The beer: Former Tenant Red IPA.

Where did it come from?: Modus Operandi in Mona Vale. The beer itself came out of a canimal, which is like a growler, except it’s a can. Yep, they fill the can at the bar and then use a machine to seal the lid on the can right before your eyes.

What’s it like?: It’s a deliciously sticky, resiny, mango-and passionfruit flavoured joy. There’s also a decent amount of sweetness from the malt. The label on my can says 7.8% but I’m going to assume that’s a typo because it doesn’t taste like a alcohol-laden beer.

Why do you like it?: Because it came in a canimal. I love the canimal. But seriously, I was at the Craft Beer Industry Association awards last year and they had huge plastic tubs full of the beers that were sent for judging. You could just go up, open one and pour yourself a taster.

Tasting so many beers, it can be hard for one to stand out. But the Former Tenant did – the Modus IPA Zoo Feeder did as well.

And this was before they announced the awards those beers won (Champion Australian beer and Champion amber/dark ale for the former and Australia’s best IPA for the latter). So when they were called out, I totally understood why.

Okay, now you can tell the story you think is funny/interesting?: The beer is named for the former tenant of the Modus Operandi brewery. The story I was told is that it was an import-export business that was growing a shedload of dope behind that big roller-door.

The cops were chasing after some crim in the streets with a sniffer dog. He jumped the fence and they followed, putting them right outside the brewery.

Then, apparently, the sniffer dog went apeshit from all the marijuana aroma.