Excellent selection of beers and nice variations of pub food.. Now that an appropriate period of mourning has passed in memory of the loss of the original Mahar’s Public House (MPH) at this location, I finally made my first visit to the Madison Pour House (MPH). While the acronym may not have changed, there is very little else that remains the same. There are still the same number of steps to enter or exit through the front door. There is still a walk-in cooler behind the south-east window. There is still no seating at the bar and that’s about it for what remains the same.

The first change we noticed upon seating ourselves at a table was that one of the bartenders brought us a bottle of tap water and two glasses. Nice start. The beverage and food menus were already on the tables. There are typically 40 beers on tap and an additional two on cask engines. All are offered in 5 and 10 oz. portions, but oddly enough, only slightly more than half are offered for sale in 16 oz. portions. The key to this quandary seems to be that any 10 oz. portion that sells for more than $5.50 might have to be priced at a level considered to be too steep for the customer. And based upon the four beers that I sampled, I’m likely to agree with that.

The beer menu suggests that you consider a Four-Pack – four 5 oz. glasses all priced at their listed price. I decided to take up that offer with four different stouts.
Elysian Split Shot ($3; 5.6% abv)
Crossroads McCarthy’s Irish Stout ($2.75; 4.3% abv)
Carton of Milk Stout ($2.75; 4% abv)
Grimm Double Negative ($5; 10.2% abv)

The first three on this list cost $7, $6, and $6 respectively in 16 oz. portions. I imagine that they would probably charge $14 or more for the Grimm in a 16 oz. portion. While the abv of the Grimm is twice that of many others on the menu, there are also beers on the menu as low as 5% abv that are not offered in 16 oz. portions.

But enough about the beer. Well, not just yet. I also want to say that my wife had The Brown Note from Against The Grain ($7; 10 oz. 5% abv) and we both thought that all five beers were served at a temperature too cold to allow the true flavors to really be apparent and appreciated.

We did also order some food. We shared the Beer and Bacon Brats ($6) and an Irish Toastie ($10). The Brats were five bite-sized pieces of bratwurst wrapped in bacon, baked, and served with a side of very spicy Dijon mustard and pickled onions. These were very tasty and the bacon was nicely crisped. The Irish Toastie consists of Irish bacon, sharp cheddar cheese, caramelized onions, and chives pressed Panini style between slices of sour dough bread. This was another very nice dish, the sourness of the bread contrasted with the sweetness of the caramelized onions.

Overall, the service was ok, the food was good pub food, the selection of beers was excellent, and the room temperature was cold with the front door open the entire time we were there. I guess that’s one more thing like the old Mahar’s. Got to save money on the cost of heating the place.