Modern Times Beer

Modern Times Beer came highly recommended by a fellow beer geek and lifelong family friend. He set high expectations before I even stepped foot into their tasting room. He raved about their beer and insisted that something different was happening here. With glowing reviews from a fellow brew brat, Modern Times leap frogged to the top of the list on my YOTB journey.

I assembled a rag tag team of beer lovers and visited Modern Times on a Friday night.  The Brewery and Tasting Room is situated amongst the classiest of establishments just off Rosecrans in the Sports Arena area. For those of you unfamiliar with this part of town, it’s home to several adult entertainment businesses including live entertainment, if you get my drift.

Modern Times is a massive warehouse hidden in a dark alley and completely missable unless you know what you’re looking for. The tasting room is set up inside the brewery in true SD brewery fashion. The people at Modern Times have done a good job of camouflaging the industrial warehouse and transforming it into a hip tasting room. From the tumbleweed chandeliers to the post-it note mosaic (yeah, you heard me right) the decor is nothing if not unique. The tasting room is separated from the brewery by the bar and bookshelves that house leather bound books and Modern Times merchandise, mostly T-shirts and sweatshirts. The bar itself is made up of granite slab resting atop stacks of leather bound books. As for the tasting room walls, it looks as if they assigned each wall to a different person and challenged them to cover it as creatively and colorfully as possible.  One wall is covered in comic book pages with a yellow MT logo proudly protruding from the pages.  A second wall is covered floor to ceiling in post-it notes to create an image of what looks to me like a lady and her monkey.  The third, and less demanding, wall is covered in pages from books (perhaps the books under the bar) with framed art over top the pages.  See for yourself…

Now for the beer. There were 6 beers available for tasting.  In a town where hoppy, high alcohol IPA’s run the show, Modern Times refuses to conform. Of the 6 beers available only one of them had an ABV above 8%. They offer their beers by the pint or as tasters. You can taste their 4 year round beers for $8.00 or $5.00 by the pint. Their special releases cost slightly more but they still don’t break the bank. I tasted all 6 beers that were available, starting with the year round brews and finished off with the special releases.

Taster of Year Round brews. From Left: Lomaland, Fortunate Island, Black House, Blazing World

Year Round Brews:
Lomaland – Saison (5.5% ABV) – A light yellow beer with snowwhite foamy head. It’s a crisp beer with high carbonation and citrus flavors. The taste is sweet with a light bitterness on the finish. This one was little light in flavor for my personal preference but it goes down the hatch easily and is a good place to start.

Fortunate Island – Wheat (4.8% ABV) – This golden honey beer with minimal head has hops on the nose. The hops won’t slap you in the face like some IPA’s do but their presence is known. It’s a well balanced beer with an earthy flavor. It’s as if an IPA and wheat beer got married and had a baby named Fortunate Island.

Black House – Coffee Stout (5.8% ABV) – This one was a standout for sure. It is all stout with a dark black color and a thin kahaki head. It has an obvious coffee flavor and mild dark chocolate with a silky smooth finish. It’s an easy drinking stout with full body and roasted malts. Fun fact – Modern Times is one of the only breweries to roast their own coffee which allows them complete control over the roasting processes and flavors.  This one is a must try!

Blazing World – Amber (6.8% ABV) – If you’re looking for a beer you have to eat, I found it for you. It doesn’t go down smoothly at first but it did start to grow on my by the time I finished my tasters. I’m not sure I could handle an entire pint. It’s a reddish/dark carmel color with a marshmallowy head. It’s heavy in hops and if you close your eyes you’d think it was an IPA, not your typical Amber.

Special Releases:
Southern Islands – IPA (6.8% ABV) – Besides Black House, this was my favorite beer of the bunch. It is a golden honey color with big fruit flavor like the Saison but more complex. It has almost a tropical flavor to it with hints of pineapple and tangerine but somehow they managed to keep the sour out. It has a creamy light body with a silky smooth texture. Another must try!

Lost Horizon – Double IPA (8.5% ABV – I must admit to you that by the time I go to this beer the previous five had influenced me too much to give it a fair review. It’s a cloudy red color with lots of head. I noted that I liked it but that’s about as far as I got with this one.

Modern Times is another win for San Diego. It’s a young brewery, only open for 6 months, but it’s already establishing itself as force to reckoned with. They do not serve food but they invite you to bring your own take out or order delivery. Well behaved children are welcomed but no pets (I know, that seems backwards to me too). They fill growlers with a pressurized (read: superior) pour and they will even fill other breweries growlers as long as you purchase a one size fits all Modern Times Koozie for your growler for $10.00. However, their growlers only cost $6.00 so I’m not sure there’s any benefit to bringing your own growler.

One last fun fact before I leave you. As if their low alcohol, high flavor beers weren’t enough to distinguish themselves from other craft breweries they are distributing their beer in retro cans, which many will argue are superior to bottles. But that’s another blog…

Bottoms Up!

-Amatece

Societe Brewing Company

Societe Brewing Company is largely responsible for the existence of YOTB. It only took me one visit to realize that something awesome was “brewing” in San Diego. (Forgive the pun, I couldn’t resist). If a brewery like this could exist a mile away from my work, admittedly one of the least hip parts of town, what other breweries were out there?! One google search later and I realized that I was living in a craft brew paradise! Societe quickly became a regular haunt for me and my coworkers not only because of it’s proximity to work but also because of the delicious beers that are being brewed there.

Fun fact about the Societe logo: The characters in the crowd are the brewers’ friends, family & industry colleagues who donned their best “bib & tucker” during a silhouette photoshoot.

Still a relatively new brewery, opened in May 2012, Societe has quickly penetrated the local brew scene. Their beer is available at their tasting room, at stores locally throughout San Diego and is popping up on more and more draft lists at local bars and restaurants, including Brooklyn Girl!

Their 3,000 square foot tasting room is situated next to their 16,000 square foot brewery in Kearny Mesa. Needless to say there is plenty of room for large groups to gather, post up and sip on a variety of brews. They offer beer by the pint or tasters and if you really can’t get enough you can take home a growler.  Their growlers are some of the coolest I’ve seen by far. They offer Stainless steal in 1 liter or 2 liter sizes and 2 liter glass growlers.  Unfortunately, the picture below doesn’t do the glass growler justice. The sweet metal handle is hiding in the back, as is the awesome lid. Not only are the lids of these Growlers aesthetically pleasing, but they are more functional than the screw cap lids. First off, you’re not going to lose these lids because they are attached to the growler. While this may not seem like a big deal, a guy at Ballast Point recently offered me $20.00 for my screw cap lid because the brewery was out of lids and therefore unable to fill Grolwers – sorry sucka! And secondly, the Societe style lid provides a tighter seal than a screw cap resulting in fresher and longer lasting beer. If you’re able to keep beer in a Growler for more than 24 hours then a tight seal is crucial for maximum preservation. They aren’t cheap though, the 2 liter growlers are $25.00 + beer fill so consider it an investment in you beer future. A fill ranges from $15 – $17 depending on the alcohol content so after your initial investment a growler fill is a great deal! 

As with most breweries, Societe doesn’t offer any food, however you can usually catch a food truck in their parking lot or plan ahead and BYOC (Bring Your Own Cheez-it’s, obvi). They even have take-out menus behind the bar if you want to order in. If Pho or Thai Food is your thing – you’re in the right neighborhood. Of course you’re only a few miles away from the best sandwich shop in the area, Litl’ Peppers. Do yourself a favor and try The Comeback – you’re welcome in advance.

Ok – let’s get into the beer!

Their beer list isn’t extensive but it is comprehensive. They may not offer 25 different beers but they do offer a variety. They’ve broken their beer list into three categories: Out West, Old World, and Stygian. I still haven’t figured out the different categories mean so if you know, please feel free to make use of the comment section.

Click image to enlarge

OUT WEST
The Publican
A Hoppy Ale (aka American Pale Ale) with 5.5% ABV. It’s a great beer to start with especially if you’re a fan of the hopier IPA’s –  consider this one a warm up. It has a fragrant citrusy aroma with plenty of hops for your nose. The appearance is a golden light colored with a foamy white head. It’s a beer that you could drink three or four of sitting by the pool or tailgating before a Charger game at Qualcomm Stadium and not get sick of it.

The Pupil
An IPA with 7.5% ABV. This beer is on the heavier, hopier side as compared to the Publican. On a recent self guided Brew tour with friends and family this beer garnered the worst reviews. The general opinion was that it was lack luster next to the other beers that were available. It had an earthy flavor and medium hops which made for a just “Ok” flavor.  Julie went so far as to compare it to armpit sweat. How she knows what armpit sweat tastes like, I believe, is the real issue here. Stay Classy San Diego.

The Scrapper
SD Dark Ale at 7.7% ABV. It was hard not to compare this beer to the Widow. They are both dark ales but this one doesn’t pack the punch that the Widow does. It also doesn’t have the alcohol content that the widow does – compare 7.7% ABV to 9.2%. Dang! I’m not really sure what an SD Dark Ale is but I like – let’s put San Diego on the map!

OLD WORLD
The Harlot
Belgian Extra at 6% ABV. This is the crowd pleaser. This is a beer that everyone can drink and enjoy. It’s similar in style and taste to a Stella – and who doesn’t love a Stella! This is another pool side beer. Yes, us San Diegan’s spend lots of time next to pools and finding the right pool side beer is key! Personally I’d take this one over the Publican.

The Debutante
Belgian Amber Ale at 7% ABV. This was a hit with the majority. It was Julie’s favorite and even Danny B, Mr. Bud Light himself, enjoyed a pint. Believe me, I’m just as shocked as you are. It’s dark in color but not quite brown. It’s a bigger beer but not imposing. It’s extremely well balanced and makes for a good drinking beer.

The Widow
Belgian Strong Dark at 9.2% ABV. My notes exactly: “Yummy, smooth & Brown.”  I’d say that about sums it up. This is my favorite Societe beer. It’s 9.2% ABV but it doesn’t have the alcohol flavor that some higher ABV beers do. It smells sweeter than it tastes and is balanced beautifully with dark malts.  I’m going through a brown ale phase and this one is just right. Some brown ale’s lack flavor or they taste earthy like dirt. I have a 1 liter Growler of this left over from my “Bring Your Own Growler” New Years Eve party and my mouth is watering just thinking about it.

STYGIAN
The Butcher
A Russian Imperial Stout at 9.8 % ABV.  It’s an inky, opaque dark stout that stains your glass. This is a full bodied beer that you have to eat, it’s like a meal in a glass. The alcohol was not disguised as well in this beer as it was in the Widow.  The complex  flavors include the bitterness of coffee and dark chocolate combined with the smoothness of oatmeal and dark malts.

The Pugulist
An Irisih Dry Stout at 5.2% ABV. This beer is dark in color with a cream colored head. It tastes like Guinness’s first cousin. It’s a thinner bodied beer as compared to the Butcher but with similar notes of coffee and dark chocolate. Personally, between the two I’d go for the Butcher every time. 

Left to Right: The Harlot, The Butcher, The Debutante

Societe ranks high on my list of favorite breweries. The interior is comfortable and welcoming as are the staff behind the bar. There are huge tables and ample seating. The vibe is very low key and basic – no frills or thrills just good beer and plenty of room to enjoy it. It’s located a few miles south of Miramar road which is one of the most highly populated areas of Craft Breweries in San Diego. If you’re in the area, do yourself a favor and head south of the 15 a few miles and pay Societe a visit. You’ll be glad you did.

Bottoms up!

-Amatece