Travel back in time with us as we unveil one of the rarest and most meaningful beers we’ve ever brewed: The Monohon. Named after the historic turn‑of‑the‑century logging town that once stood along Lake Sammamish near our taproom, this beer is a tribute to a place and a moment in local history that nearly slipped away. Monohon was home not only to hardworking loggers but also to early hop farms that thrived before development, changing landscapes, and time erased nearly every trace of them.
About a decade ago, we stumbled upon something extraordinary — a small patch of wild hops still growing near the former town site. These were descendants of the original Monohon hop farms, untouched and uncultivated for generations. We harvested what little we could and crafted a pre‑Prohibition style lager, the kind of crisp, honest beer those early loggers would have enjoyed. But wild hops are vulnerable, and each year the yield shrank until we could no longer brew the beer at all.
Three years ago, our community stepped in to save this piece of agricultural heritage. We carefully gathered the hop rhizomes — tiny hop “babies” — and friends took them home to nurture, revive, and protect. Against the odds, it worked. The historic Monohon hops survived, strengthened, and this year, for the first time in many years, the yield was finally robust enough to brew this remarkable lager again. The Monohon isn’t just a beer; it’s a living story of local heritage, community effort, and the preservation of a nearly lost lineage.
As we celebrate its return, we’ll be sharing photos, stories, and the rich history behind this beer. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, hops were planted throughout the interior Issaquah corridor to meet the demands of booming breweries like Independent Brewing Company and Seattle Brewing & Malting, which produced around 30,000 barrels a year. But a series of wet winters brought blight and mold, pushing growers east to Yakima’s drier climate. For this release, Big Block Brewing honors that era by using ingredients true to the time: two‑row barley, corn, Great Northwest water, an old lager yeast, and the revived historic hops. The result is a 6% pre‑Prohibition West Coast–style lager that carries the past into the present with every sip.
Join us at our Sammamish taproom — 3310 East Lake Sammamish Parkway SE — on March 13th at 6pm for a very special release party as we raise a glass to history, community, and the return of the Monohon.
