Did you know that the Pacific Northwest drinks more beer per capita than any other region of the country?

The weather in Seattle is constantly damp and cold, beer and coffee seem like a logical choice.

Black Cat Porter—Pleasant with a Beef Jerky finish.  Pretty.

As a temporary resident of the great state of Washington, I can sample all of their delicious microbreweries without dealing with the flat line weather for 12 months out of the year.

On Sunday we visited Mac and Jack’s brewery in Redmond, Washington.

This was a tasty beer.  It’s actually so popular in Washington that they devote their entire facility to producing kegs for bars and restaurants.  They can’t produce enough to even consider bottling it at this point.

The tour was free and they even threw in a free Mac and Jack’s logo pint glass to seal the deal.

This isn’t the free pint glass talking, but the beer was delicious.

If not better than Abita (Louisiana), a clear rival.  Except for the porter (which had an odd finish that Melissa and I described as “beef jerky”) they were all excellent.

Unfortunately for you, this beer is only available in the Seattle area at a bar or restaurant.  I’m assuming you’re probably not from Seattle.

Keg cleaning at Mac and Jack’s.

To make Sunday even better, we then went to the Redhook Brewery in Woodinville, Washington.

Redhook beer is available nationwide.  The tour cost $1, which included 5 samples and a complimentary 5 oz Redhook taster glass.

The beer was better at Mac and Jack’s, but when it came to beer knowledge the Redhook guy knew what he was talking about.

Redhook lacked the character, however, of many microbreweries.  The majority of the brewing process was automated (for consistency) and, believe it or not, you can taste it.

Fun fact – although some would describe a microbrewery as a brewery which has limited production and regional distribution, in the industry the term indicates voluntary coherence to Reinheitsgebot, or the German purity law.

Reinheitsgebot states that a beer may only contain four ingredients – water, malt, hops and yeast.  The law was originally passed in 1516 to protect consumers from low-quality ingredients, but today it also protects beer drinkers from preservatives and artificial flavors.

If you ever have a chance to sample Mac and Jack’s, it’s well worth it. If you can pick up a Redhook at the grocery store, you’ll probably enjoy that too.