Mad Monk - Fremantle

[TerritoryBrew]

I went to the Mad Monk in January this year on a trip to WA. I was pretty dissapointed. Only two beers on tap and we had to wait to be seated and served. It was 11am and no-one was there.

Looks like a lot of money has gone into it, but there is no real push behind it. The staff looked bored and uninterested. I asked the (very) tall barman about the beer, and he couldn't tell me anything about them apart that they were brewed on site.

The beers were very similar and not very different from anything else on offer.

IMO - It looks like they have tried to do everything at once and haven't done less then a perfect job of each. It appeared that they had a bakery there also.

The KISS principle applies and hasn't been implemented here. Sorry, but it just doesn't work in its current configuration.

 

[Beer Guy]

Ahmm thanks Dig nope I had to leave in a hurry to move 600km closer to parents. I will be in Perth for a little while longer it is a private family matter, I do not wish to go into details however I will try as much as possible to remain involved with the industry. I have left Monk on good terms. As for the beers I will have the Rauch out in the next week or two. The plan was always to keep releasing beers of increasing complexity starting with the pedestrian and increasing the complexity of new releases over time.

For the 100 IBU 9000000EBC 20%ABV guys sorry you didn't get appeased. I will quite firmly say though that it does piss me a f n truckload that some of you have no patience. Cast your mind back to creatures opening it was a shambles HOWEVER look at it now it is an institution. Monk is 15weeks old. I dont have control on front of house and the licence does suck and the beers are for the masses and the seats are uncomfortable and the sun is to hot and the wind is to windy.
"Rant Over"
As for the supporters thank you. I was really looking forward to implementing my dream of a Beer Cafe with 14 beers of a wide spectrum however my family comes well and truly first.

Richard. out.

 

[Kai]

Best of luck with family matters, rich. I'll be round for a rauch sometime in the next few weeks.

 

[kook]

Hope everything works out for you Richard. I hope someone can continue your dream there, or that some day you can continue that at another location. I'll have to head down in a fortnight and try the rauch.

 

[pbrosnan]

Seems we have another brewer who doesn't appreciate some of the criticisms leveled here. Shades of the Tanglehead thread. Still I can understand his frustration, there's a hell of a lot of experts here ...

 

[dig]

Thoughts are with you Richo. Best of luck and I'm sure we'll see your name pop up in beer circles again.

 

[sinkas]

Seems we have another brewer who doesn't appreciate some of the criticisms leveled here. Shades of the Tanglehead thread. Still I can understand his frustration, there's a hell of a lot of experts here ...

Show some respect, the poor ******* has had to quite his job for family reasons,
Furthermore, he has been helpful on this forum, and ingeneral has been quite matter og fact about the criticizm, and taken some of it on board, unlike the other geezer you allude to.

 

[Goat]

pbrosnan - There is a vast difference between this and the Tanglehead thread, which I thought would be obvious. Beer Guy copped the criticism (a lot of it cheap shots IMO), and took it on with good grace.

Beer Guy - I hope things work out well for you and your family.

(but I wont be racing down there for the rauch - I like to keep bacon OUT of my beer ! )

 

[sathid]

I'm sorry to hear that Richard. I really enjoyed the Epic when I visited, and was really looking forward to the rest of your brews coming out. Any idea if they still plan on releasing more beers?

Will you be brewing at home at all?

Good luck!

 

[pbrosnan]

Show some respect, the poor ******* has had to quite his job for family reasons,
Furthermore, he has been helpful on this forum, and ingeneral has been quite matter og fact about the criticizm, and taken some of it on board, unlike the other geezer you allude to.

I think you misinterpreted or possibly misrepresented me, I certainly have some sympathy for Richards sentiments as expressed in this sentence

"I will quite firmly say though that it does piss me a f n truckload that some of you have no patience".

And I think you have lost it a bit with comments like "Show some respect, the poor ******* has had to quite his job for family reasons," which are quite frankly insulting.

 

[TerritoryBrew]

I thought this thread was about the Mad Monk brewery. It is not a personal attack on the brewer but merely feedback on how things are working at the moment. Constructive criticism is a healthy thing. I am sorry to hear that you had to leave Richard and I hope all is well or at least on the mend.

 

[sinkas]

I think you misinterpreted or possibly misrepresented me, I certainly have some sympathy for Richards sentiments as expressed in this sentence

"I will quite firmly say though that it does piss me a f n truckload that some of you have no patience".

And I think you have lost it a bit with comments like "Show some respect, the poor ******* has had to quite his job for family reasons," which are quite frankly insulting.

To save a slagging match, I will concede that it it possible I misinterpreted your post, so sorry if I did, in future, maybe shy away from making terse comments, no matter how supportive you believe they are in a sensitive topic.

 

[Beer Guy]

Hey all didn't mean to start a slinging match. I may have been a bit sensiitive to some just other beers comment honestly though the beers are clean are and drinkable and for the developed crafty beer drinker a little wanting that does not make them bad though. The message in all this is that we are as craft beer purists do want and are demanding beers that are bigger than the norm.

We represent 2% of the beer drinkers. We need to train the 98% how to appreciate beer that makes them step out of their comfort zone. So if you go to Freo go to all her brew pubs and breweries and then visit the Freo doctor bottleshop and take some home with you and educate others in your sphere of influence.

If you complain that you had to have a seat to drink at Mad Monk ok exercise your right to free speech to the government of WA and the local councils that make us comply with such useless and stupid legislation.

Mad Monk could easily make alot more revenue selling fish and chips and VB and importing cheap processed food from third world countries but it is not. It is trying to make it's own food and bread where possible and do alot more and yes it is still a way from finding it's feet.

Constructive and honest feedback is welcomed by all brewers and business and the folks at Monk take it all on board but they are trying to reach for the stars for the benifit of all.

I am scouring the salvage yards now for a AG HB setup as if I don't brew a little piece of me will dissapear. Beer is as much a part of the human spirit as love and to share a beer or three is the greatest simple pleasure I can think of. All of us as brewers are passionate and we brew not just for the obvious but to share a insight into our soul, that is why I like this forum and the right to express an opinion.

Cheers for your well wishes all and remember that when we pick up a beer instead of a bullet or bomb we make the world a better place.

 

[pbrosnan]

though the beers are clean are and drinkable and for the developed crafty beer drinker a little wanting that does not make them bad though.

Constructive and honest feedback is welcomed by all brewers and business and the folks at Monk take it all on board but they are trying to reach for the stars for the benifit of all.

These are the two parts of Richard's post that I personally applaud. My comments were intended to be ironic, I do think that we need to cut people a bit of slack. Just because someone is making a product doesn't mean they have to put up with the being the butt of unbalanced opinion. Constructive criticism not point scoring. Best of luck Richard.

 

[winkle]

Good luck with whatever you do next Richard. Sorry I'll not meet up with you for a few in March.

 

[big_alk]

These are the two parts of Richard's post that I personally applaud. My comments were intended to be ironic, I do think that we need to cut people a bit of slack. Just because someone is making a product doesn't mean they have to put up with the being the butt of unbalanced opinion. Constructive criticism not point scoring. Best of luck Richard.

well said, both of you!

Best of luck Richo in whatever you end up doing.
Let's hope whoever takes over the mash paddle at Mad Monk gets the support they need to make great beers... and sells them too!

Allan
(the Tanglehead Geezer)

 

[Simon W]

Mad Monk brewery-kitchen in Fremantle has at last gained a permit so
customers can now be served a drink without a meal, indoors and on the
terrace. The brewer's line-up: Epic English-style bitter, Aus pale ale, Rogue
kolsch, Freja Belgian ale, Stone German-style smoked beer, Centurion porter
and Samudra India pale ale.
- Vic Crossland, FRESH, The West Australian 22/01/09

 

[TerritoryBrew]

Mad Monk brewery-kitchen in Fremantle has at last gained a permit so
customers can now be served a drink without a meal, indoors and on the
terrace. The brewer's line-up: Epic English-style bitter, Aus pale ale, Rogue
kolsch, Freja Belgian ale, Stone German-style smoked beer, Centurion porter
and Samudra India pale ale.
- Vic Crossland, FRESH, The West Australian 22/01/09

Well I went down to Mad Monk again last night. Ordered the beers at the bar and 30 minutes later we hadn't been served the beers to the table, so we left and went to Clancy's. Very disappointed. I don't think I will try my luck again. It was a Monday night and there would have been about 30 people and there was probably about 5 bar staff.

:angry:

 

[hewy]

Was in WA for holidays last week and stopped in at Mad monk last sunday.

It was just before lunch time and as such was not busy at all.

Told the waitress we just wanted drinks, no problems there.

Ordered a tasting tray. about 15 mins later the thing shows up.

"Oh you dont have a copy of the beer tasting notes? I will go and grab one for you" never saw the guy again.

So from memory I would say the english mild?? was a beauty. Well balanced nice hop presence, definitely my favourite.

Unfortunately I cant really rememebr a lot of the other beers. Rauchbeer was my first of taste of the style. and yep it tasted smoked, dont know if I could drink a lot of rauchbeer.

While we were tasting a plate of bread and olives arrives, we advised the waitress we did not order that. Who knows how that managed to appear on our order.

One thing I did notice wrt the service is that staff seem unable to prioritise correctly.

e.g. girl taking order for a table of 6, table cloth flies off a number of tables away (in a near empty establishment) she runs off and deals with that instead of sticking with taking the order then dealing with the cloth. It just seems that the priorities arent correctly dealt with. The customer should be first - flying table cloths can wait.

In summary, I think the beers are good - it would be nice to be able to order your beer receive it in your hand then go sit down. Hence avoiding the service. Perhaps this isnt possible with the licensing arrangements?

 

[Vlad the Pale Aler]

Was in WA for holidays last week and stopped in at Mad monk last sunday.

It was just before lunch time and as such was not busy at all.

Told the waitress we just wanted drinks, no problems there.

Ordered a tasting tray. about 15 mins later the thing shows up.

"Oh you dont have a copy of the beer tasting notes? I will go and grab one for you" never saw the guy again.

So from memory I would say the english mild?? was a beauty. Well balanced nice hop presence, definitely my favourite.

Unfortunately I cant really rememebr a lot of the other beers. Rauchbeer was my first of taste of the style. and yep it tasted smoked, dont know if I could drink a lot of rauchbeer.

While we were tasting a plate of bread and olives arrives, we advised the waitress we did not order that. Who knows how that managed to appear on our order.

One thing I did notice wrt the service is that staff seem unable to prioritise correctly.

e.g. girl taking order for a table of 6, table cloth flies off a number of tables away (in a near empty establishment) she runs off and deals with that instead of sticking with taking the order then dealing with the cloth. It just seems that the priorities arent correctly dealt with. The customer should be first - flying table cloths can wait.

In summary, I think the beers are good - it would be nice to be able to order your beer receive it in your hand then go sit down. Hence avoiding the service. Perhaps this isnt possible with the licensing arrangements?

..but Hewy thats typilcal service in Perth, you were lucky.