Avatar Of Might
Modern Times Beer

 

 

Type: 16-oz. can
Glass: Clear 16-oz. Bruges beer glass
From: Modern Times Beer in Point Loma (San Diego), Calif.
Price: $21.50 for a 4-pack
Purchased: Jan. 13, 2019; Picked up on Jan. 19, 2019
Consumed: Jan. 20, 2019
Reviewed as: New England Double / Imperial IPA
Misc.: Canned on Jan. 10, 2019

Purchased this ahead of time after grabbing some DDH Dinosaur Word cans as well. Online description was, “Seeing as this is a month of firsts, why wouldn't we release our first-ever canned Triple IPA. This 9.5% spectacle of hop-sorcery was built on a malt base of 2-row, Golden Promise, Maris Otter, malted oats, and golden naked oats before being stacked to the rafters with a hop bill of Nugget, Mosaic, El Dorado, Citra, Amarillo, and Experimental 06277. What awaits your taste buds within its hazy depths is a complex, glorious amalgam of citrus, berries, and tropical fruit that is virtually guaranteed to leave you exceedingly pleased with your purchase.” Yummy.

Poured a hazy gold color with 2-to-3 fingers of off-white frothy head. Could see some bubbles coming along the sides of the glass at differing speeds. Excellent spotty lacing. Outstanding retention. (Sight - 4.25)

Smelled the five named hops, in order Mosaic, El Dorado, Citra, Amarillo and Nugget. Very dry. Also tangerine, orange, pineapple, stone fruit, grapefruit, mango and herbal. More mango, stone fruit, and Mosaic from the can. (Smell - 4.50)

Tasted similar to the nose, maybe not quite as good. In order got El Dorado, Amarillo, Mosaic, Citra, Nugget, pineapple, stone fruit, grapefruit, tangerine, mango, herbal and sugary caramel malt. About as smooth as a 9.5 percenter could be. (Taste - 4.25)

Medium body. Creamy texture. Average carbonation. Sugary, dry finish. (Feel - 4.50)

This was tremendous hazy TIPA. Glad that I have another three after this. (Overall - 4.50)

4.39 (97/A)

 

 

Could have been further attenuated. What's the obsession with super sweet beers these days? Are we desperate to appeal to millenial man-children whose palates are so obliterated by mountain dew that a beer has to give one diabetes immediately in order to be even palatable?!

 

16oz can, tulip glass. Cloudy and hazy orange straw yellow body, one finger white head, frothy lacing, good retention. Smell is sweet sugary grapefruit and citrus, caramel, canteloupe, guava, oats. Flavour is still sweet but not cloyingly so; grapefruit, citrus, guava, other tropical fruits, a bit of lemon zest, mild resin, sugar. Minimal, slight heat on the backend. Medium bodied, good carbonation, drinkable for 9.5%, not too bitter, but not too sweet either, nicely balanced on the NEIPA spectrum.

 

 

 

 

On tap at Modern Times PDX.

Hazy light orange witha white head that falls off rapidly leaving little lacing this looks solid. The nose is ridiculously juicy with orange, peach, passionfruit, white grape, honeydew melon, strawberries, raspberries, this is quite off the chain. The oats add a mild grainy, vanilla like note. Excellent. The palate opens juicy with layers of hop juice. Peach, citrus, berries and mango and papaya with a boozy alcohol bitterness. Guava, honey, vanilla and oats are present. Juicy and boozy with a mild heat on the finish. Medium light in body and softly carbonated , this reminds me of the Fort George Skies of Wonder 1999 but not as good.

 

Straight pour from a 16oz can to a teku. This has a canning date of January 10, 2019 printed in black ink on the underside of the can (“01/10/2019 #805592”). That would make it 14 days old at the time of consumption.

Appearance (3.75): Two fingers of fine, whipped foam that audibly crackles rise off of the pour, capping a very hazy, but short of murky pale yellow-tan body. The head dies away at an even, moderate pace, leaving a broken collar of clumpy foam lacing and scattered legs tying that collar to wide, meringue-like splotches of suds all around the glass. It’s quite pretty, but could use a little more retention.

Smell (4.5): This is immediately pungent, with its aromas wafting from the can upon opening. Crushed kumquat, fresh cut grass, touches of passionfruit funk and punchy gooseberry decorate the aroma, along with a bit of underripe strawberry. A light scaffolding of common crackers and boule crust helps to prop up the hop profile, which continues to throw out jasmine, mixed berries, and passionfruit with a vinous undertone (think sauv blanc) as the beer opens up.

Taste (4.5): Oooooh, this has a lot going on just in the hops department, and I like it. Candied tangelo mixes with limeade, sweet jasmine, funky passionfruit, fruit leather, white dessert wine (like a sweet Gewürztraminer, maybe?)—or white wine poached pears—and bright key lime flesh. On the back end, some of that blend—namely the jasmine, dessert wine, and tangelo—transform into a really strange, pleasant, gentle sourness that calls to mind some tropical fruit liqueur from my study abroad in Brazil. Macerated kumquat makes an appearance right toward the finish, as well. There’s a bit of malt/grain action here, but it serves mostly to add some depth and some heft to the sweet and funky hop flavors that unfold above; southern dumplings, a bit of sourdough flapjack batter, and common crackers characterize that component, though only faintly in the shadow of these hops. There is booze here, too, but it’s woven expertly into the weirder shades of hop flavors presented on the palate, making itself known in the dessert wine/poached pear and fruit liqueur characteristics. I really dig this.

Mouthfeel (4.5): Fittingly, the body of this beer feels fuller than medium-weight, with more viscosity than you normally get in even your average, juicy New England/Northeastern-style (D)IPA. Meanwhile, the carbonation is fine and smooth, laying down a velvety layer of micro-bubbles upon which the body unfolds. It foams modestly with a gently assertive tingle, just as the hops move to dry out that big, slick body. A soft burn coincides with that foam as it washes out, befitting the size of this beer, certainly within its style.

Overall (4.25): I’m a big, big fan of this beer. It is, quite clearly, an outsized New England/Northeastern-style (D)IPA, given that it clocks in at 9.5% ABV. Now, some (D)IPAs at 9.5% feel more like a “normal” DIPA, given the way that the barrier between single and double IPAs has been set somewhere between 7.5%-8.0% ABV. That being the case, Modern Times is calling this beer a Triple IPA (TIPA), and while I’d normally associate that substyle as peeking into existence somewhere between, I don’t know, 10.5%-11.0% ABV, I kind of get it with this beer. It feels like a triple in the way that the booze is so deftly utilized rather than hidden, adding complexity to the interplay between hops and malt rather than standing apart. Also, it feels big and chewy, in a good way. I realized while drinking this that it feels a lot like a big, warming stout, rather than a crisp, sporty IPA. Add to that the uniqueness of the way the hops play out on the palate and in the nose—even if the beer isn’t breaking any style boundaries or rewriting any books—and I come away from it surprisingly satisfied. Highly recommended.

This is described as a Triple IPA. Its very cloudy in appearance with plenty of foam, and a frothy mouthfeel, at least. Quite sweet. Actually extremely sweet and candy-like. Weirdly fruity and in a scary way. Hop aroma, but it's like walking by the laundromat with the dryer blasting out the perfumey rot.

There is some acidity to finally counteract the sugar, but it tastes like carrot juice with massive perfumey hops. I don't know what the idea is with this, but it's like some kind of 22nd Century malt liquor for the genetically modified generation. From the 16 oz can purchased at Modern Times in San Diego.