The Official Modern Times League Of Partygoers & Elegant People Thread

[jwacky]

Looks like a little research was able to turn up the answer. However, if I don't know if I will be invited or not kind-of defeats the purpose of joining unless I could regularly visit San Diego. Oh well, maybe I can find someone who would be interested in splitting.

Invites already went out.

 

[sdreaper]

Invites already went out.

There will be a second round of invites though after the October window closes for the first group...assuming some ppl didn't want to go to the higher tier or were bailing out of the membership.

 

[Xul1]

There will be a second round of invites though after the October window closes for the first group...assuming some ppl didn't want to go to the higher tier or were bailing out of the membership.

That said, if you weren't already a member - which Steve_0 apparently wasn't - there's no way you're getting an invite to the ToLC.

Short answer to your original question, Steve_0 - there are no proxies for normal League members. Unless you plan to visit Modern Times locations regularly (be it San Diego, LA, or Portland) your best bets would be to either find someone local to split the membership with or find an existing member who's open to trading regularly.

 

[Steve_0]

That said, if you weren't already a member - which Steve_0 apparently wasn't - there's no way you're getting an invite to the ToLC.

Short answer to your original question, Steve_0 - there are no proxies for normal League members. Unless you plan to visit Modern Times locations regularly (be it San Diego, LA, or Portland) your best bets would be to either find someone local to split the membership with or find an existing member who's open to trading regularly.

For sure. Thats what I figured. Maybe someone will be looking to split the cost of entry and then figure out bottles. Honestly I just want the opportunity to be able to access the bottle sales. If I wasn't already splitting a Casey membership I would offer to split that.

 

[wolf13]

There will be a second round of invites though after the October window closes for the first group...assuming some ppl didn't want to go to the higher tier or were bailing out of the membership.

Oooo, oooo, pick me! PICK ME!

(And yes, I know reaper can't do the deciding, so someone else pick me please!)

 

[smithj21541]

Does anyone know if 2018 will allow for local members to pick-up for potential non-local members? Was really hoping to join, but I fear this will not be possible.

What is that? Clearly I am way out of the know here. I have been following Modern Times from the beginning and love their beer, but I do not know what these different levels entail.

For sure. Thats what I figured. Maybe someone will be looking to split the cost of entry and then figure out bottles. Honestly I just want the opportunity to be able to access the bottle sales. If I wasn't already splitting a Casey membership I would offer to split that.

I guess I'm just a cynical jerk but...

 

[swivelhips1]

Have an iso/ft help question for y'all.

Interested in getting two of the cans Devil’s Teeth Aged in Bourbon Barrels with Pistachio & Coconut but I know I am not going to be able to make it down to SD from LA during the pickup window. I just started paying attention to MT releases since the LA location will be opening soon but I don't have a good idea how quick things sell out, if League limits are higher than public, etc.

Is this gpiufmb tier? trades with top shelf locals? or would some more serious trade fodder be required?

 

[Tyrsis]

Have an iso/ft help question for y'all.

Interested in getting two of the cans Devil’s Teeth Aged in Bourbon Barrels with Pistachio & Coconut but I know I am not going to be able to make it down to SD from LA during the pickup window. I just started paying attention to MT releases since the LA location will be opening soon but I don't have a good idea how quick things sell out, if League limits are higher than public, etc.

Is this gpiufmb tier? trades with top shelf locals? or would some more serious trade fodder be required?

Wait until they announce limits, then ask again. Where you at in LA? I'm in OC, and if the limits aren't stupid I can bring some up.

 

[swivelhips1]

Wait until they announce limits, then ask again. Where you at in LA? I'm in OC, and if the limits aren't stupid I can bring some up.

Thanks for the quick response. I'm in downtown LA. I'll check back in a few days.

 

[Xul1]

Excellent tasting as usual tonight. Jacob was absent but Andrew and Steven combined to deliver everything we could want to know about the beers and League updates. Steven - looking forward to doing LA, Portland, and San Diego preview tastings every month?

Preface to the beers - This will probably sound like I'm being a Modern Times apologist, but it's a format-specific issue to nitro cans. Splitting them across multiple small pours tends to result in a sub-optimal mouthfeel and aroma, so my thoughts on the beers might not be entirely reflective of what we'll taste out of the cans once we get them. Not a complaint at all, I appreciate the preview tastings and it's as close as we can get, just providing some context to the scores and notes. As an example, I tried NOLA BA DT on draft and thought it was a 4.5 beer but when I got home and cracked a full can, I was immediately texting a couple friends about how it was knocking my tits off. Your mileage may vary.

BA Devil's Teeth w/ Pistachios & Coconut - 4.75 - As with the other variants, it spent eight to twelve months in barrels. 150lbs of roasted pistachios spread across the batch and over five pounds of coconut per barrel, which was blend of both toasted and untoasted coconut. Aroma is dominated by roasted pistachio with coconut being fairly mild. The palate flips the script with coconut going hard in the paint - not crossing into suntan lotion though - while the pistachio supports and vanilla and barrel notes lurk in the background. The most dessert-like of tonight's DT variants, Andrew's comment about it being liquid Rocky Road ice cream wasn't far off.

BA Devil's Teeth w/ Strawberries & Vanilla - 4.25 - Freeze dried strawberry powder and, directly quoting Andrew, "a lot of vanilla." The vanilla - 100% Madagascar vanilla beans - was added fairly early and some of the barrels aged on vanilla beans for six to eight weeks. The nose was a bit muted but as it warmed it revealed more vanilla than strawberry, with the fruit taking a slightly earthier hue. On the palate, rounded strawberry led with moderate vanilla character coming behind it and a finish of earthy, bittersweet chocolate. Of all the variants, I found this one the hardest to get a great read on. It showed all the components properly and is quite good, but I think enjoying a can to myself will be very enlightening.

BA Devil's Teeth w/ Raspberries & BA Coffee - 4.5 - Freeze dried raspberries and 90 lbs of barrel aged coffee. Nose is dominated by BA coffee character with raspberry tickling at the edges, intermingling with the coffee itself. The palate opens up with massive coffee character but quickly rolls into chocolate covered raspberries - semisweet, but far from cloying. The balance between the chocolate/raspberry side and the coffee side is well executed, with barrel and vanilla notes playing between the two. I think the mix of adjuncts works well, but I also have to admit, I probably would've preferred nitro cans of BA DT w/ BA Coffee. That has generally been my favorite BA DT variant and I certainly enjoyed the addition of raspberry - and will be buying cans - I don't think it was an improvement. I'm glad to see Modern Times experimenting and taking chances, but I definitely hope to see BA DT w/ BA Coffee make a return next year (be it bottles, cans, or nitro cans).

Palace of Paper Sacks - 4.5 - Saison base aged in both red and white wine barrels with Rose Diamond nectarines from Masumoto Farms, adjuncted at a rate of roughly two pounds per barrel. Twelve months in barrels with mixed cultures, three months on fruit, then several months of bottle conditioning. Nose is huge on nectarines, redolent of biting into a perfectly ripe piece of stone fruit - just huge, juicy nectarine with mild acidity and funk backing it up. Moderate acidity hits the tongue first, followed by more of the massive nectarine character and some mild to moderate funk. Long finish of lactic acidity and oak. Most of us agreed it was better than batch one, which was a damn good beer in its own right.

Assorted Notes:
1) An informal poll at the end of the tasting for favorite BA DT variant showed a roughly event split for NOLA and Pistachio/Coconut with a few votes for Raspberry/BA Coffee. I voted NOLA based on what I've tasted so far, but I'm curious to revisit once I've had a chance to drink a can of each all to myself. Right now, my order is NOLA > Pistachio/Coconut >> Raspberry/BA Coffee >> Strawberry/Vanilla, but I'm willing to be surprised once I've had time to assess them in a more controlled environment (namely, sitting on my couch watching concert DVDs).

2) Andrew asked if we wanted more info or less info in preview tastings. Thankfully, no one said less, but I'm curious if other people care about some of the details that they share and I try to pass on. I love getting info like dosage rates for adjuncts, sources of adjuncts, etc., but it's something they're looking for feedback on. If you like all this info, comment so they'll keep sharing it.

3) The Fermentorium has its crowler machine up and running and League members can get crowlers of anything that is also available for League fills. Not sure if/when North Park will get a crowler machine. We were also told that we should expect to see an expanded selection of options for crowlers in 2018. It will be an evolving set of rules, but essentially, we should be able to get fills of anything except barrel aged beers and the current monthly hazy IPA can release. Don't take that as gospel, but that's the rough idea. Also on the crowler front, the League will get two included crowler fills and the ToLC will get four included crowler fills. Rather than specific beers, as we got in 2017, we'll get vouchers for free fills - with some exclusions for expensive fills - that we can use on whatever we want.

4) Ice will be a year round draft beer moving forward. This pleases me. Cans would be rad, but as long as we can grab crowlers of it whenever we want (more or less), that will suffice.

5) LA and Portland are both on track to be open by 01/01/18. Steven might have provided a more specific estimate on LA, but in protest of Kurtis MacDermid of the Kings being a ******* goon and injuring Ondrej Kase tonight, I'm choosing to not relay it. **** LA.

6) Bonus beer thoughts - Almost Finally Open in LA and Night Tides are both damn good. Night Tides is a touch green but has a really nice hop profile, I think it'll be excellent in cans.

7) Bonus bonus beer thought - The new batch of Black House w/ Coconut & Cacao Nibs is dialed in, the coconut is absolutely on point. Nice to have something in the fridge on the dessert end of the spectrum that's not 13% ABV.

 

[rcubed1]

Yep, the Kings can suck it.

 

[jwacky]

3) The Fermentorium has its crowler machine up and running and League members can get crowlers of anything that is also available for League fills. Not sure if/when North Park will get a crowler machine. We were also told that we should expect to see an expanded selection of options for crowlers in 2018. It will be an evolving set of rules, but essentially, we should be able to get fills of anything except barrel aged beers and the current monthly hazy IPA can release. Don't take that as gospel, but that's the rough idea. Also on the crowler front, the League will get two included crowler fills and the ToLC will get four included crowler fills. Rather than specific beers, as we got in 2017, we'll get vouchers for free fills - with some exclusions for expensive fills - that we can use on whatever we want.

When you say "we", do you mean League members? With the typical limited selection remaining for non-League? That's one of the exclusivity perks that is a huge draw to this membership for me.

 

[Xul1]

When you say "we", do you mean League members? With the typical limited selection remaining for non-League? That's one of the exclusivity perks that is a huge draw to this membership for me.

Yes, the expanded selection will be for the League and there will be exclusive fills that aren't available to the public.

 

[chemman141]

Excellent tasting as usual tonight. Jacob was absent but Andrew and Steven combined to deliver everything we could want to know about the beers and League updates. Steven - looking forward to doing LA, Portland, and San Diego preview tastings every month?

Preface to the beers - This will probably sound like I'm being a Modern Times apologist, but it's a format-specific issue to nitro cans. Splitting them across multiple small pours tends to result in a sub-optimal mouthfeel and aroma, so my thoughts on the beers might not be entirely reflective of what we'll taste out of the cans once we get them. Not a complaint at all, I appreciate the preview tastings and it's as close as we can get, just providing some context to the scores and notes. As an example, I tried NOLA BA DT on draft and thought it was a 4.5 beer but when I got home and cracked a full can, I was immediately texting a couple friends about how it was knocking my tits off. Your mileage may vary.

BA Devil's Teeth w/ Pistachios & Coconut - 4.75 - As with the other variants, it spent eight to twelve months in barrels. 150lbs of roasted pistachios spread across the batch and over five pounds of coconut per barrel, which was blend of both toasted and untoasted coconut. Aroma is dominated by roasted pistachio with coconut being fairly mild. The palate flips the script with coconut going hard in the paint - not crossing into suntan lotion though - while the pistachio supports and vanilla and barrel notes lurk in the background. The most dessert-like of tonight's DT variants, Andrew's comment about it being liquid Rocky Road ice cream wasn't far off.

BA Devil's Teeth w/ Strawberries & Vanilla - 4.25 - Freeze dried strawberry powder and, directly quoting Andrew, "a lot of vanilla." The vanilla - 100% Madagascar vanilla beans - was added fairly early and some of the barrels aged on vanilla beans for six to eight weeks. The nose was a bit muted but as it warmed it revealed more vanilla than strawberry, with the fruit taking a slightly earthier hue. On the palate, rounded strawberry led with moderate vanilla character coming behind it and a finish of earthy, bittersweet chocolate. Of all the variants, I found this one the hardest to get a great read on. It showed all the components properly and is quite good, but I think enjoying a can to myself will be very enlightening.

BA Devil's Teeth w/ Raspberries & BA Coffee - 4.5 - Freeze dried raspberries and 90 lbs of barrel aged coffee. Nose is dominated by BA coffee character with raspberry tickling at the edges, intermingling with the coffee itself. The palate opens up with massive coffee character but quickly rolls into chocolate covered raspberries - semisweet, but far from cloying. The balance between the chocolate/raspberry side and the coffee side is well executed, with barrel and vanilla notes playing between the two. I think the mix of adjuncts works well, but I also have to admit, I probably would've preferred nitro cans of BA DT w/ BA Coffee. That has generally been my favorite BA DT variant and I certainly enjoyed the addition of raspberry - and will be buying cans - I don't think it was an improvement. I'm glad to see Modern Times experimenting and taking chances, but I definitely hope to see BA DT w/ BA Coffee make a return next year (be it bottles, cans, or nitro cans).

Palace of Paper Sacks - 4.5 - Saison base aged in both red and white wine barrels with Rose Diamond nectarines from Masumoto Farms, adjuncted at a rate of roughly two pounds per barrel. Twelve months in barrels with mixed cultures, three months on fruit, then several months of bottle conditioning. Nose is huge on nectarines, redolent of biting into a perfectly ripe piece of stone fruit - just huge, juicy nectarine with mild acidity and funk backing it up. Moderate acidity hits the tongue first, followed by more of the massive nectarine character and some mild to moderate funk. Long finish of lactic acidity and oak. Most of us agreed it was better than batch one, which was a damn good beer in its own right.

Assorted Notes:
1) An informal poll at the end of the tasting for favorite BA DT variant showed a roughly event split for NOLA and Pistachio/Coconut with a few votes for Raspberry/BA Coffee. I voted NOLA based on what I've tasted so far, but I'm curious to revisit once I've had a chance to drink a can of each all to myself. Right now, my order is NOLA > Pistachio/Coconut >> Raspberry/BA Coffee >> Strawberry/Vanilla, but I'm willing to be surprised once I've had time to assess them in a more controlled environment (namely, sitting on my couch watching concert DVDs).

2) Andrew asked if we wanted more info or less info in preview tastings. Thankfully, no one said less, but I'm curious if other people care about some of the details that they share and I try to pass on. I love getting info like dosage rates for adjuncts, sources of adjuncts, etc., but it's something they're looking for feedback on. If you like all this info, comment so they'll keep sharing it.

3) The Fermentorium has its crowler machine up and running and League members can get crowlers of anything that is also available for League fills. Not sure if/when North Park will get a crowler machine. We were also told that we should expect to see an expanded selection of options for crowlers in 2018. It will be an evolving set of rules, but essentially, we should be able to get fills of anything except barrel aged beers and the current monthly hazy IPA can release. Don't take that as gospel, but that's the rough idea. Also on the crowler front, the League will get two included crowler fills and the ToLC will get four included crowler fills. Rather than specific beers, as we got in 2017, we'll get vouchers for free fills - with some exclusions for expensive fills - that we can use on whatever we want.

4) Ice will be a year round draft beer moving forward. This pleases me. Cans would be rad, but as long as we can grab crowlers of it whenever we want (more or less), that will suffice.

5) LA and Portland are both on track to be open by 01/01/18. Steven might have provided a more specific estimate on LA, but in protest of Kurtis MacDermid of the Kings being a ******* goon and injuring Ondrej Kase tonight, I'm choosing to not relay it. **** LA.

6) Bonus beer thoughts - Almost Finally Open in LA and Night Tides are both damn good. Night Tides is a touch green but has a really nice hop profile, I think it'll be excellent in cans.

7) Bonus bonus beer thought - The new batch of Black House w/ Coconut & Cacao Nibs is dialed in, the coconut is absolutely on point. Nice to have something in the fridge on the dessert end of the spectrum that's not 13% ABV.

Thanks as usual for the detailed writeup and information. As suspected I am going to need some of those Pistachio cans.

 

[Xul1]

Steven posted a couple corrections over on BA, copying here to make sure people see them:

Great detailed review as always man! Just wanted to correct a couple of points.

Members will indeed be able to get barrel-aged crowler fills. When I mentioned not being able to get those fills, I meant as the complimentary crowler fills included in your membership.

Portland will actually be open on February 1st, with pickups being available in January for members while we do our tasting room renovations. LA will most likely be open in December, and there will be a League preview night as promised.

Cheers,

Steven Michael
Modern Times Beer

 

[rcubed1]

Is MT going to make a new IPA that isn't hazy that gets canned? It's out of control.

 

[Tyrsis]

Is MT going to make a new IPA that isn't hazy that gets canned? It's out of control.

ok grandpa

 

[drbenzo1]

Is MT going to make a new IPA that isn't hazy that gets canned? It's out of control.

Yes please

ok grandpa

Get off my lawn!

 

[rcubed1]

ok grandpa

FFS, CAN'T I GET A CAL ALE IPA WITH ALL THOSE NEW HOPS ERRRRRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIICCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[smithj21541]

FFS, CAN'T I GET A CAL ALE IPA WITH ALL THOSE NEW HOPS ERRRRRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIICCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just drink blazing world cans until city of the sun hits soon.

 

[smithj21541]

Just bought a six pack for almost a hundred. I feel dirty and am not regretting my decision to drop the membership next year.

 

[Original Fake]

Is MT going to make a new IPA that isn't hazy that gets canned? It's out of control.

I'm wondering the same damn thing.

 

[ModernTimesSteven]

For those of you who haven't heard, we're doing 3 League welcome parties this year. They'll be in San Diego, Los Angeles, and Portland. We will send out an RSVP email later this month where you can choose a location. League members get 2 complimentary tickets, while Theory of Leisure Committee members get 3.

Today we decided on Saturday, January 20th for the San Diego party. We're still waiting to decide on the date for LA and Portland, but I wanted to keep everyone up-to-date in the event that you'll be attending the San Diego party so you can make travel plans accordingly.

Cheers,

Steven Michael
Modern Times Beer

 

[user 305778]

No idea if this is really the proper thread or person for it, but whatever. ModernTimesSteven: Do you happen to know if Modern Times is officially distributing to Philly still? I've seen some new stuff around including Devil's Teeth but have 0 idea if this is an ongoing thing or just random. If you know the answer, thanks!

 

[ModernTimesSteven]

No idea if this is really the proper thread or person for it, but whatever. ModernTimesSteven: Do you happen to know if Modern Times is officially distributing to Philly still? I've seen some new stuff around including Devil's Teeth but have 0 idea if this is an ongoing thing or just random. If you know the answer, thanks!

Every once in a while we do a random order to a new market like Philly, but I believe that's a one time thing (or something that doesn't happen very often). If you shoot an email to [email protected] I can pass that along to our distro team for a solid answer.

Cheers,

Steven Michael
Modern Times Beer

 

[Tyrsis]

Every once in a while we do a random order to a new market like Philly, but I believe that's a one time thing (or something that doesn't happen very often). If you shoot an email to [email protected] I can pass that along to our distro team for a solid answer.

Cheers,

Steven Michael
Modern Times Beer

So basically shadowane, expect a bunch of MT stuff from me

 

[user 305778]

Every once in a while we do a random order to a new market like Philly, but I believe that's a one time thing (or something that doesn't happen very often). If you shoot an email to [email protected] I can pass that along to our distro team for a solid answer.

Cheers,

Steven Michael
Modern Times Beer

Thanks Steven, that's super helpful, I'll definitely email you. Appreciate the response.

 

[user 305778]

So basically shadowane, expect a bunch of MT stuff from me

I'll always take MT. I had the Devil's Teeth w/ coffee just before Halloween and it was awesome.

 

[chemman141]

Does anyone know the proper way to pour the nitro cans? I had one the other night, poured it hard, and no cascade. I've heard I need to shake it violently, softly, or not at all. Which is it?

 

[ModernTimesSteven]

Does anyone know the proper way to pour the nitro cans? I had one the other night, poured it hard, and no cascade. I've heard I need to shake it violently, softly, or not at all. Which is it?

Turn the can completely upside down over the glass. No shaking needed!

Cheers,

Steven Michael
Modern Times Beer