Monnik Beer Co.

Pregaming our Cleveland-Detroit beer & baseball trip with a few days in Louisville (and Indy & Cincy, but let’s not rush things). So, we did the reset after a morning Bourbon tour & tasting and set out again. It’s like a do-over, except, did I mention Bourbon happened? Anyway, we Uber’d out to the first brewery and now again to here because nothing is as walkable as it seems. This, a corner joint in a seemingly resi neighborhood…

Parked at the bar, a wood pieced herringbone design topped ‘L’, vertical white wood framed black panel base, & foot ledge. Brown leather swivel stool action seating just shy of a dozen. The barback wall holds 20 non-descript handles over stainless drainage on a black subway tile wall. Glassware above on a loooong shelf with small draft boards chalked atop in 2 rows of 10 each (beer, style, ABV, & IBU), and cooler space below 2 rows of bourbon to the right. Crowls, growls, & glassware shelved over subway tile on the far end wall.

Wood board floors, and plank on rafter ceilings with ductwork, drop caged filaments tracing the bar, & filament balls and pears and tubes throughout otherwise. Large front windows and to the side just off the corner. Framed pressed tin panel pieces on the far & rear walls. White painted wall uppers all around with a trio of deer heads on the far wall, and a few b/w prints forward. Crowls & growls & shirts silled above the forward windows. Pillar & post uprights, and I-beam crossbeam in the center of the room with dangle boards listing the tap selections and other goods.

A 14-seat shared hightop off the bar + a baker’s dozen slat wood topped tables about the room (in the front windows, on the far wall & in between). Some of the perimeter tables are on shared benchings. Through to a small front side room with a slight merch space, can cooler, and a few tables there. And more on the second floor; an event space upstairs with a dozen + tables, a few of them long shareds, and a small bar to the rear with an 8 tap barbell tower. A few hightops out front, a dozenish tables down the side, penned, and a half dozen tables out back on the strung lit deck.

20 taps, it’s a realllllllly good diverse mix, some interesting things here. 19 beers; hoppys (Still Not Dead, West Coast Rye Pale Ale, 5.9%; IPA, 7%; Path of Totality, Coffee IPA, 7%; Aimless Arrow, DIPA, 9.5%), English styles (Mild George, English Dark Mild, 3.9%; King George, English Brown Ale, 6%; Churchill Best, English Best Bitter, 4.7%; Chrysomallus, British Golden Ale, 4.9%; New Year Old Ale, 13.5%), Belgian styles (Stones Throw, Grisette, 5.2%; Eagle Skull, Saison, 6.3%), Czech styles (11P, Czech Pale Lager, 5.2%; 12P, Czech Dark Lager, 4.9%; Hauck’s American Pilsner, 5%), German styles (Kaiser Von Schnitzelberg, Marzen, 5.4%; Uncontrollable Urge, Roggenbier, Falls City collab, 6.6%), and rando European styles (Italian Disco, Italian Pils, 5.3%; Lekker Weertje ‘Tasty Weather’, Lemon Pepper Kuyt, 4.7%; Beneath the Waves, BA Foreign Extra Stout, 11%), + a single cider (Pomme & Cassis, Apple Cider with Currant, 5.3%).

I may have gotten into a few of ‘em (King George, English Brown Ale, chocolate, light caramel sweetness, dry, very nice; Mild George, English Dark Mild, bready, nutty, malt, tasty; Churchill Best, English Best Bitter is a fuck no. don’t know what happened there; Eagle Skull, Saison catches it all, Belgiany esters, peppery, grassy, lovely; Still Not Dead, West Coast Rye Pale Ale, hoppy, spicy goodness, goddamn. King George Brown Ale for the win. But the Eagle Skull Saison, Mild George English Dark Mild, & Still Not Dead West Coast Rye Pale Ale were all solid, too.

Food. Davo (the kipper kid) got himself involved with fried smelts; salty things that taste like a clam and shouldn’t ‘cause that’s shellfish and this isn’t. Didn’t need too much so I just went for a few sides. The ‘seasonal vegetable’ (I had heard the crop came in good this year). They said ’broccoli’ but it was actually her kid sister ‘broccolini’ and thankfully not douchebag cousin ‘stupidface cauliflower’. Brocco was delightful. And the flip side pineapple cole slaw was actually the jam. I fooded well.

Comfortable house (literally). Good crowd this Friday afternoon. Monmouth Leanne behind the sticks kept an eye on us. Drank a few real nice beers (and I may have taken a snort of Rabbit Hole Bourbon, neat). Some kicking food, too. I played light but there were some things I would have liked to have gotten into. Likewise, I would have liked to have gotten deeper in on that draft list. I could do some time here.

Beers lean towards classic with a twist, there's a good variety on tap. Food list is absolutely delicious, I recommend the smelt. There's also a full bar available.

Got there right around openeing on a beautiful sunny day. Quiet at first and then the lunch crowd. Very cool interior, reminded me a bit of an English pub. Great service and a wide selection of beers on tap and to go. Tasters priced individually, but still a good deal.

Solid beer line, pretty great food, nice bohemian feel, and pleasant laid back service. Got a Saison to go, and will come back next time we’re in town.

Very nice and friendly brewery and restaurant with that neighborhood vibe. Cozy up to one of their craft beers, and complement it with one of their great selection of Kentucky bourbons.

 

 

 

 

Normally I'd prefer to visit a place more than once before reviewing, but when you're traveling, what can you do?

Location was a mile or two from the historic district. Only a few blocks off I-65.

I liked this place a lot. Nice space, not too big, decor was sort of hipster/minimalist/industrial, with wood and black tile.

I think all the beers on tap were Monnik beers (i.e. I didn't see guest taps), but I'm not sure about that. We had an English mild and and English brown, both were very good. Nice and malty. The mild had a ton of flavor for 4.2%. There were a fair number of "experimental" styles on tap. For example there was a ginger saison we had a sample of (and thought was too ginger-y), and a saison with cardamom. But still, a nice variety on tap, not drowning in IPAs like so many places these days. One of the owners is German, we were told, this is reflected in the food options (lots of things pickled, Sauerbraten, smelt, etc.).

We had a bread/pickle/cheese plate which was very good. The bread was made from spent beer grain, I believe. It was simple but worked very well.

Service was good.

Only quibble I had was that the English mild was advertised as being 20 oz., both on the menu and the tap chalkboard, but ours wasn't even a pint (I think it was a 13 oz. glass). I suppose I should have given them a chance to correct this, but at the time I didn't really feel like getting into it.

Overall I thought it was a nice local neighborhood brewery with some interesting taps. If you like a good malt bill, try the English mild and brown (King George and Mild George, I think they were called).

 

Cool spot that had an energetic vibe and was pretty crowded for a Saturday afternoon - a nice mix of folks including families, hipsters, and retirees (both men and women across most adult age ranges and demographics). There was music playing at a reasonable volume so you were able to carry on conversations.

Beers were well poured in to proper glassware at a reasonable temperature and with a proper amount of head.

Bartenders were friendly, attentive, and helpful - making suggestions on the beers based on other beers you enjoyed. Also spoke with one of the brewers that was sharing some thoughts on the brews and how they were made.

Pretty decent selection of beer and a decent variety of styles available.

Huge neighborhood vibes at this nice taproom and restaurant. Beer are pretty interesting and pretty good. One of the upper tier breweries in Louisville.

 

 

 

 

 

I had 4 beers while there and everything was solid but not spectacular. The head brewer was at the bar offering details on the beers being served which is always a great thing. It's definitely a place worth checking out.

Nice place , comfortable, good food , nice beer selection with guest taps