Thus Let Es Drink Beer - Modus Operandi
My prayers for a great local, bold yet easily accessible IPA that ticks all the right boxes were answered with the fourth one in the core can range for Mona Vale’s master brewers Modus Operandi, who ever since their inception in 2012 have succeeded in their mission to put beer first with no shortcuts.
Opaque golden amber in colour and with an exuberant fluffy head, the intense aromas of the piney, fruity and borderline spicy hops of Sonic Prayer’s IPA fuses with toffee notes that tingle the nostrils.
What materializes on the palate is the natural extension with a dominant bitterness taking centre stage, flanked by fruity nuances.
The beauty of the Sonic Prayer IPA is that despite its relatively low alcohol content of 6% ABV, its complexity and body remind one of an IIPA with the goodness of a great West Coast IPA.
Things are taken up a notch in every aspect with the Modus Operandi Pangea IPA. With a slightly higher alcohol content and a character that is informed by six different hopping processes and a double dry hop, it serves as the link between the former and what has established itself to become a favourite of the Modus Operandi range, i.e. the Former Tenant Red IPA.
If you followed this series, it would not have gone unnoticed that I like a well-paired boilermaker and the Former Tenant Red IPA is always a delight when it makes its appearance.
The name being an open homage to the breweries former inhabitant who dabbled in growing whacky tobacky, its ruby red hues and intense fruity passionfruit aromas literally attack you once the can has been opened and it finds its near perfect calibration through the caramelly malt flavours and the elongated sweet finish.
I have tried many IPAs and only few reign supreme in their very own domains like the Former Tenant Red IPA does.
Thought We have peaked yet?
Wrong!
Modus Operandi Future Factory IIIPA 2019.
I have to admit that despite being excited since its announcement, I was slightly worried that it could be a novelty kind of brew having resulted from endeavours to take things over the top.
Stating that the Future Factory range is “hop forward” would be an understatement par excellence. Hitting you with a whopping 10% ABV, this limited expression is not nearly as brash as the triple factor would have you think: Not that this is not a bold and big brew, but underneath the surface lies a sophisticated melange of savoury and sweet elements that make the whole much bigger than the sum of its parts. Not unlike Modus Operandi’s other brews, it is dangerously easy to drink because of its comparably lean body.
I’d go as far as claiming that this is Modus Operandi’s masterpiece as everything that I love about their emissions is dialled up here:
Pine, an array of fruity flavours, a celebration of hops in all their glory, a subtle bitterness to calibrate it all and one lively brew to drink that demands that you make time for it.
If you just go by the name and the numbers as coordinates of the Future Factory series, you might think that such a beer would be hard to create without lacking balance – that is until you have been exposed to the masterful skills that inform Modus Operandi brewing processes.
