There’s something special about a true beer bar. It’s the same kind of special your neighborhood restaurant or friendly local dry cleaner offers in every transaction. There’s no gimmick. It’s not about video poker, or blaring the hot-hot-hottest dance music, or shouting over the latest fad band while dropping $5 for a shot of questionable content. It’s about a pint of beer. And Mahar’s has hundreds of them.
Coming up on its 18th birthday, Mahar’s is a true beer bar. Right now, before you read on, absorb the fact that there is no liquor served here. You won’t miss it, unless perhaps you order a Guinness and realize there’s no Bailey’s or Jameson in sight. But what you will find are hundreds of the most popular and most obscure beers in the world, meticulously selected and served at the appropriate temperature in the proper glassware.
Proper beer delivery is no accident here. Bill Dean, the usual bartender of record on any weeknight, was rated this year as the region’s number three bartender out of hundreds of candidates by readers of Metroland. Spend a few minutes with him and you’ll understand why. It’s all about the beer. Bill can tell you the origin of whatever you select and the best way to enjoy it. He’ll also ruthlessly “educate” anyone who attempts to order American swill beer. He aims for a certain clientele at his bar. It’s not a question of income or race or really any other demographic. You must love beer. If you do, you are welcome, no matter what your sins in life.
To be honest, however, Mahar’s does have one very important and well-loved gimmick. Your drinking is tracked. This isn’t a cloak-and-dagger Men in Black affair. Every new customer is assigned an ID code to track each beverage imbibed. Each visit, their computer prints a list of every beer you haven’t tried from their vast arsenal. To keep it in perspective, the inventory is so varied and so often varied, that in my nearly three year membership, I haven’t made it past the draft-and-cask-only beer list. And really, there’s no reason to.
There are also rewards. After 50 unique beers, you receive a souvenir Mahar’s t-shirt. After 125, a custom engraved mug is awarded. That mug is kept permanently behind the bar, and all further draft beer purchases are discounted 20%. Forever. Isn’t that pretty much the coolest thing ever in drinking technology? But it gets better. At 200, the award is a case of your favorite beer. Then, at 500, a brass plaque is engraved with your name, and proudly displayed above the bar, until you die. At that point, it’s displayed over the door. Forever. Why would anyone waste time on hot-hot-hottest dance music, when your name could be permanently etched on the capital district’s hot-hot-hottest beer bar? Exactly.
Mahar’s is open 4 pm-midnight every day except Sundays. There’s no kitchen, but several good restaurants are on the same block. The recently reopened Madison Theatre is just a block away, so you could easily make an evening out of a visit to Mahar’s. To get to Mahar’s, take 787 south to the Madison Avenue exit. Stay on Madison for a few miles all the way up the hill. Mahar’s is on the left just past the College of Saint Rose.
