Mud Slinger is pretty tasty.
Back when Redhook first went into business they were located in a very small triangular yellow building in Ballard, a mostly nordic area of Seattle. The building was all of about 350 square foot, made of brick and painted bright yellow. I'm sure the rent was very low.
They had one beer at that time, Redhook Ale.
You could only get it at drinking establishments, and so one day I was at such an establishment and they were announcing this bold new beer. So I gave it a try.
To let you know about how long ago that was, the joke line "it's a floor polish - no wait, it's a dessert topping - no wait, it's both" was considered fairly new comedy by a small group of people known as the "not ready for prime time players" from Second City. (the quote is actually from Chevy Chase and is: "New Shimmer is a floor wax AND a dessert topping" he settles the argument between Gilda and Dan)
So I turned to my friend Mark and said in my best attempt at an impersonation of Danny Aykroyd, after taking a long pull from the beer glass:
"it's a floor polish - no wait, it's a dessert topping - no wait, it's both"
This got a big laugh from all around me, as I mentioned before the saying was actually popular at that time. Associating it with this bold new beer was hilarious (apparently).
So I've always been fond of Redhook from that day long ago and I continue to try out all the new stuff they produce. I'm not fond of several of their attempts but Black Hook is good, as is Long Hammer and of course the Original Ale.
This new Mud Slinger is really quite tasty, a dark brown ale that's very malty but not quite a stout. It's a good beer with Pizza, Popcorn, and of course it should go without saying... It's great with BBQ!