Modus Operandi is leading the way in Australi in terms of brewing a varied cast of wonderful IPA’s in both their core and seasonal ranges. ‘Gadzooks! IPA’ and ‘Tropical Contact High IPA’ are both New England IPA’s, released at the same time. They were hard to find (I bought mine at Leura Cellars) and quite pricey (500mL for $17), but they are well made and at 6.3% and 6.8% reasonable value and a great exercise in beer nerdism to sit down and drink side by side in a comparative tasting. The verdict? Gadzooks! pips Tropical Contact High by a point. Both are delicious beers though. Modus have done it again.

Tropical Contact High

Can. Pours a light, hazy gold with a pure white frothy head that sticks to the glass. Big, juicy aromas of pineapple, passionfruit, watermelon, grapefruit, green papaya and mango. The palate is dominated with lemon and lime citrus along with tropical fruit. An edge of pine bitterness works throughout, with a touch of malt in the background providing some structure to the dry finish.

Appearance: 4/5
Aroma: 8/10
Flavour: 8/10
Palate: 4/5
Overall: 14/20

Gadzooks!

Can. Pours a hazy gold, with a thin white head. Not as juicy, but full of inviting aromas of passionfruit, citrus, grassy notes and a touch of mango. Breakfast juice flavours of passionfruit, grapefruit and pineapple, are held together with moderate pine bitterness and an earth and grass finish. Slightly more balanced and not quite as bitter as the Tropical Contact High.

Appearance: 4/5
Aroma: 8/10
Flavour: 8/10
Palate: 4/5
Overall: 15/20