Try?
It’s official! The beers of Ska brewing, they of Durango, Colorado, are coming to Southern California. I know this because it showed up on my beer alerts thanks to an article in the Cortez Journal, and they seemed to be pretty darned excited about it. They further elaborate current distribution areas as:
Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri, Texas, Illinois and North Carolina, as well as Sweden.
You’ll notice Georgia is not on that list, yet here I am drinking a can of Ska Modus Hoperandi India Pale Ale. This came via a beer trade (thanks Dale!), and it’s my first ever brew from Ska. It’s a very impressive one as well. One thing I’ve noticed is that the band around the top of the can is full of advice on all the great things you can do while enjoying your Modus Hoperandi: WALK, KITE, RECYCLE, HIDE, SEEK, PLANT, RECYCLE, GROW, SHOWER, HHH, TUBE, RECYCLE.
Don’t forget to recycle.
This
isn’t the first beer like this, either: recent cans of
Baxter
Stowaway IPA
and
Terrapin
Hi-5 IPA
have similar advice along the top of the can.
Anyway, here’s what the brewery says about Modus Hoperandi:
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 a deep golden-orange color. Bitter and hoppy, with a surprisingly smooth finish.
Ska Modus Hoperandi India Pale Ale has an alcohol content of 6.8% by volume and 68 IBUs.
Ska Modus Hoperandi India Pale Ale pours to a bright orange color with a thick rocky head of chunky foam and a fragrant resiny nose of piney hops. Taking a sip, the beer has thick chewy caramel malt up front followed by more of the resiny, piney hops and a long bitter dry finish that lingers on the tongue. Citrus grapefruit poke sin and out as well, although for me I got more of the resiny pine tar notes.
Not different from so many other American IPAs but a welcome breath of fresh air in this day of thinly malted “west coast IPAs”. Definitely a beer I would buy repeatedly if it were sold in my area.
And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.
*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.
(B)=Bottled
(D)=Draft
