10a. SKA Brewing Modus Hoperandi

SKA Brewing is located in Durango, CO. Colorado has more decent breweries per capita than I can shake a stick at. Sometimes I hate Colorado.

My traveling out of Dayton (and Elli's remaining behind) makes this the first day (of several, I’m sure) where we’ll need to have different beers—especially since coordinating beers across state lines is illegal in most states.

Elli’s choice for the day was SKA’s Modus Hoperandi. As she observes: There’s no lie in the name. With a dark amber color, a light head that maintains its crisp carbonation throughout, and a floral, citrus nose, Modus Hoperandi sets itself up as an aggressively hopped beer. While the overall mouthfeel is a bit thin, it has hints of crystal and roasted malt taste that set up the hefty bitterness that takes over after the light opening malt flavors, with a resiny hop finish that was crisp and clean. Overall, totally one-dimensional, but it’s my favorite dimension.

From the SKA website: “It's Old-Man Bitter. A mix of citrus and pine that will remind you of the time you went on a vision quest with your Native American cousin and woke up in a pine-grove full of grapefruit trees. An American-style India Pale Ale with deep golden-orange color. Bitter and hoppy, with a surprisingly smooth finish.”

I’m pretty certain that the people who wrote the second sentence thought it quite clever, but I’m equally certain that the same sentence almost perfectly represents the trite and overly narcissistic (can something actually be overly narcissistic?) nature of beer advertising language that makes me want to punch myself in the face. On behalf of myself and what we’re drinking, I’d like to apologize for its inclusion here.

ABV: 6.8%
IBU: 65
SRM: 7

(7/10/2009)