Mac & Jack's: African theme explained

   I navigated the parkways of eastern Redmond to eventually locate Mac & Jack's, busily brewing in what used to be a transmission shop in a business park.  They operate with one of the most focused business plans I have yet seen in a micro. They stick with just four beers, well-established brands.  They stick with draft accounts, shipping kegs to quite a few retail accounts in three states. The only other way they sell is by filling growlers in the small retail space in the brewery ($8.21 after tax).  As their retail page details, they also fill kegs and sell a bit of  other stuff for like t-shirts and they don't run plastic in the retail area. You can't buy a pint, you can't sit down, you can't order food, but you can get a wee taste. 
   Now the African story.  Some years back, the owner of the Woodland Park Pub, next to the Woodland Park Zoo, asked Mac to brew up something special for an event. He made three kegs of amber and apparently the beer-drinking crowd went wild.  They had discovered their flagship brand and changed their original logo to the African theme for the zoo's big animals. Later came the Serengeti Wheat, the IPA with the African elephant, and the Blackjack Porter. 
   They say they are running close enough to capacity just filling kegs, so are not thinking of bottling for the off-sale business. Given the number of places I know African Amber is on tap just in Bellingham, I imagine most of their fans can get a taste of Mac & Jack's without too much trouble.
(Visited 8/27/10)