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In the last few years, beers from more than 100 breweries have become available in the state, giving us an incredible amount of variety in the beer aisle. But with breweries numbering more than 7,000 in the U.S. alone, there are always more that could venture across the Pacific.
Another arrives this month — Modern Times Beer.
The world-class San Diego brewery has quickly grown to become one of the most popular in California, with elegant can designs, fresh hoppy IPAs and highly sought-after stouts and sours.
Modern Times beers are complex in flavor, yet approachable and easy to drink, contributing to their success. Some made it to Hawaii for a short stint earlier this year, but now the brand is with distributor Underground Wine Merchants, so we can expect to find the beers consistently on store shelves and on tap.
Like many craft breweries, Modern Times has a core line, plus specialty beers that rotate in availability. A handful of core beers are brewed year round and are normally available. What makes Modern Times compelling is its commitment to specialty and seasonal beers. For many craft beer fans, it is this constant availability of new items that is exciting.
Among core beers we can expect to find starting this week are three hop- focused beers and a coffee-infused stout:
>> Fortunate Islands is a lighter, easy-drinking pale ale loaded with late hop additions for an immense tropical fruit flavor and aroma. At only 5 percent alcohol by volume, this beer is light enough to be thirst-quenching when it’s hot, but packed with enough hop character to satisfy any IPA or hoppy beer fan.
>> Blazing World has a touch more color — an amber hue — and gentle malt character (think toasted bread), assertively balanced by a strong hop presence lead by intense citrus flavors like grapefruit and tangerine. The higher level of bitterness does not linger; instead, it helps create a clean and snappy finish.
>> Orderville is an aggressively hopped, aroma-focused beer, one you want to breathe in to capture all the tropical fruit aromas. It’s slightly hazy, with a fuller mouthfeel that makes each sip very smooth and coats the mouth with hop-loaded flavor. Pineapple, apricot, mango, tangerine and melon flavors and aromas pop out nicely.
>> Black House is a stout infused with house-roasted coffee. Yes, Modern Times also has a robust coffee program, but that is a subject for another article. The blend used here is 75 percent Ethiopian and 25 percent Sumatran coffee added to a dry oatmeal stout. The result is a beer for coffee lovers that tastes like a chocolate-covered espresso bean. Robust, yet refined coffee dominates both the flavor and aroma, but the dark malty base finishes clean and dry.
>> Fruitlands (coming later this month) may become the most popular Modern Times beer in Hawaii. Light, slightly tart, refreshing and loaded with passion fruit and guava, this is a beer meant to be enjoyed on a warm day at the beach. A traditional Gose-style beer — a German sour-wheat beer with a touch of salinity — its heavy dose of tropical fruits adds to the tartness. Fragrant guava and lilikoi dominate, but it is the snappy tart finish that makes this beer so refreshing and perfect for drinking in the hot sun.
The first limited-time release will be Critical Band, an IPA loaded with hoppy juice-forward aromas and flavors. No actual juice is used; instead, the immense amount of hops added late in the brewing process creates pungent aromas of papaya, pineapple and mango.
This beer will be available through August, then we can look forward to another new release.
Tim Golden, a certified cicerone, shares his obsession with all things craft beer on the third week of each month. He is part owner of Village Bottle Shoppe in Kakaako.
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