San Diego is crazy about craft beer and has been long hailed as a mecca for all things hopped and delicious. Modern Times Brewery is one of newer guys in town, brewing their first batch in May 2013. In the few short years they’ve been open, they’ve become one of the most prolific and respected purveyors of beer in Southern California. They have multiple locations in San Diego County, and participate in most, even run a few, of the largest beer festivals in the area.
In addition to beer, Modern Times has also beer roasting their own coffee for pretty much as long as they’ve been brewing. (They were the second beer brewery in the country to roast their own coffee beans.) They use a lot of this coffee in their beers and also sell beans for brewing at home. Recently they opened a cafe in their Fermatorium, their main location over in Point Loma. Naturally, we had to go check it out.
After a quick look at the coffee shop’s menu, I grabbed a Cold Brew Horchata Slushy. For those of you who’ve never had horchata before, it’s an addictively awesome rice milk drink with cinnamon and vanilla (although there are tons of variations on the drink depending on the area). Horchata by itself is a wonder, but this cold brew variation blew me away. Josh, who never, ever, ever drinks cold coffee even liked it when he tried a sip of mine. He got a pour over of their Ethiopia beans, his go to coffee drink.
Since we were already at the Fermatorium, we were obligated to go get a beer from the tap room, which is conveniently located right across the room from the coffee shop. I had the Schwarz, described as a Schwarzbier with Secret Beach Coffee. Schwarzbier is a German style dark lager known for its coffee flavors and deep, roasted malts. If you’re a fan of stouts, the Schwarz is a good choice.
Josh had the Roots of Coincidence, which is a Pale Ale brewed in collaboration with Cloudwater Brewing out of the UK. While we don’t drink pales too often, we both enjoyed Roots’ refreshing juiciness and would suggest it as a solid mid-afternoon sipping beer.
slightly luminous 