While Wingwalker Brewing is no more, nearby Over Town Brewing Co. has reached the five year mark and will be bringing the music and beer to Monrovia across three days!
Five Over Three
Plate 9
My lucky number is 9 and this year it is Pacific Plate Brewery’s lucky number too as they celebrate their 9th Anniversary in Monrovia. And they have a special beer ready, Black Obsidian – “A bourbon barrel coffee stout that hits all the right notes. The beer was aged in Heaven Hill bourbon barrels creating a final product that is rich in vanilla, chocolate, coffee and bourbon.”
Room Across the Lot
You will notice activity in a different spot the next time you visit Pacific Plate Brewing because they have a new drinking space straight across from their brewery on Myrtle Avenue.
Canned Rogers
Add another brewery here in SoCal that is canning to make-up the tsp room deficit. RT Rogers out in the foothills of Sierra Madre has 4-packs to go now so go pick some up! Bit hard beers pictured are quite good.
Pac 6
3 weeks from today, Pacific Plate is going to go all Tiki for their 6th anniversary because 6 is the tiki year, right? Follow their social media streams to make sure you get all the details.
March 2019 Food GPS Posts
In case you forgot to check out the fantastic food coverage on the Food GPS website, then you may have not seen the beer coverage either.
Here is your handy link spot to read what I covered in Brew & You in March….
March 7th – Beer in Temecula, Border X + Dry River Triple Can release.
March 21st– Monrovia Beer, the Cellador Famille + 8 Bit in K-Town.
2nd Impression – Wingwalker Brewing
Usually, I don’t make 2nd visits so soon after a first one (unless I really, really like a brewery) but since I was literally next door, I sauntered over to Wingwalker for round 2.
I used the lucky number method in ordering a beer this time. WingWalker had 10+ taps going and I went with #9. Barnstormer Rye IPA. Not a hazy, though the photo might lead you to believe. Instead, it was another example of a beer that wasn’t quite right. It had the hallmarks that I associate with a beer that was plucked onto tap to soon. Hazy as heck. Blunted aroma. Vegetal in taste. I did not pick up any spice or rye notes and the hops were very muted. Due to choice of hops available? Don’t know but that beer made me stop and decide that I will check back in with this and Over Town much later in the year. More progress needs to be made in my opinion.
1st Visit – Over Town Brewing
I jumped over to my valley town to another (Glendale to Monrovia) to check out yet another new brewery, Over Town Brewing. Here are my thoughts….
I had high hopes upon entering Over Town Brewing for the first time. The outside had the logo high and proud. Nice color scheme. Inside the space is filled with little and big signs of beach and road culture of Los Angeles. Highlighted by a big wooden Hermosa Beach sign that is a prime selfie spot.
Smartly, they were not doing flights or other odd sized pours. Just half’s and fulls. So I went down the list and selected what I thought would be easy hits. Pale Ale, West Coast IPA and a white ale. I skipped over the overly fruity and since it was hot, I also skipped the bigger beers. The plan was sound but the beers were all below mediocre. The Pale Ale had a tangerine puree quality to it. The White Ale needed extra spice push and the IPA tasted young to my palate.
Hopefully, the recipes will be honed with time and feedback.
Over Town
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.
1st Visit – Wingwalker Brewery
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.