THE BREWSPAPER / WEST COASTER MAG'S READERS POLL

Modern Times Brewery's North Park Flavordome, 30th & Upas

Editor’s note.  Eight-year-old West Coaster craft beer monthly magazine and daily website ran an online poll for two months on its website. After crunching the numbers, the San Diego based beer news outlet did its best to determine why readers voted the way they did. For the next few weeks, PillartoPost will share snapshots from West Coaster’s 2017 Best in Beer reader’s poll.  Text by Mike Shess, Publisher, West Coaster.

Best Brewery: Modern Times Beer

Modern Times is unstoppable. We can’t keep up. The Loma Portal-based brewery is ambitiously opening satellite operations in Los Angeles, Anaheim, Portland and Santa Barbara. In 2017, they set the standard for one-off canned releases and hazy hoppy San Diegan beers. Last July, Modern Times began an employee stock ownership plan. No other brewery in town is doing so much so well. Winner of this category in 2015, we had the sneaking suspicion that this brewery was just finding its legs. Now, we know that Modern Times is just getting warmed up.

 Best Beer Artwork: Modern Times Cans

Take beer out of the equation and Modern Times is an impressive marketing machine in its own respect. The branding and artwork has been top tier since the brewery’s inception – cans especially. When the brewery began dropping tons of specialty releases, we started to see the cans elevate away from mere vessels of beverage containment into bonafide art. Last year, we consistently saw fresh, awesome design handiwork appear from this brewery. Where other breweries just slap a sticker on a blank can, Modern Times made every one-off release that much more unique by giving as much attention to the can’s design as to the beer within.

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