A little while back, the Crew was a bit surprised to receive an out-of-the-blue inquiry from Emily Hutto of Ska Brewing. She wondered if we would like to sample the classic Modus Hoperandi IPA alongside its new counterpart, Double Modus.

Everyone can probably guess that our answer was yes. After working out our usual “when are you free” issues thanks to jobs/families/events, Franz Solo and I were able to sit down this past weekend and sample the two hop-forward ales side by side.

Here is a bit of our rambling discussion. Franz Solo is more of our IPA expert, so I let him do most of the talking. After all, I had to keep an eye on the two little balls of allergy cuteness (kittens) who kept eyeing my shoelaces.

First up, we split the can of the Durango brewery’s OG IPA, Modus Hoperandi.

Franz Solo: On the nose, cannabis, overripe tropical fruit, kind of melon-ish, and a hint of orange pith. On the palate, very bright citrus, tangerine, orange, grapefruit. A lovely, lingering bitter finish, kind of going mid-palate and back. This is very much an old-school IPA in all of the best possible ways before the haze took hold. In terms of the malts, I like that, judging from the color, how amber it is, there’s definitely some crystal in here or other malts that I can’t really detect. Suffice it to say, because I can’t really detect them, they’re playing very nicely with the hops, and that is a very good thing.

Stoutmeister: There’s nothing really sweet about it.

Franz Solo: It’s a very well crafted (IPA), top to bottom, inside and out. It takes all the best elements, I think, of what a classic West Coast is and I think should be.

As the kittens curled up to sleep, we moved on to the Double Modus, utilizing the classic IPA Challenge glasses from years ago. As this beer was new to both of us, we had a bit more to say.

Franz Solo: It’s somewhat grassier.

Stoutmeister: A little brighter, just a little … more of a sweet citrus pop going out of the aroma.

Franz Solo: More like a candied orange peel kind of vibe to it, a candied lemon peel. Hints of lime. Smooth, deadly.

Stoutmeister: That’s dangerous.

Franz Solo: How is that 9 percent (ABV)? … That is velvety smooth on the palate. Yeah, you’ve got a winner here.

Stoutmeister: Nice little resin rush on it. It’s sticky, malty. This is a big beer that … ooo.

Franz Solo: Pour it into a boot! Bad decisions later!

Stoutmeister: The sinuses are back to normal.

Franz Solo: I can breathe again, this is lovely.

Stoutmeister: It’s quite the IPA, or double IPA, we should say.

Franz Solo: It’s quite the double. Quite a bit more … you can smell the alcohol a bit more. You have that in the mix. Certainly more in the range of candied citrus rather than just citrus and melon as one gets from a slightly lower ABV. The mouthfeel, you can immediately tell this is different. Much smoother overall. Very, very drinkable.

Stoutmeister: It’s very balanced, a lot of balance to this one. Regular Modus has its place, but I think this one is an evolution of Modus.

Franz Solo: There’s still the bitterness there, but it’s slightly more matched by the additional alcohol and the malts that I assume are similar or just slightly more adjusted than the 6.8-percent regular Modus.

Stoutmeister: They did very, very well with this one. This can be a summer in Durango beer, or even a winter in Durango beer.

Franz Solo: This is very nice, akin to a Celebration style ale. For wintertime, it brings to mind to me, well, Celebration Ale and Double Bastard back when I was first tasting that.

Stoutmeister: Again, I just like that it’s more of a throwback to the early days of the West Coast IPA explosion.

Franz Solo: But, without the excessive astringency and bitterness. Using all the modern techniques, and accentuating the more desirable aspects of the hops, the resin, the terpenes, all of that makes this really, really something that I very much enjoy.

Stoutmeister: We will have to look for this on our store shelves.

Franz Solo: That we shall. Thanks ever so much for sending these out to us.

Stoutmeister: Thank you, Ska.

Franz Solo: Thank you, Ska!

Yeah, we mean it when we say that Double Modus is a DIPA worthy of sitting on shelves alongside the best that Albuquerque has to offer. Of course, that is just our opinion. The rest of you should seek out this beer and judge it for yourselves. Whether you do that here in New Mexico, or grab a can or a pint in Durango en route to the slopes at Purgatory, let us know what you think of Double Modus and the original Modus Hoperandi.

Thank you, one more time, to Emily for sending these over to us.

Oh, and there was no post-drinking allergy explosion due to Diggy and Figgy (yes, that’s their names). Good kittehs.

Cheers!

— Stoutmeister