Monkish Brewing (December 2016)

The tales of the lines never cease to amaze me. Some couple was blazing right in the middle of the line when Monkish was checking IDs hahahaha. Can't make this shit up.

 

Got there at 5:40 last night. The can line, unlike normal went to the back of the brewery and not all the way out to the street. It almost seems like not as many people were there compared to normal, but what do I know. I thought a ton of people would have been there already filling up growlers and grabbing tekus.
I was about 20 people behind the last wristband, next to the guy trying to get 3 cans for one Doubleganger. I really hope someone didn't fall for that one. A buddy showed up about 15 mins after I did, and hopped right into the growler line. By the time I was leaving with cans, he was barely getting to the counter to request his fill. Wish they would have done the growler fill and can release on separate days. I really wanted a fill, but couldn't convince the gf to wait in another line.

 

I think they are planning on having a separate growler station, not sure when that's happening . That would help out alot if that happens.

 

What do you guys think of Gift of Death?

 

I'm so glad I do not like IPAS.

 

Neithe do half the folks in line. Hazy beer and glassware is just a commodity now meant to be resold on the secondary market, just like new PlayStations, iPhones and Tickle me Elmo's.

 

Really enjoyed it as it warmed. Cold, it was good albeit somewhat unremarkable, but the vanilla really came out as it sat in the glass and complemented the Belgian esters/dark fruits nicely. Looking forward to sharing a growler of it with friends.

Would've liked to try more than just Gift of Death and Shaneal O'quille but by the time I was done with my first two pours, the line to get another looked like it was 45+ minutes. I'm sure the discussion has been done to death but they've vastly outgrown their space, especially if they're going to do can sales, limited growler fills, etc.

 

I finally made it to Monkish on Wednesday. Is there a shortage of good beer in LA or something? I've only been in LA a few months but from what I can tell there is a serious lack of great beer being made in this city.

Monkish has to be the most ridiculous setup I have ever seen. I had to line up out the door to get a growler fill at 4pm on a Wednesday! Who is the genius running this place? It does not take a mensa to realize the space clearly does not work vs. demand.

That being said, the beer is really good! I grabbed two 2L growlers and have really been enjoying them.

 

No, there's not. The relative "goodness" of Monkish beers compared to others readily available in LA has little to do with "good beer."

Disclaimer: I like Monkish beer and pick up growlers when it's not too crazy. I'm just not sold on the idea that hazy beers are worth the trouble over non-hazy beers.

 

Worked just fine for the first 4 years until April 1st of this year when demand started to increase.

 

That's 8 months ago. Why do they continue to do business in a way that is clearly annoying to their customers?

 

Maybe they should've consulted with you? I dunno.
I like going on off peak days to avoid the craziness,

 

Maybe if they wave their hands a new facility will appear!

 

They have more customers than ever, who cares if they annoy some?

 

I see we have a bunch of visionaries on this board.

They don't even need a new space. Just use the current space in a way that makes sense.

Here's a wild idea. Build a bar in the back seating area for the folks that want to sit and drink beer. That would take what - a week?

That would free up the front space for can sales and growler fills.

 

Haze is directly correlated with hype which is directly correlated with inconvenience which is directly correlated with trade value for NE IPAs bro. That's just Neckbeardonometry.

 

Money and space just appear out of nowhere now?

 

They have both

 

If they have room and money is rather they spend it on making more beer. Admittedly they could do some stuff differently.

I'd also think before you dump a bunch of money into expansion they need to make sure the business is sustainable. When they began they were the onky game in town with these beers that is quickly changing.

 

A brewery that recycles its profits into producing more suds??? You sir must be crazy.