RIP – Pacific Plate / Glendale

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.

1st Visit – Hop Secret Brewing

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.

The Secret is Out

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.

Developing Beer

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.

Triple IPAs Abound

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.

Monrovia is Home Brewing

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.

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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,

Food GPS Teaser – Pacific Plate

Tomorrow’s post over on Food GPS is cut right down the middle.  1/2 about the recently opened Pacific Plate Brewing and the second 1/2 about some of the events on tap for L.A. Beer Week.

This teaser does the same.

First up a review of the tap room at Pacific Plate.  As craft beer fans know, breweries tend to be tucked into industrial parks and other odd spots.  This locale is not different.  At the back of part of a bigger complex off of Myrtle in Monrovia, the space is fairly roomy for a start-up.  I have seen and been in smaller.  Nice amount of blue barrel tables to stand at and a couple of picnic benches as well.  The best seats are the ones at the cut out window that looks at the taps and gives a birds eye view of everyone that comes in. The big thing is that the people at the taps are very welcoming.  And the beer is good, but I leave that to tomorrow.

Second, here is an additional event to consider attending.  Then check my post tomorrow for others and decide which (or all) that you will not want to miss.

Beer vs Wine at at The Local Peasant

Monday September 23rd 2013 6:30 pm-10:00 pm

Purchase Tickets

5 course menu of our Chefs creation. Each contender ( One Beer Guru and One Wine Guru) are presented with the menu. Pairing begins and the challenge is to vote on which libation works best with each dish…Who will win… Beer or Wine?

 

FoodGPS Teaser – Pacific Plate

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Tomorrow on FoodGPS for my weekly Brew and You column I head to Monrovia to tour another brewery in the works. Pacific Plate is in the midst of starting their production brewery and tasting room.
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Tomorrow’s post talks about some of their activity but I want to highlight the beers that they have posted on their Facebook page because I want you to be ask for them once they start up in May.

Mango IPA
“A tropical take on an American-style IPA, this mildly hopped, medium bodied ale is brewed with whole cone Simcoe hops and flavored with Mango. The tropical notes in both the hops and Mango compliment the bitter yet mild finish.”

Widowmaker IPA (L&O Collaboration)
“A liquid tribute to the power of the hop, this American-style India Pale Ale is light in body and color but features a pallet assaulting combination of Chinook, Centennial, Columbus, Amarillo, and Cascade hops. Boiled for 90 minutes to extract the full potential of bittering alpha acids, this IPA well exceeds the taste threshold of bitterness at a whopping 120 IBUs. This beer can be mixed with fresh orange juice for a tasty and refreshing citrus beer cocktail. IPA originated in the Burton on Trent region of Britain in the 19th century. British beer makers were looking for a way to preserve beer that was being transported to British soldiers in India. They discovered that by adding more hops, which acted as a natural preservative, the beer would survive the lengthy and treacherous voyage.”

Trappist Dubbel
“This Belgian style ale is a rich malty beer with some spicy/phenolic and mild alcoholic characteristics. It does not have as much fruitiness or alcohol as a Belgian Strong Dark Ale but some dark fruit aromas and flavors are present. There is a mild hop bitterness with no lingering hop flavor. Look out for dark metallic caramel flavor from the dark candi sugar that is added directly to the boil. Dubbels are traditional monastic beers that have been brewed in Belgian Monasteries for thousands of years. This beer emulates the original Trappist Dubbels still produced today at the Westvlteren, Westmalle, and Chimay monasteries.”
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The Pacific Plate guys have a load of interesting beer ideas fermenting as they proceed to adding their equipment, so keep your eyes out and make plans to visit Monrovia this summer.