“Meet the fifth instalment of our Brewer Series: an American Brown Ale that’s rich, smooth and full of character without losing drinkability. Born from the US craft beer movement, this style takes traditional English brown ales and dials up the hops – bringing subtle citrus and pine notes into layers of toasted nuts, caramel and dark chocolate malt.”

Glassware: English pint.

Appearance: Chestnut brown with mahogany hues. It forms a three finger head which takes ions to recede. Thick, blotchy lace trails cling to the glass as it ebbs.

Aroma: Smells magnificent. Really impressive depth to the malts. Down deep is this light roasted quality which we love in brown ales. Backing up are heady wafts of burnt toast, toffee, treacle, cocoa and wood shavings. The American aspect is represented darn well also… displaying oily citrus/rind, pine needle and herbal spice. An underlying earthiness to it all as well.

Flavour: Doesn’t possess the depth and richness it had on the aroma unfortunately. Alas, it still offers a hearty mix of toast, chocolate, cocoa and caramel that is nicely cut through by the citrusy, piney and earthy hops. As expected, the Citra, Centennial and Simcoe hops provide a nice line of bitterness that carries it all into a dry, toasty finish with lingering pine and nuttiness on the rear.

Mouthfeel: Smooth and silky then slightly drier post-swallow. Modest Co2, medium body and a neat little 5% ABV.

Overall: Jeez it’s been a long time between drinks for us and Modus. 6 years to be exact. This American brown ale is the perfect reminder as to why they were one of our top 5 Aussie breweries at one stage. Solid offering.