Neverwhere

When it first opened back in 2013, I found the beers from Modern Times Beer fine enough, but not exciting. Lomaland was a decent saison, and if I remember right, Blazing World, not marketed then as an IPA, and Fortunate Islands, then a hoppy wheat beer and now a pale ale, were good but not stellar beers. I thought Black House stout the best beer from the new brewery. I did, though, appreciate Modern Times' attempt to build a core list of beers and avoid the all-IPA, all the time route. Then, soon after it opened, I bought a bottle of Modern Times' special release Neverwhere, an IPA that used Brettanomyces yeast, a yeast used in sours and wild ales, not IPAs. I found it bold and creative, a beer that worked at all my sensory levels. It was funky and intense of character, but remained easy to drink. Neverwhere, in my opinion, raised Modern Times to the level of a serious brewery.

Earlier this summer, in its first July special release, Modern Times re-released Neverwhere in 16 oz cans. I am not sure how much this version of Neverwhere adheres to the original recipe, but it still has a heavy Brett influence, which I liked in the first version. It has a 7.0% abv, nice tropical sweetness, and a funky dryness. It poured orange with a slight cloud; not clear like a West Coast IPA, but not a hazy IPA either.

Modern Times described the beer as,"Fermented with an irrepressibly tropical strain of Brett yeast and hopped with generous amounts of 100% Citra hops, this beer is an explosion of pineapple-laden fruit character, without the tartness of funk typically associated with Brett beers." It had minimal hop bitterness, and I disagree with Modern Times' claim that Neverwhere does not have tartness or funk; it does and that is the joy of the beer, and why you want to drink it. 

Since 2013, Modern Times has earned its status as an elite brewery. It retired Lomaland; Blazing World is now called an IPA; and Black House remains excellent. Modern Times has added beers to its core line up, including Ice pilsner, and releases a number of seasonal and regular monthly beers. It also offers one or two special releases of canned and bottled beers per month, which may include collaborations with other breweries. Modern Times can push boundaries with these beers, and it is where it offered Neverwhere. 

The environment surrounding IPAs has changed since 2013. Hazy IPAs, nonexistent in 2013, have become common, of which Modern Times is a master, and new hops varieties have been developed to lessen bitterness and enhance fruit flavors. I half-expected reality and seven years of IPA evolution to tarnish my opinion of Neverwhere. That did not happen. Neverwhere is still one heck of a standout beer.