resulting in one MacTarnahan’s Black Watch Cream Porter.  I like truly creamy beer… ones that deliver on their name like the Sam Adams Cream Stout we tasted in Utah.  So, being the trusting person that I am, I fully expected this to be creamy and dark…

Well… much to my dismay, the dark was right but there was nothing creamy about it.  It tasted pretty much like an unremarkable porter that could have come from anywhere.  I should have known they wouldn’t live up to their advertising after the Oregon Honey Beer fiasco of 2008, but what can I say?  I really wanted creamy goodness…

UPDATE: I have done it again!  I have started to review a beer that is already on the blog… grr…  Here it is:

Had the chance to enjoy a cold one and take a walk outside the other day, so I thought I would take some festive pics… here is the first… Mac’s Balckwatch Cream Porter in the setting of a Christmas Light drum set.  Very festive, indeed! 

The festive spirit was good even before I opened this dandy little number and only improved with it.  Roasted malt, coffee and chocolate, and tongue tingling with some good carbonation.  This cream porter isn’t exactly creamy, but it is tasty and they did a good job in keeping it malty yet edgy.  This is a pretty well respected beer around these parts for a reason.  Nice work folks!

New picture below, as well… and new rating… my tastes have changed…

JBB6 Rating: Middle of the Road (4/18/08)

JBB6 Rating: Will Buy Again (12/10/08)

 

MacTarnahan’s Oregon Honey Beer

MacTarnahan’s Oregon Honey Beer.  This one has been sitting in my fridge since the last time we went to World Market… I just haven’t felt up to the sweetness, but tonight… tonight I figured I would go for it. 

In a word… underwhelming.  I thought I would have a real taste of honey goodness, but I was severely dissapointed.  No honey taste… at all. 

A bit of where my anticipation comes from… when I was traveling in Estonia, we were taken to a wonderful medieval restaurant called Olde Hansa.  This place has honey beer (check the menu here) that has some real flavor.  Not too sweet and not to much honey… a fine ale that has probably forever ruined every other honey beer out there.  Not to say I won’t keep trying… if you have any that you know of, in fact, let me know.  By the way… nothing really memorable about the meal.  It was good, but no lasting impression.  If you go there, go there for the beer first and foremost.

Oregon Honey Beer Bottle and Olde Hansa: