SKA Modus Hoperandi IPA

Brewed by SKA Brewing
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Durango, Colorado USA

Sample at the Eurostash II tasting on 12/12/09: Canned version. This brew is a clear copper color with a medium off-white head that has good retention. Sticky patches of lacing on the glass. Piney hops aroma with a good balance of malt. Medium body with a moderately bitter hops character that has citrusy and piney notes. This is offset by a fairly robust malty base. The finish is hoppy with a lingering bitterness left behind. Overall this is a straightforward and well-executed IPA.

12oz bottle from Santa. Pours a translucent dark copper color with a small, eggy white head that receedes leaving heavy lacing and a filmy island. Nose is very piney hops, bright and clear smelling. Palate is very sticky with a quick bitter bite before devouring all saliva in your mouth, leaving in covered in film. FLavor is those bright, piney and floral hops with a light toasty malt note.

12 oz. can. Clear copper with a lasting quarter inch of head. Aroma of fresh green herby hop, resin and citrus. Flavor follows similarly. Light-medium body is dry and drinkable.

12oz can. Pours a clear orange-bronze colored body with a finger-width, firm, off-white head that dissipates slowly and leaves a good amount of sticky lacing. Aroma has lots of pines, sweet grapefruit and tangerine citrus with a light resin. Some caramels and crystals provide a solid malt balance along with a pinch of pepper. Flavor is thinner, sweeter caramels and crystals initially before lots of grapefruits and pines come in. Finishes with a thin malt sweetness and plenty of hops. Moderate bitterness and a light resin that dries the palate and leaves a lengthy, grapefruit pine aftertaste. Thinner body and somewhat watery initially, but not very distracting. Overall, a very straightforward, well-hopped IPA. Thinner malts and body, but it stays balanced enough to remain enjoyable. Not the best, but much better than the worst.

12 oz. can -> English pint. Poured an amber resin orange, with an eggshell head. Slight lacing, with a constant approx. 1/8th inch head. Smells of skunky hops, citrus, grass, and evergreens. Tastes like a can of skunky grape fruit juice, with some grassy, cereal-y undertones. Also tastes like it came from a can. I’ve had this in a bottle, and remembered enjoying it, which is why I bought the cans. Not bad from a can, but I’d like to re-rate a bottle.

From a 12oz can - clear, copper, with a decent white head. Very piney, earthy aroma. Flavor is piney, flinty, but there is also a weird medicinal flavor that kinda messes up the whole thing. OK, I guess.

Nice fruity aroma; citrus, berries with minty hops. Reddish brown in color with a caramel colored head. Big hops flavor that dominates over everything, with a a medicinal bitter aftertaste. It’s a little oily on the palate for a very slick mouth feel. Overall a good representation of the style, a solid effort.

Can. Pours light brown with a white head. Aroma is pine and citrus hops with a little caramel malt. Flavor starts with a little caramel sweetness and is then all hops. Pine, grapefruit, floral notes, with just enough malt to keep it from going overboard. Nice bitter finish.