Happy Anniversary!

Mahar’s opened on Valentine’s Day in 1989. I know that because each year they celebrate their anniversary with a special party. It’s hard to make it to Mahar’s on Valentine’s Day if your significant other does care for beer the way you do, so I was really happy that Mahar’s chose to celebrate on Sunday, February 18th this year. The theme was “Eighteen new beers on the eighteenth.” Jenn offered to take the kids to the mall and pick me up afterwards, being my designated driver so that if I must sample one additional brew, I could.

Since Mahar’s doesn’t do samplers, there was no way that I would be able to try all of the beers that I wanted to in one day. Work is going to be a bear this week, so that left going down on Saturday to get a head start on the available selections. I took the kids with me (Before y’all go crazy, Mahar’s prides itself to be an English style pub. That means families are welcome as long as the rug rats are well behaved. I have to admit that my children are better behaved than a lot of the paying clientele.) I pack snacks and juice, bring coloring books and pocket video games, and voila, instant quiet children and a nice family experience.

On Sunday, Jenn dropped me off when Mahar’s opened. Bill put on a nice spread of food as part of the celebration. Kielbasa, macaroni and cheese, pasta salad, chili, pork bar-b-que, Belgian waffles, as well as chocolate covered strawberries were the highlights on the menu. There was even a cake with the Mahar’s monk on the icing (although there were unfortunately no new T-shirts). It was really a nice time, and I went early because my experience has been that it gets awfully busy.

Although I got a couple of bottles to go, the highlight was the new drafts available. The first few were oak aged cask beers from Middle Ages Brewing (http://www.middleagesbrewing.com/) in Syracuse. Oak aged simply means that the beers have been allowed to mellow in oak cask, possibly containers that once held whiskey or wine that impart some of their flavor to the beers. The beers that were available were the Kilt Tilter Scottish Ale and the Wizard’s Winter Ale. These beers were a wonderful way to start the weekend, and were appropriate in that the motto at Mahar’s is “Ask for Cask.”

The next beer that stood out was the De Regenboog Wostyntje Mustard Ale on draft. I’ve never heard so many people turn there noses up at the suggestion of a Mustard Ale, but there are so many spiced beers out there that it is not too weird to think of Mustard as just another spice. The beer was delicious, and really accompanied the food we had well.

My final favorite was the Brooklyn Smoked Weizenbock beer on draft. I’ve been partial to smoked beers ever since my buddy Wayne and I made some smoked porter about 13 years ago. The smokiness was real nice and wasn’t overpowering. This is another beer that is really good with meats. There are other beers that I can now check off my list, but they weren’t spectacular. I think I most appreciated having the free pass to go and hang out, as well as a ride home once it got crowded. - 4076

"Well you see, Norm, it’s like this… A herd of buffalo can only move as fast as the slowest buffalo. And when the herd is hunted, it’s the slowest and weakest ones at the back that are killed first. This natural selection is good for the herd as a whole because the general speed and health of the whole herd keeps improving by the regular killing of the weakest members. In much the same way the human brain can only operate as fast as the slowest brain cells. Excessive intake of alcohol, as we know, kills brain cells. But naturally it takes the slowest and weakest brain cells first. In this way the regular consumption of beer eliminates the weaker brain cells making the brain a faster and more efficient machine. That’s why you always feel smarter after a few beers." – Cliff Claven of Cheers