(I also posted this on the beeradvocate.com forums)

It looks like Rochester’s former best beer bar is making an effort again.

Sure, they’ve always had a hundred plus beers on tap, but, over the years, the chain stumbled in the areas of beer maintenance, staff product knowledge, and, well, general caring about beer as anything more than another revenue stream, like waffle fries or a BBQ-chicken sandwich. Many burned bridges resulted in an extensive but increasingly monotonous tapline, and the closure of the Gregory Street location (now the Tap & Mallet) alienated the urban, adventurous craft beer customers. The suburban locations currently open seemed to attract more college students and families, groups that either don’t care about craft beer or don’t drink at all.

It looks like things are changing though. As I learned from Kira, There’s a new website, www.macgregorsgrillandtaproom.net, and they’re promoting a membership-based beer club. Also, the Henrietta location (not sure about the others) has started a Firkin Friday, with a rotating guest cask ale. We attended the last one, and enjoyed several pints of well-casked Blue Point Hoptical Illusion.

It’s good to see this attention to beer from the place that taught me a lot of what I know. Even though I love the Tap & Mallet, I still miss aspects of the old Gregory Street MacGregor’s, and we can still be seen whiling away a Sunday afternoon over several pints of Spaten at the Empire Blvd. location. Keep up the good work, MacG’s!

-Mark