Center of Attention MEGA
Modestman Brewing

 

 

 

16oz undated can.

Pours hazy gold with an inch of white fluff. Minimal retention or lacing. Pungent in the nose with candied peach and fruit cocktail syrup. Medium bodied with a soft mouthfeel. Sugar-dusted peach, mango, and orange on the palate. Finishes a bit sweet with minimal malt and tongue-numbing hops.

 

Seems this one is one of the earlier/venerable brews in their short history thus far, so I didn't have any great expectations after just drinking perhaps the best NEDIPA I've ever tasted (Iron Galaxy). Very, very tasty. A lot more complex, but as always just way too smooth and drinkable for the ABV. Glad they canned this up again and I got to try relatively fresh. Yum.

 

 

 

Pours a bright orange with an opaque and murky transparency. Head is two and a half fingers of white foam. Aroma is big and ripe mango, grapefruit, peach, and tangerine, with light, but sticky, resin hops behind. The front 4/5s are all tropical fruits, before the sticky, dank finish. Flavor profile is hearty peach, grapefruit, and tangerine with some hop burn coming at the back. Part of that hop burn is due to some sticky dank hops at the close. It tastes like a fruit stand though, all those punchy tropical fruits out front and lingering to the finish. Mouth feel is velvety around the edges, with a more hearty center. Thickness is medium-thick. Overall, a beer jam packed with tropical fruits in a utterly delightful way.

Served in a 15.5oz Speigalau tulip from a 16oz can.

 

From a 16 oz. can sampled on Sept 11, 2021.

The pour is an opaque, hazy, milky, pulpy yellow underneath a lingering off-white head.

The aroma emits dank, resin, pine characters for starters and then a lower profile cereal grain. Perhaps a mild herbal sensation.

Medium to full mouthfeel.

The taste begins sweet and then those aforementioned resin and dank characters drift in from the back. But at the every end, I also get a mild peppery spicy bite. Very interesting NEIPA and worth having again.

16 oz can.

Pours an opaque pale gold color with a finger of fluffy white head. Moderate retention. Leaves a good amount of cobweb lacing.

Strong notes of peach, pineapple, and mango on the nose, with a fair amount of clementine oranges and grapefruit. Subtly dank oniony character in the back.

The flavor brings forward a ton of garlic and sweaty onion notes, with some mango, pineapple and peach. Finishes with some cracked pepper spice.

The feel is medium-full bodied with lower carbonation. Pillowy soft and smooth. Extremely dry finish. Absolutely no alcohol presence whatsoever.

Overall, I'd say this is a great imperial NEIPA. There's plenty of dank, garlicky flavor from the Mosaic but it's not overpowering, and the mouthfeel is perfect for the style.

 

 

I've been excited for this one since I've seen it show up around a few places I typically shop for beer in the southern NH general area, and also since I've seen some BAs I trust quite a bit laud it on WBAYDN? and NBS/NBW threads... plus, Modestman has just generally been killing it recently so all of that together means I am 100% ready to be extremely-impressed by this 8.5% Citra/Mosaic bomb. I loved CoA when I had it about a month or so ago, and since then I've had a couple more of these guys' beers and have been thoroughly blown-away. Let's get right in; pumped!

The pour here is undoubtedly gorgeous; a straw-colored, extremely hazy beer with golden highlights that tumbles into my new Stoneface teku with aplomb, quickly building up a decent-sized head of rocky eggshell-white foam that lingers for quite a bit at three-or-so fingers before settling at a sticky single-finger of suds, leaving behind some consistent tiers of chunky, foamy lace in its wake. Excellent legs here with a hint of surface coverage to boot. Overall... yeah, duh, it looks awesome.

The nose is, well, CoA dialed-up to 11. Incredible dank profile with a lot of resin, tangerine, ripe mango flesh, passion fruit, and some hints of raspberry and blueberry around the edges. This feels a little softer and more rounded than the regular CoA (which, by the way, is 7% ABV), which I like in contrast to its slightly-bigger size. There is no cattiness or onion-like note here that sometimes comes with the territory of this hop combo, and it instead really feels like a bold, strongly-alcoholic cup of tropical fruit juice, complete with guava and pineapple notes coming out as it warms.

The flavor profile is extremely lush and delicious, with a big upfront hit of passion fruit, mango, and tangelo. Not much bitterness at all, but I expected that. What is there, though, is a surprisingly dense maltiness that really picks up toward the end of the mid-palate, right before the transition to the finish brings out a big pineapple flavor. There's this deft "honey graham cracker" note that quickly fades, but while it's just a flash, it makes the beer that much more complex and interesting.

Feel is, of course, extremely soft and detailed with nice density to it. Doesn't drink heavy whatsoever, though, and though this is 8.5% ABV, it barely feels like it's any stronger than "regular strength" CoA. Some nice detailed carbonation does head up the mid, but nothing about it feels intrusive whatsoever. Quite the opposite; everything here is exactly as it should be. Another big time winner from these trustworthy purveyors of amazing NEIPAs. I am very glad I got a four-pack. Now they just need to can-date (I know it's very fresh, but still annoying and they're not above being called out for the lack of such information).

Many thanks to SawDog505 for this can.

A - Opaque pale golden yellow color with thin, dense, soapy white lacing.

S - Big citrus and pineapple on the nose.

T - Big onion / garlic presence with citrus, pineapple, pine rind, peppery spice, spicy grapefruit. Big lingering spicy citrus, onion, and garlic. This is pretty awesome.

M - Big medium body, dry on the back of the tongue, and coats the mouth with onion spicy citrus.

O - This is a fantastic D-IPA. If you like onion and garlic forward big IPA's, this is your beer.

 

 

A great smelling beer! Fresh from the brewery, tastes of pineapple, guava, oranges... a fruit smoothee and/or puree. An interesting aftertaste - not bad... but interesting. Highly recommend trying.

From a 16oz can, dated 09/24/20. Served in a spiegelau-style IPA glass.

Pours opaque, murky, milky and mimosa-like with a finger of soft fluffy head. Retention is quite good, leaving a foamy cap and a solid curtain of heavy lacing.

Aroma is all peachy yeast and the soft, juicy tropical sticky fruits like pineapple and mango.

Taste is juicy and doughy, pineapple, mango and dope. But finishes with a tacky, sour, composty aftertaste.

Feel is fluffy, doughy, juicy, medium-hefty bodied with bright, prickly carbonation.

Overall, a very-nearly excellent NEDIPA - with the exception of the sour aftertaste - strongly reminiscent of all those Trillium DIPA’s which taste less like the product of fermenting barley than of composting melons. Also priced very much like Trillium at $5.50 a can which can you say ‘ballsy?’ Still, nobody held a gun to my head and made me buy it, so there’s that.

Poured into a 16 oz Snulip glass canned on 7/31/2020. Pours a beautiful hazy yellow with a solid finger sticky white head that clings to the glass leaving thick streaks of lace, yielding excellent retention. 4.75

Smell is guava, mandarin orange, Marijuana, apple, pineapple, passionfruit, ripe melon, apricot, and some white grapefruit. Really nice and bold. 4.5

Taste follows guava, cumquat, mandarin orange, pineapple, passionfruit, honeydew, apricot, dank marijuana, and some grapefruit bitterness that lingers sip after glorious sip. 4.5

Mouthfeel is big, soft gentle carbonation, not dry but sticky, and at 8.5% extremely approachable as it tantalizes your entire palate. 4.75

Overall this is a special beer, this place deserves the hype and yes they are a little brash and cocky, but if you have the goods to back it up you can talk smack. If you want to talk the talk, you need to walk the walk and with the two beers from them I have had they have certainly done that. 4.75

 

Can from the source with a canned on date of yesterday!
Hazy lemon yellow with a huge head that persists. Dank Dank Dank on the nose. Resin pine and hints of onion. Flavor follows through the aroma faint sweet bread to counter. Maybe a touch of citrus mint and earth in there. This is a beautiful beer, or maybe my palette is sick of gritty juice bombs.

 

Purchased at Odelay restaurant which is owned by the owner of Modestman Brewing in Keene, NH. Luckily even though the brewery itself is closed during the Covid-19 outbreak you can purchase cans Odelay. Purchased on 4/16/20. Opened and reviewed same day.

A thick NEDIPA style liquid, opaque appearance, gold color with a white haze. Soft foamy cap recedes to minimal cover. No lace.

Creamy citrus hop aroma! Golden malted grains and honey soaked white bread. Hops are crazy citric, honeydew melon and papaya, with an array of tropical fruity effects that goes beyond that.

The hops are thick with heavy fruity flavors: Melons, papaya, oranges...and a blend of tropicals. Complex hops are deep with grainy and dry earthiness, peppery and sweet tones. Wowza.
The golden, yet rich malted charecter is beyond just there for balance! Grains like wheat and spelt bring earthy and tangy effects while the malt becomes creamy and sweet with a smooth feel and rounded taste. Tangy, earthy, sweet, fruity, creamy... it's all in here. Complexity obviously high.

The mouthfeel, what can I say? The New England styles have it all...crisp, dry earthy, smooth and round...light that becomes practically full. Pretty impressive when done correctly. At 8.5% abv it's also a bit boozy hot, but the complexity hides this pretty well.

Mega is basically the flagship "Center of Attention" NEIPA bigger, badder bolder brother.