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I should not be surprised when another brewery suddenly pops up without me knowing about it. And yet, I am, each time. Here is the latest:
Wingwalker is barely open a couple months and another one enters the Monrovia market, Over Town Brewing Co. There will be a first visit report coming later this month or in April.
On a windswept Saturday night, I braved the slow 210 freeway and set my sights to Monrovia and a new brewery on the outskirts of the main drag of this community, Wingwalker. The first impression is good. There is a nice little patio as you walk up to the entrance. There is a painting hanging up near the door and as you walk in, there is a nice dark wood bar with the silver gleaming cooler behind it. Not much in the way of signage but thanks to my far vision glasses, I can make out that three beers are on offer. Dark Matter Porter in both regular and CO2 versions. A mild and a Festbier.
It is brand new days for this brewery that literally opened at the start of the year. So I was not expecting to have the best beer experience. I was nicely surprised with the start of ….
Dark Matter – Nice and roasty. Maybe a skosh too bitter. Tilted to the coffee side. The Nitro blunted that a bit and would be my choice of the two.
…then the last two beers were tasted and the review started trending down…
Miskatonic Mild – Tastes way green to me. Smells worty. My reaction might be due to lack of British Beers in my life. But aim is off.
Physics Phest Bier – Tastes a bit off as well. Too sweet and a little to mineral tasting. Closer to style in my thinking. But could be heavier and maltier.
The other weird thing is that one long section of the bar seating is an actual small airplane wing. I had to look at it a good long time to see it under the clear epoxy/resin? And I felt that it would have been much better to have the same wood all the way around and then fly the wing above the customers, maybe with the logo stamped on it as well.
The brewery has an old/vintage brewing system that was first brewed on in 1980 and is apparently a system that makes brew days long and longer. If the system can be mastered, this might be only a slight hindrance but it could be worse. The space could use more logo branding, from coasters to glassware to tap handles. Handwritten signs are fine but they will need to be upgraded. There does appear room to grow with 12 taps unused and the former home brewer also distills so there might be spirits in the future.
Overall, this space really looks only 80% ready. What is done is solid but more work is needed on that and the beer.
Sad news to report, Pacific Plate is pulling out of the Glendale market…
They opened the satellite taproom back on February 26, 2017 and they will close up on this Sunday, September 23.
Though the place was well appointed on the inside and the beers were solid, that location at the way southern end of Glendale was not, in my opinion, great. There are Glendale restaurants and shops that have trouble on the main section of Brand and the Americana (probably due to rent) has had a lot of turnover too. Being stuck at the bottom of car buying row was not optimal.
I wish I had gone more but I didn’t and that part is on me but considering the vast amounts of seriously empty retail space at the ground floor of the million condos in the Jewel City, taking over a space with customers an elevator ride away though pricier might have been the better deal.
I made my first visit to Monrovia’s second (and perhaps not last) brewery, Hop Secret.
The address for the brewery is on Pomona Street but the brewery is closer to the Gold Line tracks. There are two entrances, one that leads directly to the menu board and the back that leads you past the brewing tanks first.
I went for my predictable flight. I tried the lager, pale ale, hefeweizen and IPA # 001. And as I started on the lager, I had raised hopes. Granted the menu board had a multi-colored pen look that seemed more at home for a sticker factory than beer, that first beer was well done. Nice and crisp.
From there, the beers diminished. The Pale Ale was fine but on that and the IPA’s that I tried, I detected a skosh of buttered popcorn taste and the hop medley’s just didn’t have much zing to them. The Hefe was an OK beer but it different have the two esters of banana and clove that I was expecting. More like a light hued dubbel in my mind.
Not a high starting point but there is enough good here to hope that improvement could occur.
Looks like another brewery is taking advantage of the Metro Gold Line to land off of Myrtle Street in Monrovia.
Not a huge fan of the name or logo of Hop Secret (Black Market has cornered that look in my opinion) but if founder/brewer Gary Gates has the beer goods than that can be overlooked. The question for the newly opened brewery will be if they can compete with the entrenched Pacific Plate nearby.
A review to follow when I make a first visit.
It is still dreadfully hard to find just the right space for a brewery. Enough space, decent rent costs and not in a neighborhood that is too scary or off the Waze grid.
But there are developers out there who are searching for tenants of the craft beer variety. Case in point, this possibility off the Gold Line in Monrovia…
The original home of Monrovia Lumber and Hardware is in the planning stage of “building into an artisan food, wine, and beer village known as, “The Lumberyard at Myrtle Avenue.” Most neighborhoods and cities in Los Angeles have sprouted condos left and right and Monrovia is no different with 1000+ units that would be in walking distance.
There will be “27,000 square feet of entitled brewery, wine, and food space.” This will also include courtyard space as well. And it has the backing of the city who have re-zoned the area around the Metro stop.
Check out more HERE.
…or this proposed bay side concession in Long Beach…
Down in craft beer mecca, Long Beach the Mayor is proposing revamping beach concession stands that could also include craft beer. Smog City has already been lured to Bixby Knolls. Would another brewery want to open a satellite taproom near the waves?
Now if Glendale could set-up some beer establishments in the 900 (slightly exaggerated) condos in Downtown Glendale.
To help you find a replacement for Pliny the Younger, head to the Monrovia location of 38 Degrees for their Triple IPA Fest on Saturday, February 25th. Starting at 11am.
Since PtY is limited by the brewery (until their new Windsor production facility could be utilized to make more), you have the enviable task of finding beers as good or better for your big hops, big ABV fix. They will have quite a few examples on tap and you get to use their fancy iPads to help you choose.
Our next sleigh stop is Monrovia, California and Pacific Plate Brewing for their Belgian take on a Christmas Ale.
I seriously cannot believe that Pacific Plate Brewing is two years old. But the poster tells me otherwise, so I will believe it. Then I will put that date down in my calendar, as you should.
Monrovia now has a shoppe for the home brewing crowd and it is pretty close to a place in Monrovia that craft beer fans already know about, Pacific Plate.
The Monrovia Homebrew shop will hopefully be an incubator for brewing talent that home brew stores are known for being. Plus it will be cool to see if they can attract a home brew club to compete with the Yeastsiders, the Falcons and the Pacific Gravity. They opened on the 3rd so by now the kinks should be worked out,