Modern Times Black House

This beer is one that I’ve always been interested in trying since it’s made with coffee that the brewery roasts themselves. Let’s see how it was.

ABV: 5.8%

Style: Oatmeal Stout

Trivia: According to the brewery website, “It’s so great that you like coffee. I just love that about you. Speaking of which, you’re holding an oatmeal coffee stout positively redolent with coffee aroma and flavor. It kind of tastes like a chocolate-covered espresso bean, only drier and more like beer. Nifty fact: we’re one of the only breweries in the world to roast our own coffee, which allows us to be extremely persnickety about which beans we buy and how we roast them. Taste the persnicketiness!”

Random: This beer comes in at 40 IBUs and uses 75% Ethiopian coffee and 25% Sumatran coffee.

This beer poured with a generous, three finger, thick, tan head. It dissipated at a moderate pack and left some lacing on the glass. The body was a dark brown that was almost black. There wasn’t much carbonation visible due to the color. The nose was filled with roasted grains, some lactose and milk chocolate. There was also a note of coffee. The taste was a bit sweet up front with lactose and chocolate. It had some maple syrup and then transitioned into coffee and roasted malt. The body was on the thicker side with medium carbonation. It had a lengthy and sweet finish with chocolate. A pounder can was $3.25, which came to $.20 per ounce. I thought this beer was good, I just wish the coffee was more prevalent.

Untappd Rating: 3.5/5.0

Modern Times Fortunate Islands

I picked up another Modern Times beer that got favorably reviewed on one of the podcasts I listened to. I’m all about a hoppy wheat, so let’s crack this open.

ABV: 5%

Style: American Pale Wheat Ale

Trivia: According to the brewery website, “Fortunate Islands shares the characteristics of an uber-hoppy IPA and an easy drinking wheat beer. A massive dose of Citra and Amarillo hops gives it a blastwave of tropical hop aromatics: mango, tangerine, and passionfruit all leap out of the glass. Brewed with 60% wheat malt, Fortunate Islands also has the mild, nutty malt backbone, reasonable ABV, and restrained bitterness to make it an outstanding session beer.”

Random: The simplicity of their can art makes them stand out on the shelves.

This beer poured with a half a finger of white head that dissipated slowly and left some lacing on the glass. The body was lightly hazy and straw yellow in color. It had a lot of carbonation visible. On first sniff, this was way more like a hoppy pale ale than a wheat ale. It had a lot of grass, grapefruit and tropical fruit. Orange segments were present too. At the end, I thought I caught a hint of wheat, but this beer was really hoppy. The taste was exactly what I thought it would be from the nose. It was super grassy with grapefruit flesh and pith. The tropical fruit note manifested like mango and made it really bright. Tangerine body spray came through next. There was that same touch of wheat at the end of the sip, but this was all about the hops. Where it did remind me of a wheat beer was in the body. It was light with a lot of carbonation, which would make this easy to pound. The finish was quick, but had the tangerine room spray note. A pounder can of this was $3.50 ($.22 per ounce), which is a bit expensive for the style. Despite the price, if we got distribution of this, I would get it again.

Untappd Rating: 4.0/5.0

Modern Times Fruitlands – Apricot

For a limited time, New York got some Modern Times beers. I had a few while I was out in California, but I didn’t get to try this one.

ABV: 4.8%

Style: Gose

Trivia: According to the brewery website, “A beer this infinitely crushable absolutely deserves a year round place in our line-up. Fruitlands is tart, fruity, and delicious, with the sour, salty base beer bringing the funky refreshment, while the heavy dose of real fruit turns the whole thing into a tasty flavor bomb. The three different fruited versions will rotate three times a year, with Apricot from March through May, Passion Fruit/Guava from June through September, and Sour Cherry from October through January.”

Random: If I see the Passion Fruit/Guava version of this on shelves, it’s definitely coming home with me.

The beer poured with a two finger, white head that dissipated quickly and left no lacing on the glass. A slight crown was left on top of the body. The body of the beer was a really hazy, bright yellow with light carbonation visible despite the haze. The nose had some lemon flesh, salt, sour orange, but not apricot. I found that surprising and a bit disappointing. The taste, however, was filled with fresh apricot flesh and apricot skin. The next flavor that came out was salt and then a slight citrus sweetness that quickly went into wheat and light tartness. It had a thick body for the style with moderate carbonation that could be more aggressive. It had a quick apricot finish. A bomber of this ran me $8.99 ($.41 cents per ounce), which I think was a fair price for a beer that went down this easily. The only reason that I knocked it down a few points was because of the carbonation.

Untappd Rating: 4.0/5.0

Modern Times Lomaland

Modern Times has been making an appearance in New York, so last time I was picking up beer in New York, this came home with me.

ABV: 5.5%

Style: Saison/Farmhouse Ale

Trivia: According to the brewery website, “Lomaland is an earthy, rustic Belgian-style farmhouse ale that’s both complex and quaffable. It smells like hay, pepper, and friendly sunshine. Its dry, cracker-like body and lightly-hoppy finish makes it a beautiful compliment to food. We named Lomaland after the brilliantly crazy utopian community that was the first settlement built in Point Loma, the San Diego neighborhood where our fermentorium is located.”

Random: My littlest cat is starting to get jealous when I pet the other cats. It’s pretty funny since he was the most skittish when we got him.

This beer poured with a three finger, thin white head that dissipated quickly. It left no lacing on the glass. It did leave a slight crown was left on top of the clear, straw yellow body with high carbonation visible. The nose was yeasty and had a note of musty basement. There was also lemon curd and old straw. I would characterize this one as rustic. The taste was equally rustic. Unlike the taste, it started with lemon zest and curd first. It went into notes of white bread, crackers and instead of being musty, it had an old dusty note. The body was on the thinner side with high carbonation. It had a quick finish with lemon curd and saltines. A pounder can of this was $3, which broke down to $.19 per ounce. This was a really drinkable saison and had some nice flavors. I would highly recommend this one.

Untappd Rating: 4.0/5.0

Modern Times Booming Rollers

After my first Modern Times beer, I decided to pick up another four-pack for my hotel room while I binge watched “Forensic Files.” By the way, watching that show before going to sleep made for some really creepy nightmares.

ABV: 6.8%

Style: American IPA

Trivia: According to the brewery website, “Booming Rollers is a showcase for the juicy awesomeness of Citra hops. These new wave American hops impart a remarkable aroma and flavor, which we’ve amplified with the dark stone fruit character of New Zealand-grown Motueka hops. Some Centennial is thrown in to balance the tropical fruit party, and the malt body is just assertive enough to support Booming Rollers’ snappy bitterness. It’s a party in your mouth and all the beautiful people are invited.”

Random: This is a seasonal beer from the brewery from March through May.

The beer poured with a two finger, slightly off white head. It dissipated slowly and left a lot of lacing on the glass. The body was a clear, bright yellow with moderate carbonation visible. The nose started with a lemon cleaner note and quickly went into tropical fruit. I picked up mango and passion fruit. The taste was grassy with citrus flesh. It had intense bitterness. The tropical fruit note was lost in the flavor, which was unfortunate, because it would have given the beer some depth. There was no malt to speak of in the flavor. The body was thick with high carbonation. It had a lengthy finish with grass and bitter citrus. A pounder can of this set me back $3.00, which came to $.19 per ounce. This was a nice beer, and I had no problem putting it back, but it wasn’t the best of the style that I’ve had. Despite that, I’m glad I got to try this since it’s not available in New Jersey.

Untappd Rating: 3.5/5.0

Modern Times City Of The Sun

This beer was one that I was excited about trying. We don’t get Modern Times in New Jersey and I’ve seen their stuff get very high ratings. When I saw this on the shelf in California, I knew it had to come back to the hotel with me.

ABV: 7.5%

Style: American IPA

Trivia: According to the brewery website, “City of the Sun is a big, fruity, pungent, sticky, delicious IPA. Mosaic & Motueka give it a very fruity hop character, with Simcoe providing enough of a piney backbone to prevent it from going off the deep end. The complex but unobtrusive malt character gives it a medium body and a platform for the saturated hop flavor.”

Random: This is a seasonal beer from the brewery from December through February.

This beer poured with a one finger, white head that dissipated quickly and left lots of lacing on the glass. The body was clear and bright orange with moderate carbonation. The nose was huge with tropical fruit, specifically mango. I picked up a lot of Mosaic hop. Citrus peel was there as well along with some wheat. The taste was really hoppy with tropical fruit. It had the same citrus peel as in the nose and also had a touch of cattiness. There wasn’t any malt to speak of. The body was relatively thick with lots of carbonation. It had a long finish with citrus flesh and peel. A pounder can was $3, which broke down to $.19 per ounce. Given the flavors on this beer, I thought the price was great. I really enjoyed this one and if I could get it in Jersey, I would have it again.

Untappd Rating: 4.0/5.0