The Swiss to pair Mac & Jack's beers with braised short ribs, nachos and more ...

By Ron Swarner on August 18, 2014

Keith Carpenter, the Mac & Jack's Brewing Company's representative for south and west of King County, will drop by The Swiss Restaurant & Pub to chat up the Redmond brewery's history and pair beers with big bites. Here is Carpenter's history speech in a nutshell:

1991: Mac Rankin started home brewing and fell in love with the process. He probably started home brewing to relieve stress as it was Dave Krieg's final season in Seattle, when he was one of four quarterbacks to start during Seattle's 7-9 season.

1993: Mac approached Jack Schropp with the possibility about starting a microbrewery. Over the next nine months the first batches of the African Amber and Pale Ale were rolled out while Nivana's In Utero cranked in Jack's garage.

1994: After much success with the Amber and the Pale Ale, Mac & Jack's finalized their African Amber, Blackcat Porter and Serengeti Wheat (their Hefeweizen beer). These signature beers were introduced at the The Park Pub, next to the Woodland Park Zoo. The Mac & Jack's brews were held high as Sukari, a female giraffe, and Rafiki, the male giraffe at Woodland Park Zoo gave birth to a 5-foot, 6-inch female named Karani. She weighed 140 pounds at birth.

1995: After two great years of making craft beer by themselves, Mac and Jack began to hire more staff. It was a miracle beer was brewed as the entire staff had their eyes glued to the Mariners' magic season. It's believed Jack wanted to change the name of African Amber to Randy Amber.

1996: Mac and Jack realized that it was time to move out of Jack's garage. After eight months they finally started construction in August at North Sammamish Center in Redmond, Washington. After the move, Microsoft's stock splits 2-for-1, its sixth split since the company went public 10 years before.

1997-2000: Production was quickly maxed out, and Mac & Jack's remodeled the brewery four times to increase overall production. The Kingdome explodes.

2013: Mac & Jack's is the third largest craft brewery in Washington state, producing 43,000 barrels, behind Georgetown Brewing and number one Redhook Ale Brewery.

Wednesday, Aug. 27, 6:30 p.m.: The Swiss hosts a pairing dinner with Mac & Jack's Brewing, incorporating the beers into the recipes. There will be four courses and six beers plus a raffle of Mac & Jack's items. Carpenter will recap the above history, plus add facts about Mac and Jack's love of animal labels. Tickets are $40 and can be purchased at The Swiss, 1904 Jefferson Ave., in downtown Tacoma. Give them a buzz at 253.572.2821

Let's look at the Mac and Jack's Brewing Paring Dinner menu