“Barrel ageing, blending and using different yeasts, this embraces our love of the unpredictability of wild yeast with the subtlety and complexity of maturation in oak barrels. A study in patience, it takes at least 90 days for the wild yeast to work its magic. Modus Operandi is the perfect accompaniment to red meat and game dishes, such as duck or venison, a beer that could easily replace a red wine on the dinner table. A transformation of an old English ale into a beer that is Wildly different. A unique, dark, flavourful beer with a smooth, rich, full body and complex fruit flavours of berries, sweet cherries and tannins”.
From the second you pop this you will know you’re in for a rich and complex beer. Poured into a tulip glass the colour of the body displayed a deep mahogany with a fizzy 1 and a half finger head that reduces quickly without a lot of lacing to be seen. Now on to this complex aroma. Woah. Initially we picked up sour wafts of whiskey, oak and raisin but just underneath sits an arsenal of phenolic fragrances like balsamic vinegar, sour cherry, prunes and creamy vanilla. Mildly carbonated with a soft, almost oily mouth feel. Very moreish palate. An array of smoky flavours being detected, initially we picked up plum, raisin and oak. Sour acidic notes of vinegar and berries that develop in the mid-palate are drawn out all the way to the back end. A warming touch of alcohol finishes off a very, very complex and acquired palate. Not for the every day beer drinker this one. If you’re like us and this is your first crack at a sour this would be the entry level choice. Very different.