Oh damn. Other half is dope and Trillium… man i’m so pissed, i used to work right across the street and actually used to hang out in the space they took over after I left Boston. They do great stuff . We always try and stop by Agria when up north. Have fun!
Damn I didn’t realize we had so many beer nerds around here - awesome.
I had to stop collecting beers because my buying outstripped my drinking by leaps and bounds, and I’ve still got a cellar full of stuff that’s mostly sitting around getting worse (after a fair amount of exploration, I don’t think home-cellaring improves big stouts for my palate).
I’ve been a little down on Highland Park’s last few hazy releases (and have preferred their West Coasts and hoppy pilsners), but the one from a couple weeks ago, Ultra Cloud, was really awesome. Hope that carries over to this next one - DDH Losing Control, coming out today.
Beer is food.
Big stouts soften over time. Often times for the worst. A lot of the bold characteristics from essential oils etc gets lost. Haven’t been to HPB in a while now 
We finally have some craft beer in the area here, Yanow’s new gastro brewery called 6th and La Brea and the beer is very good tho not great as all the rest of his brews. Still, super happy to have something other than surly goat (which has been home since opening) here.
Trillium is good but I think they produce too much volume which has impacted their quality recently.
I’ve heard some really good things about Agria but never had. Excited about this one.
I’ve cellared about 9 stouts none longer than 2 years so I’ll be interested in seeing how they hold up. I had a 2013 Bruery Black Tuesday a few months ago. It was truly awful. Lost all of its flavor and complexity. Tasted like nothing.
I’ve only been lucky enough try Trillium maybe twice.
Casa Agria’s fruited sours are great! Usually they’re not strong on the funk but loads of brightness and freshness. Great visit.
I probably have a Black Tuesday that I’ve been dreading opening myself. So far my Fifty Fifty Eclipse stuff held up as well as the Mother of All Storms, maybe all time favorite BA Barleywine (after Abacus)
my woman has an issue with strangers visiting the crib lol… someone would have to provide a venue.
haha I hear that
we need to find a place that doesn’t charge for corkage that also has food
Hermosillo maybe the move.
I went to a bottle share at Beer Belly in Ktown a million years ago that was pretty fun.
As far as stouts - @js76wisco I’ve had much the same experience. People always said aging ‘smooths the edges, takes the heat off, lets the flavors mix better’ so I started a cellar, but when I popped a couple of old bottles they were mostly just blander and more raisiny/oxidized.
Belgian lambics and gueuzes, on the other hand, I’ve had great luck aging.
Yeah, it’s now really easy to get bottles of BCBS out here. When I lived in Chicago it was a fight to get just one and this past Black Friday I strolled into Total Wine and picked up 6.
Variants are still where it’s at though.
Last great bottle I had was a month ago. We’re a much more wine focused fam now.
Had a great time at the Horus Hootenanny in Oceanside yesterday. Great location at the Fine Arts Center with about 60 breweries representing. Half indoors and half outdoors with a good amount of seating and not over crowded.
The best tastes of the day
Brulee from 3 Chiefs which about half the festival was lined up for and almost caused a riot. Smooth dark caramel flavored stout.
Proper Dose from Horus. The best coffee stout I’ve ever had. Hard to believe this was 14%.
A mead from Casa Agria that they brought a very limited amount of and do not bottle. Beautifully balanced sweet and tart mead.
Eraserhead from Foam. Hazy IPA. Juicy. Smooth.
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Yes, you need a bigger refrigerator!
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What are your favorites at Monkish?
Have you tried East Coast/Hazy IPA?
West Coast IPA is very agressively hoppy. Which I think is why so many people do not enjoy it.
They rotate beers often but my favorites are part of the Foggy and Atomically series.
Foggy Window/Foggier Window/Foggiest Window/Enter the Fog Dog
Atomically/Bomb Atomically/ Beyond Atomically/Socrates Philosophies & Hypothesis
If you don’t like hoppy West Coast IPA you may like hazy IPA better. Hazy IPA are much less bitter. Still have some of the hoppiness but much more mellow and subdued. Almost all of the Monkish IPA are hazy IPA. World class and definitely worth driving out for. Lots of great eats within 3-5 mile radius.
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Almost got to go to Monkish before the Arsenal match in Carson on Wednesday but time was running out. Had a very nice IPA at Phantome Carriage. Nice to see them making non sours. They had a bitters as well.
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If anybody on the board is in OC and looking for good hazy IPA stop by Green Cheek in Orange. Evan the head brewer at GC is world class. Used to be at Noble Ale Works by Angel Stadium. They always have a great tap list of hazy IPA.
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Went to Monkish for the first time in a while on Wed.
They had 7 or 8 Hazies on tap. I had two of them.
I don’t know… I don’t get excited for Hazy IPAs anymore.
I guess it is that they are no longer “new” to my palate?
Could also be that it is hard to enjoy a drinking session when the beers are clocking in at 7+ ABV.
I am interested to see if/when/how Monkish will pivot now that Hazy IPAs are widely available and the style seems to be losing its grip on the top of the craft beer scene.
For anyone that is searching out something different, I highly recommend Yorkshire Square, which is also in Torrance. They specialize in cask conditioned ales.
Also, they just started their food program. Excited to see if the pub style menu is any good!
If only they could make the space a little more comfy…
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Almost every single Monkish hazy IPA clocks in at 8%+. For some reason many of the breweries in the hazy IPA genre try amping up the ABV. Looking in my fridge right now and I have more hazy IPA >10% than I do beers that are <8%. The cans are from Monkish, Brouwerij West, Pure Project, Green Cheek, Other Half and others.
I’m with you. I wish they would make more sessionable hazy IPA in the 5% to 6% range. The market seems to like the triples more than singles.
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