Modem Times

Karl Strauss on Fridays with their $8 fills is the only one that comes to mind.

 

Thanks for your input. Your explanation makes sense and sheds some light on current models. I guess I'm just wondering if another, more environmentally friendly model can exist. As someone whose discards consist mostly of plastic, paper, and glass packaging (for recycling), I'm constantly thinking of ways to reduce my impact and I can't help but feel refillable containers would be a wonderful option if they were more affordable in the way that bulk dry goods are cheaper and more environmentally friendly than their individually packaged counterparts.

 

Xul, thank you for being one that actually thinks of the beer industry as a business. People expect the bottom line in craft beer and completely forget about that part.

Jacob, thank you for being one of the most aware and sociable owners in the San Diego beer scene. It is easy to get jaded in a city so based on beer, but places like Modern Times really make it special.

 

Business and sustainability aren't mutually exclusive.

 

They are if you want to have easy access to the product? Do you live in either North Park or Point Loma, because what you are advocating in terms of Modern Times footprint would be completely dismantled simply based on the fact they are associated with a major distribution company through Stone.

Also, I think the fact that the majority of MT's beers are vegan and the fact they are committed towards canning and other recyclable options is enough. I'm all for what you are saying about sustainability, but at the same time reality is something that needs to come in play. The same people demanding those sustainable processes are probably the same people buying MT's beers at Von's and Bevmo.

 

I'm not really talking about MT specifically. I'm speaking in more general terms--about the state of being a craft consumer in California as a whole. Since I'm not a business guy or beer industry professional, I can't speak on the viability of what I had proposed earlier. I just wonder if it's ever been considered before. New Belgium seems to do a great job meeting zero waste standards, at least with production, so I know there are breweries out there that take sustainability seriously. I forgot to consider how the 3-tier system plays into the equation, though.

 

I thought it was all, or at least the main lineup, maybe not some of the variants.

 

The many wild bourbon and rum barrels who once roamed the great fields before savagely slaughtered to be filled with Monsters Park will not be soon forgotten.

 

Actually Modem Tones has a crazy price model on their Oneida

4 16 ounce cans $10.49
64 ounce growler $16 and they add tax.

 

Alright, I plead ignorance -- what exactly would make a beer non-vegan? All I can come up with is the use of gelatin (or some other objectionable material) as a fining agent, but I'm fairly certain most commercial (craft) breweries that want bright beer use other methods to do so.

 

Onedia is definitely non- vegan. I drink that beer and all i want to do is bbq burrgers and dogs.

Its in the finnings and adjuncts. Any It milk stout uses lactos as a suger is non-vegan. honey as well.

 

A lot of places use Isinglass, which is made from dried fish swim bladders, as a clarifying agent in beer. It was pretty common (still is), but is becoming less so.

 

I always thought isinglass was less common - more of a Guinness and British cask ale thing - but I don't really know where I got that. For big(ger) breweries with centrifuges, those would obv seem to be vegan-friendly. Breweries with DE filtration seem to be a gray area, since DE is technically fossilized algae or some such. Not sure how many breweries use Irish moss (seaweed), but that would seem to be ok. Other sheet and membrane filters, made of stuff like nylon and such, would also seem to be alright.

@ModernTimesJacob, does MT filter? The hoppy stuff looks like it, but there are obviously ways to get fairly bright beer without it. If so, what process do you guys use?

 

It's really interesting to think about how people discovered that dried fish swim bladders could be used for that purpose. It's obviously kind of humorous to think about, but I'm also genuinely interested in how people figure this stuff out.

 

the budweiser line is vegan. I'm sure a lot of breweries are vegan without even intending to be vegan.

 

https://books.google.com/books?id=M...epage&q=when was isinglass first used&f=false

 

I've always felt the same way about ambergris. "Hey, let's see if this stuff that whales poop/vomit ends up making great perfume!"

 

I'm just here for beer.

 

We have been using a combination of Biofine Clear plus a plate & frame filter, which uses a cellulose (i.e. paper) filter medium. We use a very wide bore filter & only on our dry-hopped beers; if we didn't, the yields would be miserable. However, we're in the process of getting our new DE filter up and running, which uses a perlite medium. Our goal with filtration is just to get reasonable yields given how heavily we dry-hop, since we're not super concerned with clarity.

And yes, all of our beers are vegan, although really, I (as a longtime vegan) think it's debatable whether or not beers made with gelatin or, less commonly, isinglass are not vegan. Clearly, a milk stout is not vegan, but a beer filtered with gelatin is more complex. None of the gelatin ends up in the final product, and many common items have animal products used at some point in the production process (sugar, tires, etc...) without ending up in the final product. So for me, it's really more of a personal choice about how I run my company, since I'm the guy signing the checks.

Cheers & thanks,
Jacob McKean
Modern Times Beer

 

Good stuff -- thx for the skinny!