The Official Modern Times League Of Partygoers & Elegant People Thread

[Xul1]

Seems to be working but no Modem Tomes w/Nilla, Hazelnuts and Maple Syrup. Did get my four Shrine of the Forsaken Gods which was all I was really concerned with.

I'm still able to add the MT w/ NHMS to my cart so give that another shot.

For others who may be watching the thread, Steven posted in the FB group that things should be working now so give it another try if you weren't able to purchase earlier. Might still see some slowness as people return to the site and try again.

 

[JonathanAmes]

Seems to be working but no Modem Tomes w/Nilla, Hazelnuts and Maple Syrup. Did get my four Shrine of the Forsaken Gods which was all I was really concerned with.

Now the Modem Tomes w/Nilla, Hazelnuts and Maple Syrup is available.

 

[jwacky]

Seems to be working but no Modem Tomes w/Nilla, Hazelnuts and Maple Syrup. Did get my four Shrine of the Forsaken Gods which was all I was really concerned with.

Everything is working now.

 

[sdreaper]

Post by Steven on the other site -

"
It looks like our website is experiencing some technical difficulties today that are blocking people from checking out and/or listing all of the beers in the sale as sold out. First and foremost, nothing has sold out yet and we set our sale limits in a way where you should be able to purchase everything you want in the coming days. The most limited beer in the sale is Modem Tones Aged in Bourbon Barrels w/ Vanilla, but every member has two bottles of that included in their membership. Our developers found the issue and are currently fixing it. It looks like many people are now having success trying to complete their purchases as well. If you already placed an order this morning and didn't have problems checking out, then disregard this message entirely.

We realize that it's a bummer for this to happen on the first sale of the year, and we give our word that we will do everything in our power to fix these problems going forward.

Cheers,

Steven Michael
Modern Times Beer"

 

[Steve_0]

Seems to be working but no Modem Tomes w/Nilla, Hazelnuts and Maple Syrup. Did get my four Shrine of the Forsaken Gods which was all I was really concerned with.

I was holding out hope that it wasn't sold out, especially at 4 bottle limit. . . .

 

[Steve_0]

Well that sucked. . .

 

[yabu]

Yes, unfortunately.

I don't blame you for being frustrated.

The technical issue is one thing, that's often unavoidable or at least easy to understand as some things are out of their control.

But allocation of the Modem Tomes w/Nilla, Hazelnuts and Maple Syrup...was going to be a problem from the start. I don't think I am the only person who expected a quick sellout. Modem Tones is one of their best stouts, why wouldn't most members want to max it.

I'm sure they'll react accordingly moving forward, to minimize this problem. MT handles feedback well.

 

[sdreaper]

Buddy mentioned in the Theory FB group that Great Notion's Mango Juice Jr. and Blueberry Muffin are on at the Encinitas location.

 

[sdreaper]

Posted on the league FB group -

"Hello everyone!
Just wanted to give a little informal notice on the upcoming preview tastings. We will send out official beer details later this week, but since our LA tasting is a little weird this month due to Hi Hat availability & Super Bowl, we wanted to give some extra advance notice. Here are the dates, times, & locations for the preview tasting:
LA: The Hi Hat - Saturday, Feb. 2nd @ 1PM
SD: Fortress of Raditude - Tuesday, Feb 5th @ 6PM
Santa Ana: Playground DTSA - Tuesday, Feb 5th @ 6PM
PDX: Belmont Fermentorium - Tuesday, Feb 5th @ 6PM
--------------
For anyone new to the League, typically we send out the full Preview Tasting details on the Thursday or Friday before tastings. These emails include dates, times, locations for the vents, but also the beer we'll be sampling and what's on the monthly sale. We don't have the full details ready to share yet, but will send that all out later this week."

Mostly for you folks in LA...since it sounds like we will get the email later this week but LA won't have a lot of time to make a decision.

 

[Xul1]

February 2019 Preview Tasting

Assorted Notes:
1) Steven and Leanne were holding it down at the OC tasting this month, and while I'm going to give Steven no end of **** for abandoning us for three consecutive months now, we were lucky enough to go OG style with Jacob and Andrew hosting tonight's tasting. The vibes were a little different from when there were 25 - 30 of us crammed into one side of the Lomaland Fermentorium and Nate would shout for the whole room to shut up when it was time to get started, but it was still hitting some of those old school notes. It's a pleasure to get Jacob's take on things, and he even tossed a few barbs at Andrew that softened the blow of not having Steven around to spend the entire tasting being a troll. We also had another cameo from Derek this month, and most importantly, his lovely dog Katie. I didn't know until tonight what was missing from these tastings, but it's appearances by the dogs of Modern Times. One can only hope that becomes a thing.

2) Derek reminded us that the Carnival of Caffeination is coming up on the 16th and that the number of tickets left is steadily trending towards zero. A beer list should be up at some point next week, but Andrew was kind enough to tell us that the League beer will be an espresso macaroon Monsters' Park, and tease us with the hint that the Theory pour will be a Wizard Blend variant that they're stoked on. On the merch front, they'll be doing live screen printing on t-shirts and tote bags with a "coffee & beer" design, and there should be some extra bags of the special Carnival of Caffeination coffee beans that VIPs have included in their ticket.

3) As for another event, February 14th is a celebration of Second Halloween, which will be taking place at both the Far West Lounge and the Lomaland Fermentorium, featuring a costume contest and a special beer on tap. I have plans for the evening - what's more fittingly romantic than being the third wheel at dinner with a married couple? - but we might have to stop by for some of the special beer. We all must do our part in the War on Valentine's Day.

4) In quite possibly the biggest teaser of the evening, Andrew announced that the new batch of Monster Tones was blended recently and both he and Jacob said it's tasting rather amazing off the tank. I briefly considered organizing a band of Theory members to storm the brewhouse after the tasting and overwhelming the staff so we could get unlimited mouth pours off the tank, but I decided I didn't want to get kicked out of the club and/or arrested this evening. Maybe next time.

5) For those who didn't see on social media, they recently received four new foeders at the Fortress of Raditude - two 60bbl and two 30bbl. The plan is to run a few clean beers before them before letting them get funky, with Ice, a doppelbock, Modem Tones, and a cider being on the list thus far. One of the foeders will be turned into a funky solera style vessel starting with Transit of Venus, which I'm definitely looking forward to.

Beers:
1) Beastmaster Aged in Bourbon Barrels w/ Vanilla & Coffee
Style: BA Pastry Stout
Score: 4.5
Notes: This is a different batch from the original cans, brewed in San Diego, and aged for eleven months in a variety of bourbon barrels, then dosed with Ugandan vanilla beans and a Colombia Valentina direct trade coffee. Someone asked what the finishing gravity was and Andrew couldn't even remember off the top of his head, responding with "ten or twelve degrees Plato, something around there" - I'm more than a little disappointed that he doesn't remember the production statistics for every beer they produce. The aroma is a touch muted upon first whiff due to temperature, but prominent barrel character and marshmallowy vanilla lead up front, followed by a good dose of earthy coffee and bakers chocolate. The palate is considerably sweeter than the nose indicates, driven by a huge wave of vanilla, marshmallow, and sweet bourbon, followed by heavy coffee, rich brownie batter, and a light dose of sweet orange peel - think orange chocolate candies, not acidic orange juice or flesh. For those craving thickness in their pastry stouts, the mouthfeel will be a highlight, as it absolutely coats your palate with the viscosity of used motor oil and leaves a long finish that clings to the back of your mouth. As it warms, the coffee and chocolate both become even more pronounced which leads to a lovely mocha character balancing the vanilla. I didn't find it to be overly cloying even when cold - it's certainly a pastry stout, but not on the beetus end of the spectrum for the style - but allowing it to warm really allows the drier adjuncts to shine.

2) Barrel-Aged Dragon Mask: Chocolate Churro Edition
Style: BA Pastry Stout
Score: 4
Notes: Aged in a blend of bourbon and Kentucky whiskey barrels (no, not all whiskey made in Kentucky is bourbon), then adjuncted with cinnamon, cacao nibs, salt, and vanilla. Unsurprisingly, the nose on the beer is heavy on cinnamon, followed by semisweet chocolate, sea salt, and light vanilla that primarily acts as a supporting ingredient rather than directly shining the way it does in BA Beastmaster. On the palate, cinnamon is even more prominent, providing a level of spice that mostly overwhelms the sweeter elements of the beer. Lurking behind it is a very dry salted chocolate along with faint vanilla and barrel notes, which give way to a long cinnamon-heavy finish that has something of a Red Hot candies meets an unsweetened cinnamon biscuit vibe. The mouthfeel is considerably lighter than BA Beastmaster, featuring a touch of slickness that seems out of place for such a hefty beer. While the cinnamon will decrease over time, likely yielding a better balance, I wonder if leaving the salt out would've helped provide a better balance on release without leaving the beer overly sweet as it ages. I expect it will likely follow the same path as the Turkish Coffee variants where the overly aggressive spice note fades with time, but it seems like the adjunct profile on this leans too far to the dry side of the spectrum for its own good with cinnamon, salt, and cacao nibs all working in that direction. Certainly not a bad beer, I'm looking forward to seeing how it develops, but not quite what I was expecting from a chocolate churro stout.

3) Star Metal
Style: Fruited Super Berliner
Score: 3.25
Notes: The batch features a total of 5700 pounds of fruit puree between the guava, blood orange, and pineapple - Andrew couldn't recall the exact batch size, but it's a substantial amount of fruit. On the nose, guava jumps out of the glass first, followed by moderate blood orange and fainter pineapple, along with hibiscus that works in the background to lend a slightly rounding herbal sweetness. On the palate, lightly acidic pineapple hits up front, with guava and blood orange coming through in roughly equal doses and hibiscus just barely detectable in the background, giving way to a finish that's lightly grainy with subtle THP poking through. To provide some context for my score, this was a disappointment to me for two reasons. First of all, I seem to be more sensitive to THP than a lot of people (at least based on several conversations I've had with other people about certain beers), and it's also a flavor that I find incredibly offputting. Second, I find that the fruit doesn't pop as hard in PDX-brewed kettle sours as it does in SD-brewed kettle sours, and one of the things I loved about the original batch of Star Metal was that the fruit really jumped out on the palate and pummeled the tongue, where this is more integrated and even a bit subtle. If you're not particularly sensitive to THP and have enjoyed MT's recent kettle sour offerings, you're very likely to enjoy this one - it seemed like a lot of other people at the tasting were fans of it, but it just didn't do it for me.

 

[Xul1]

(continued due to exceeding character limit)

4) Orphic Fragments
Style: Blended Funky Saisons w/ Chardonnay Pomace
Score: 4.25
Notes: This is a blend of saisons fermented with house cultures in both stainless steel and red wine barrels (leaning more towards stainless in the blend), then aged on Chardonnay grape skins secured from a Napa winery, with 800 pounds of pomace going into a ten barrel batch. The aroma opens with rich Chardonnay character - think fleshy grapes, not the buttery flavors some CA Chardonnays are known for - with tropical fruit undertones, light herbal tea, touches of earthy funk and oak sweetness, faint peppery phenols, and light acidic citrus that comes across as lemon zest. The flavors are a touch more balanced than the nose, as moderate barnyard funk hits the tongue first, followed by strong grapes and sweet mango, a moderate level of oak, and restrained acidity. The beer is lively on the palate with relatively high carbonation and a pleasant dryness - it's quaffable, yet has a lovely fruit profile and balanced funk that deserve to be sipped and appreciated.

5) Glimmer Void
Style: Dark Sour w/ Strawberries
Score: 4.5
Notes: While the original batch was made entirely with freeze-dried strawberries, this batch also features a small addition of strawberry puree that thankfully didn't add any of the dreaded band-aid notes that the fresh fruit can produce in beer. Before I could even take any notes, Adam Keene dropped a quotable assessment - "It's like fresh strawberries out of your mom's garden." I considered asking what the hell he was doing in my mother's garden, but there are some things I'd rather not know. Jammy strawberries come ripping right out of the glass with every whiff, just a massive wave of slightly sweet fruit, along with touches of oak, floral funk, and bits of leather, caramelized brown sugar, and barrel-derived vanilla lurking in the background. Unsurprisingly, strawberry jam dominates the palate with a massive wave of fruit, albeit featuring more acidity that tempers the sweeter brown sugar and vanilla notes from the nose and allows the fruit to take on a broader profile that stretches from slightly sweet jam to fresh, juicy strawberries as it rolls across the tongue, carried by a lively carbonation. I was a bit concerned about living up to the original - strawberry sours are notoriously hard to pull off - but in this case, they managed to not only equal it, but exceed it. I can only hope they produce a third batch sooner rather than later, and yield a heck of a lot more than they did this time around.

 

[Tyrsis]

...the **** are my tasting notes Xul

 

[Xul1]

...the **** are my tasting notes Xul

I'm going to the Tuesday night session, couldn't make the Sunday tasting.

 

[Tyrsis]

I'm going to the Tuesday night session, couldn't make the Sunday tasting.

how dare u

 

[Xul1]

how dare u

They chose not to consult with me before scheduling an alternate tasting session - such hubris can't go unpunished.

 

[Tyrsis]

They chose not to consult with me before scheduling an alternate tasting session - such hubris can't go unpunished.

I summon ModernTimesSteven

 

[Xul1]

March 2019 Preview Tasting

Assorted Notes:
1) Steven and Justin were our hosts as Andrew is in England doing collaborations and enjoying himself while the rest of the special projects team continues to toil away and fulfill our increasingly absurd lust for pastry stouts. A bit of a quiet crowd tonight with fewer questions than usual. I'm not sure if people were in a rush to get home or what, but it left Steven time to ramble, which is always good for entertainment value. I would've liked to see a few more questions since Justin is a fount of knowledge and does a fantastic job of conveying technical information in ways that people without brewing expertise can understand, but such is life.

2) The Dark Market is coming up on Saturday 03/16 at the Fortress of Raditude in celebration of the Ides of March. There are 20ish vendors lined up, cans will be for sale to enjoy while shopping, and I'm expecting some good tunes to accompany the festivities. For those that are sensitive to the ball of fire in the sky, it will be taking place both inside and outside, so apply sunscreen and/or corpsepaint as you see fit.

3) Modern Times will be doing their first trivia night soon, but thankfully, won't be using one of the usual companies for it - they're coming up with the questions themselves (with a focus on beer) and will be enlisting an emcee/quizmaster from within the company.

4) As has been posted in the League group, the Festival of Funk will be May 25 at Liberty Station. There are already ~40 breweries confirmed with more to come. Tickets should be on sale late March/early April.

Beers:
1) Pharaoh Ascendant
Style: Pastry Stout
Score: 4.25
Notes: A bit of a change this month as they packaged a pastry stout in 22oz bottles rather than 4x16oz cans. Brewed at Lomaland, then fermented at the Fortress of Raditude, where they hit it with ten pounds of Madagascar vanilla beans, 80 pounds of Sumatra Tiger coffee, and fifteen gallons of dark amber maple syrup. The big dose of Sumatra Tiger is immediately evident on the nose as moderately roasty coffee jumps out of the glass, followed by dark chocolate, restrained maple syrup and vanilla, and touches of marshmallow wafting around that dovetail with the chocolate for a fudgy brownie effect. The palate leans slightly sweeter as maple syrup hits the tongue first, followed by a wave of dark chocolate and coffee with backing vanilla that all meld into a maple mocha flavor. A long finish of maple and chocolate coats the tongue. The end result is sweet but not cloying, with a viscosity that falls short of something like BA Beastmaster, but still with a hefty body to chew on. This is the best non-BA pastry stout they've produced in months - I felt the series was losing focus a bit over time, but between a great base and the adjunct magic they work at the Fortress, this gets things back on track.

2) Modem Tones Aged in Sherry Barrels
Style: Imperial Stout Aged in Sherry Barrels
Score: 4.25
Notes: The barrels used began life as sherry barrels before being sold to a distillery who used them to finish a bourbon, after which Modern Times acquired them and filled them with Modem Tones in December 2017. The barrels are rather light on markings, so no word on the specific type of sherry or which distillery's bourbon was in them (although Angel's Envy and Jefferson were theorized for the latter). The aroma opens with rich sherry character - sweet grapes, raisins, figs, and hints of brown sugar and leather - giving way to semisweet chocolate and hints of vanilla, marshmallow, and bourbon-derived alcohol heat in the background. The flavor mostly follows as sherry with a light acidic edge leads the way and balances Modem Tones' usual sweetness, making room for grapes, boozy figs, and caramel to stand out from the deep, dark chocolate and oaky vanilla from the base. As it warms, the sherry character rounds out beautifully and lends a bit more confectionary sweetness, but it still comes across as drier than the usual bourbon barrel-aged Modem Tones, to its benefit.

3) Modem Tones: Date Shake Edition
Style: Imperial Stout Aged in Sherry Barrels w/ Dates, Walnuts, Vanilla, & Cinnamon
Score: 4.75
Notes: Apparently, date shakes are a rather iconic beverage in the Coachella Valley area and an intrinsic part of childhood trips for many that grew up in Southern California. I grew up with hippie parents who would load up our VW van and go to Grateful Dead shows in Orange County, LA, and Ventura, rather than out to the desert, so I've never had a date shake and can't compare the beer to its namesake. If it tastes anything like this beer, I can see why they're so popular. The base is the same as the above beer, to which they added 4.3 pounds of Ugandan and Madagascar vanilla beans, 30 pounds of toasted walnuts, 60 pounds of Deglet dates, and twelve ounces of cassia bark. Vanilla leads on the nose, followed by rich, lightly sweet dates and toasted walnuts, along with unsweetened chocolate, sweet sherry, figs, caramel, and hints of cinnamon that meld into the aroma without standing out. On the palate, the adjuncts and base integrate almost completely, to the point where you can still pick each out, but they've formed a Voltron of pure deliciousness. Vanilla and sweet chocolate rise off the tongue first, followed by toasted walnuts that are more assertive than on the nose, caramelized dates, fig, and the same hint of cinnamon that melds and supports the beer without standing out. The finish is a long-lived dose of figs drenched in vanilla ice cream with touches of sherry. Absolutely fantastic beer.

4) Wizard & Graf Chapter 2: Rosé Edition
Style: Graf w/ Cab Franc Grape Skins
Score: 4
Notes: The apple cider component of this is the same as the earlier W&G Chapter 2 releases - Vermont & Basque apples from Shacksbury - while the Cab Franc grapes were sourced from Lo-Fi Wines in Los Alamos, CA. The barrels used are a mix of red wine and American port. Barnyard funk leads the way on the nose, giving way to mild lactic acidity and bright red apples. A dry vinous character is subtle but evident along with light oak and touches of currants and blackberry. The wine character asserts itself far more on the palate, hitting hard with each sip before rich apple cider balances it, along with clean lactic acidity. Earthy notes come in on the mid-palate and build with the apples into a finish that centers on funky cider with dark fruit and oak wafting around in the background.

5) Bourbon Barrel-Aged Honduras Los Amigos Cold Brew
Style: Cold Brew Coffee
Score: N/A
Notes: I didn't bother to take notes since it's not part of the sale. It's good.

 

[Xul1]

April 2019 Preview Tasting

Assorted Notes:
1) Jacob and Steven were hosting tonight in San Diego and I knew we were in for a good one when Steven walked outside, saw someone's water bottle on the ground, and said: "Oh man, I thought that was a dog." It was also nice to be handed our taster of Abaddon as we walked in to sip while we waited for the official tasting to get started.

2) If you haven't tried Foeder Ice yet, what are you even doing with your life? If you live in one of the cities where it's not on draft yet, I suppose that's a valid excuse, but I'd still advise remedying that situation. For those of you who have tried it, and therefore love it, the good news is that they've already refilled the foeder with another batch of Ice. Barring a surprise return of Transformation Chamber or Star Cat, Foeder Ice is going to be my tasting room jam until they run out.

3) Further in the future, Jacob's poll in the League FB group as to whether we'd prefer cans of Chronos Cog or another batch of Tentbier ended up being almost a dead heat, so the plan is to package Tentbier in September and Chronos Cog in October. Now they just need to get cans of Export Jurgenbrau on the production schedule, and lager life will be complete.

4) Someone asked about the rewards for 2018 tasting room points, and Steven said we should be seeing emails about that soon.

5) On the merch front, the hoodies will be a pre-order situation, meaning every size the manufacturer offers will be made available to order. I know there are some who have frequently complained about the lack of specific sizes, so this should come as good news.

6) Tickets for the Festival of Funk will be available to the League sometime soon. No specific date yet, but with the public sale beginning 04/13, it's safe to assume our presale will be starting within the next week. If you want VIP - and you really should want VIP - you'll want to jump on it ASAP.

7) While we didn't get to sample either of the canned BA Monsters' Park variants, Jacob did give us some info on them. The vanilla variant is a blend of eight batches of BA Monsters' Park from 10 to 33 months old and the vanilla beans are 63% Ugandan and 37% Madagascan (last year was 17% Ugandan/83% Madagascan). The Mexican Hot Chocolate variant is a blend of BAMP that's 10 to 27 months old, and the adjuncts are significantly amped up from the bottled version we saw a couple years ago. For those who might be concerned about the cinnamon factor, they only used cassia bark, not Ceylon, and it was dosed at the same rate as Modem Tones: Date Shake Edition.

Tasting Notes:
1) Abaddon
Style: Helles Lager
Score: 4.25
Notes: The weather in San Diego had been steadily warming up this weekend, and while it chilled back down yesterday, the recent heat made this feel like a seasonally-appropriate choice to release. The nose opens with faintly toasted white bread - almost crackery, but there's a doughy element present - that gives way to floral/faintly grassy noble hops with touches of white pepper. The flavor flips the script as there's a firm but not overwhelming hop bite up front with a hint more of that peppery spice than on the nose, followed by freshly baked white bread and a light honey-like sweetness. Body is ever so slightly creamy with moderate carbonation, just a touch more heft than your average pale lager but still immensely crushable. If you want cans - and really, you want cans - I'd recommend buying during the online sale rather than counting on it being available for weeks on end at the tasting rooms.

2) Chaos Grid: The Final Course:
Style: BA Pastry Stout
Score: 4.75
Notes: The base is a blend of Beastmaster aged in bourbon barrels, Dragon Mask aged in bourbon barrels, and Mega Devil's Teeth aged in maple syrup barrels, to which they added sixteen pounds of vanilla, 50 pounds of cocoa nibs, 150 pounds of toasted coconut, 60 pounds of toasted almonds, and 50 pounds of Myanmar coffee. If you're reading that and saying "holy ****" to yourself, you've accurately captured my reaction to getting a whiff of the beer. Massive coconut and vanilla come ripping out of the glass in a whirlwind of macaroon decadence, followed by a deep dark chocolate note, firm coffee notes, toasted almonds that pop hard as it warms and almost create a Nutella effect, along with maple and bourbon lurking in the background. Each note stands out on the nose, yet it comes across as beautifully integrated. The palate opens similarly to the nose with that big macaroon note before chocolate takes over for a moment on the mid-palate. Think about popping a piece of fudge in your mouth and how the rich, creamy chocolate slowly coats your tongue - now imagine that being firehosed all over your mouth and you might begin to get a picture of just deep the chocolate is here. Toasted almonds and coffee come in with a balancing dryness before coconut hits hard, leading to a long bourbon-soaked Mounds bar finish. The body is thick but not the heftiest they've released, and although it was clearly conceived in the inner sanctum of the Pastryarchy, it never comes across as overly sweet. Absolutely insane beer, it's a borderline 5.0. If that's not enough praise, two different people came up to me - without hearing each other - and said: "This is as close as they've ever gotten to Monster Tones." They're not wrong.

3) Broken Shadows
Style: Hazy Rye IPA
Score: 4.25
Notes: Strata is probably the best hop that has come on the market since Citra, and it's on full display here. The aroma opens up beautifully with tangerine flesh, freshly squeezed orange juice, strawberries, papaya, bits of lemon zest, along with touches of rye-derived spice and light peach esters. A trace of light bitterness lingers in the background, but I suspect that will fade or disappear as the cans condition for another week. On the palate, the initial hop notes are a bit more fleshy and take on a blend of grapefruit and tangerine, along with mango, papaya, and a strawberry note that's less prevalent than the nose. The rye takes on a more prominent role and really blends nicely with the hop profile, leading to a rye/grapefruit/lemon zest finish. Not the softest body they've done, but it suits the malt profile well, as I feel like a pillowy, oat-heavy mouthfeel wouldn't suit a rye IPA particularly well. The batch seems maybe just a touch green, but I expect it to trend closer to a 4.5 in a week or two.

4) Modern Eden
Style: Wine BA Funky Saison w/ Pineapple
Score: 4.25
Notes: This collaboration with Yeast of Eden (Alvarado St) was intended to showcase Brett, and while they did add dried pineapple, the final product ended up right on target. On first whiff, apricot skin and horse blanket are quickly apparent, but continuing to dive in reveals a melange of pineapple, papaya, earthy forest funk, oak, hints of lemony lactic acidity, and a faint bread dough element that barely pokes out of the background. A quick, mild burst of lactic acidity hits the tongue first, followed by pineapple and mango, horse blanket, and a more significant oak element than the nose promised. Apricot skin comes in towards the backend, leading to a long finish melded with earthy funk and pineapple. This is a substantial step up from the Modern Eden pilot batch that was on draft, and I really want to see more of these funky saisons that showcase Brett with a low level of acidity that complements the beer without dominating it. I'm torn between recommending people buying it and hoping to buy more if everyone passes on it, but ultimately, I'd suggest giving it a shot if you're a fan of expressive Brett character.

5) Sun Myth
Style: Wine BA Blonde Sour w/ Peaches
Score: 4
Notes: They hit this batch of wine BA blonde sour with 370 pounds of fresh peaches and 210 pounds of peach puree, working out to roughly two pounds per gallon, and it was given a long bottle conditioning stint (hence the 750ml format). The nose is almost entirely dominated by peach, opening with earthy skin and ripe, slightly sweet juice redolent of biting into a freshly picked peach. There's a light, earthy funk supporting the fruit along with touches of oak and faint vinous notes. The palate opens with a big burst of lactic acidity that's a bit overwhelming - and somewhat out of place considering the mellow nose - before peach comes in with big skin and flesh flavors, along with touches of ripe peach juice. A bit of funk pops through to complement the fruit on the finish, but the base is on the lighter side compared to most of their stonefruit sours, and it's very much a showcase for the peaches.

 

[Tyrsis]

God damn it. I was skipping this entire sale, and then Chaos Grid comes along...

 

[chemman141]

God damn it. I was skipping this entire sale, and then Chaos Grid comes along...

How can you skip Abaddon?

 

[ThatGuy1]

How can you skip Abaddon?

Because it's not that good? "Ducks"

 

[Tyrsis]

How can you skip Abaddon?

Took a new job recently, and literally just took two unpaid sick days. This coupled with the fact that I'm trying to buy less beer (and failing) makes it a pretty easy call.

 

[chemman141]

Because it's not that good? "Ducks"

It's okay to be wrong, no judgement here.

Took a new job recently, and literally just took two unpaid sick days. This coupled with the fact that I'm trying to buy less beer (and failing) makes it a pretty easy call.

Yeah i've been really good about limiting myself to only 2 of any given "thing" but went full no ***** given and bought a case of abaddon. It was my favorite non stout release last year.

 

[abawol01]

So this email....

Can we get a bit of clarification on what the breakdown per share is ModernTimesSteven? How many shares are available? I have many questions.

 

[Xul1]

So this email....

Can we get a bit of clarification on what the breakdown per share is ModernTimesSteven? How many shares are available? I have many questions.

There's a significant amount of details about the offering on the WeFunder page. Also, Jacob will be doing an AMA on the League Facebook group at 2pm.

 

[Tyrsis]

There's a significant amount of details about the offering on the WeFunder page. Also, Jacob will be doing an AMA on the League Facebook group at 2pm.

I read that entire thing. I have absolutely no idea what any of it means.

 

[Steve_0]

So this email....

Can we get a bit of clarification on what the breakdown per share is ModernTimesSteven? How many shares are available? I have many questions.

Its $253/share essentially, but I would need to dig a little more as to how small a fraction that would be of overall equity. They are essentially valued at $264M, so you would have to assume they would be worth more that that in the future to pay that price now.

 

[yabu]

I read that entire thing. I have absolutely no idea what any of it means.

Glad I'm not the only one. ha ha.

 

[smithj21541]

Anyone inclined to copy and paste the email? Or share the wefunder link? Is the employee ownership transition not going well? Is this an attempt at getting it back on track?

 

[sdreaper]

Anyone inclined to copy and paste the email? Or share the wefunder link? Is the employee ownership transition not going well? Is this an attempt at getting it back on track?

We are tremendously proud of what we've built at Modern Times over the last six years. We've become a multi-state juggernaut in our industry, with production north of 68,000 barrels in 2018—over 800% of what we’d initially projected to produce in our 5th year, which is, to use a technical term, bonkers. In short, we've reached a scale that requires a new approach, and—rather than involve traditional private equity or other large investors—we’re choosing to give our fans a chance to invest in the company that they’ve done so much to help build.

We're super excited about crowd equity, for a couple reasons. Firstly, we can't think of a better long-term, sustainable business model than a brewery owned by its employees and fans, both of whom already play critical roles in shaping our beer, coffee, and company culture. Giving our fans—who already champion the brewery, frequent its establishments, and cheerlead its efforts—a chance to share in the potential upside of the company’s success seems like both a rad thing to do and a chance to have the most pro-active, engaged investor group on the planet.

Given our current structure, it’s also important to note that this new equity raise will actually accelerate our progress toward an increased percentage of employee-ownership. We anticipate that the added capital and anticipated growth from the use of capital that will allow us to advance the timeline of buying back shares for our employee-owners, while simultaneously growing the company. We also project that it will make our beer, coffee, and food more delicious, more available, and allow us to unleash the full potential of our visual magicians in creating some eye-poppingly luxurious environments in which to serve them. In short: This isn’t even our final form.

As a first step in this project, we're going to be launching what's called a Regulation CF Raise on the WeFunder platform, potentially followed by a more substantial capital raise later this year. We can only accept up to $1,070,00 under Regulation CF, but we may accept additional funds under other securities law exemptions related to accredited investors. You can reserve shares starting right now, but the campaign goes live at 5pm PST/8pm EST on 4/22/19 on our WeFunder page. We are immensely excited for this next step, and hope that our fans and friends will join us on the next leg of this already-epic adventure.

If you have any questions, our Founder/CEO Jacob Mckean will be doing an AMA on the League Facebook page today at 2pm.

That's it for now. We're beyond stoked to be a part of this new crowd-funded environment soon, and can’t wait to see where it takes us. This **** is going to be wild.

The Link: https://wefunder.com/moderntimesbeer?mc_cid=c0b0e22db3&mc_eid=14aaeb1d3e