Monkish Brewing

Excited for these as Soul Foudre was really really good.

 

My wallet hates me already...

 

Got it. I think most people would agree that there's difference between a legitimate service charging a fair price and a two-bit scalper, but I'll move on.

There are a couple of issues that bother me about these first-come, first-served releases. The first is that if the product is popular, the wait times for said product increases over time. The wait times may plateau at a certain point, but not until after there's been gradual increases with each release. I've observed this multiple times since I've actively pursued craft beer and this Monkish IPA situation is no different as documented in this thread. At what point will you draw the line? 1.5 hours? 2 hours? What happens when the line becomes 4 hours, will you still defend it?

The second unfortunate effect of these lines is the hysteria they create. Line-cutting, profiteering, or confrontations when people try to call out these acts. I realize that this is just a reflection of society at large, but it's only a reality because we're participants whether directly or indirectly.

I don't really hold Monkish responsible for any of this. Like you said, they make the product and do the best they can to manage sales within their power. My gripes have more to do with the state that craft beer fandom is in today.

 

When Torrance PD eventually busts up the public drinking at 7am is there any chance that could blow back on Monkish? That'd suck.

As these get bigger I just can't imagine the drinking in public goes unnoticed.

 

I would imagine that Monkish is covered so long as they have one of those signs that states something like "no drinking/alcohol past this point" and then of course if what is being drank isn't obviously a pint that was poured from the tasting room.

Either way it would be dumb to be picked up for something like that. Could easily just wait until they are open and grab a pint inside and instead have a coffee or a monster or something.

 

I will say that the last, non-BT, Cuddlebug release at Smog, the workers kindly came out to the line to remind everybody to not drink in line. The brewery could get fined and/or temp shut down. This was on the back roll up door, which is an easy spot for cars driving down Del Amo. With Monkish, it is a bit more in from Western, so maybe TPD has an "out of sight, out of mind" attitude about it?

 

2.5 hours is what I waited. I bought a chair, but I'm not sure if I'm willing to wait that long again.

It is kind of fun talking and meeting people in line. Drinking I'm sure makes it more tolerable too, but I didn't partake in that.

 

Maybe but all they have to do is look up the check in locations on IG. People arent always discrete

 

The dumb was out in full force on Saturday, those bros went through about 50+ bombers before the tasting room opened for pours.

This is true as long as the line is short, but the line stretched all the way to high traffic Western and I saw plenty of drinking/coolers right along the main Western Ave sidewalk, I was pretty shocked nobody got busted.

 

I got there at 9 expecting to be one of the first people and there already were about 35 people in front of me. They said they got there at 8 and yeah, bottle share was in full swing. I wouldn't be surprised if we start seeing sleeping bags..

 

Yeah man. I'm not sure if an IPA that's not Pliny the Younger has the potential to generate an overnight wait, but you never know. I'd like to say that I'm shocked when I see absurd stuff happen but there's not much that surprises me these days.

Not to mention offering up mule services for a fee on the IG release feed. lol

 

don't forget people camping out at Ramirez Liquor for BCS variants

along with lawn chairs and beer you probably want to bring a firearm for that one

 

Did they leave all of their Fantastic Cafe trash in the planters like the Foggy Window release?

 

In general this has potential to be a thorn in the side of all breweries. A lot of places give breweries a hard time about things like the amount of beer they can pour and the hours they stay open, and breweries often have to work really hard to try to convince people that they aren't a bar and it's not the same rowdy bar crowd. When a bunch of guys sit in a parking lot like hobos for their "bottle share" it doesn't help convince people that it's not just a bunch of shitty drunks.

There's a brewery at the end of the line, you don't need to get drunk in a parking lot

 

Well said. The main reason I suggested (not demanded as others have accused) a BPT release was that I hate all the BS that goes with waiting in line. It's not the time taken out of my day or that my time is somehow more valuable than others...it's the drunks, the idiots, the line cutting, the profiteering and all that goes with it and I just don't want to be a part of it. It is all the worst parts of the beer world and it makes me less enthusiastic about craft beer in general.

 

I don't get the bottle shares, playas who bust out the bottles before a brewery is opened for a release, and even to an extent swarming the breweries that have releases during the day of a release.

I may be in the minority, but even for HPB's pick up days and can release, there's really no reason to bottle share there. The tap list is usually off the fucking chain with the best of the best, and at the last can release, someone popped open a can of Hello L.A. when it was right there on the fucking board. And I don't know how something that was just canned earlier that day would have any difference in taste than a keg that was probably filled from the same source just slightly earlier than that. I mean, even at best, you're still taking away the pint pout sale by opening a can for a bottle share.

For Mionkish, there's this belief that since it's out of sight, it's out of mind. Doubtful. When it's a weekly thing, the neighbors will eventually start getting pissed and calling the cops themselves. I'm sure the influx of traffic and loss of parking spaces already is enough to piss them off.

But it also does make it a questionable situation on if the patron is too intoxicated to even be buying cans and pours since they have been pre-gaming for hours before hand.

 

Well, no doubt the package shock will be in effect. It's why while i appreciate the effort El Segundo does to bottle and get to shelves a day 1 beer, they never taste as good as ones that take some time to let everything meld together again.

I opened up a Foggy Window and Run the Pigeon the other day and they're tasting fantastic. I know the whole old beer idea, but these are still going toe to toe with the best of them.


It's just straight up rude to bust open a can of beer that is offered on tap. Sort of like buying a growler fill and popping it open at the table.

 

from where i was at in line for the Monkish release i didn't see any bad behavior, but agree that it's better to err on the side of caution and respect. there were people near me sharing stuff in plastic cups, but were not being rowdy or anything. if anything i was more surprised at the amount of weed smoking, but that's a different story. also some people brought their kids which i thought was a little weird but whatever

 

It won't eliminate profiteering altogether, but it's an attempt to address the issue. You'll still have a secondary market, but at least that market won't exist in the line to buy beers.

 

Ultimately, the bottle shares in line before a release or opening should not be on the brewery. There is no sign that says people can do this. Personally, I don't get them. You can't wait 1,2 3 hours to drink a beer?? If you need to drink that bad why not just stay home or meet up somewhere with friends and drink safely. Or maybe you need help and should quit. How do you even enjoy a beer when you "Chicago pour" 1 ounce of it into some dirty glass at a parking lot at 10am?

Regarding the can releases, I think Monkish is doing it the right way. Henry is more than open to make adjustments like handing out wrist bands to help prevent line cutting. It's not the brewery's responsibility to control line cutting but Monkish made an adjustment to help out with that. I'm sure they will make more adjustments.

Based on my observations, it looks like you could probably show up around 11am and wait about an hour and a half and still get the full allotment of cans. I don't see the need to use BPT for can sales. The brewery gets to sell out all of their freshly canned IPAs within a few hours and not have to deal with (cold) storage/inventory and people asking for extensions or proxies or all the other crap brewery's have to deal with when it comes to beer nerds and beer releases.