Tag: Dankness Dojo

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NS Not MT

Native Son Bar DTLA joined the family this month.  It is now a trio with Santa Ana and Rancho Cucamonga already settled in the beer and cocktail mode.  But the former Modern Times Dankness Dojo will be different because it will have house made beer. 

The Head Brewer JP Boudwin comes from Modern Times and has worked this brewing equipment as assistant and then head brewer in the skinny location in DTLA.

To start there will be a Mexican Lager, a West Coast and a Hazy IPA for both sides of hop aisle as well as small batch and seasonal beers as well to complement the guest taps.

The interior seems to be just a toned down Modern Times.  I understand the idea of paying homage to the previous tenant but MT is not MT now.  Why tie yourself to the baggage of the past and the promise of the future version of Modern Times led by Maui Brewing.  A complete overhaul with maybe an Easter Egg or two would have been a better choice.

A 1st Visit review will be coming on this blog.

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2Dank

The Modern Times Dankness Dojo drops a lot of cans and bottles. They are busy people in this brewery chain. But of special note is a Double Dry-Hopped version of their opening beer, Finally Open in LA!

It has Cryo Citra and Strata during the ferment and then more Citra, Strat and some Centennial later.

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Re-Visit – Modern Times Dankness Dojo

Say what you will about the naming conventions used by Modern Times or the large expansion they have undertaken but in the end it comes down to the beer and the experience in your spaces. And I felt it was time to re-visit the Dankness Dojo in DTLA to answer those two essential questions.

I finally got a day when it was not super packed. The small amount of bar stools means that unless you get there at the stroke of 11am, you probably won’t find a seat there is similar to finding parking in the DTLA central core.

There has never been a shortage of beers on offer here which I truly like. If you want to go IPA, well you will be busy but sours and stouts and even a dopplebock were also on offer. There is also a goodly number of collaborations from Wayfinder in Portland and Automatic in San Diego. Of all the beers, my absolute favorite was the Old Economy Oak Aged Dopplebock. Straightforward with a lovely burnished brown color. This is a big ABV beer that toed the line of sweetness and also was one you had to watch how fast you drank. The IPA’s all differentiated themselves though I was underwhelmed by the Max Single Hop IPA. This version was with Strata which I have been really digging lately. But this one fell flat for me. Wasn’t as bad as the Pastry Stout, Shadow Temple which was just a coconut conveyor belt.

I like the art, the ambience and though I wish the space was a touch larger, they have put in as much seating as possible and the beers were uniformly well made (if not to my taste).

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1st Visit – Dankness Dojo

Olive is now Dank. Modern Times has opened their L.A. outpost, The Dankness Dojo.

Here is my initial take on the beer that I drank amidst the large crowd and the space, cause the MT crew rolls with big words and a lot of decor.

Don’t believe me?….

…or…

The space is thin with the coffee counter in the front and your left as you walk in. The bar is at the back with the brewing tanks partially obscured in front of you. You can get seating in the restaurant portion or try to snag a bar stool.

The menu board wasn’t the most easy to read and seemed to be the least designed part of the Dojo. Not to mention, on my visit, it was almost nearly all saison and saison variants. Not much “dank” to be had.

I visited after a visit to Boomtown Brewery and all the things that I like about that space, muted tones, couches, space to move were absent in the Dojo which felt just too constricted to me.

I will visit again and do a full beer write-up since I there was not elbow room or a table to put a taster flight on, I went for the Havnor IPA which was only so-so. Not bad, but it didn’t have a shine to it that other recent beers have had.