Sorachi Ace (IPA Is Dead)
BrewDog

Sorachi Ace (IPA Is Dead)Sorachi Ace (IPA Is Dead)
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From:
BrewDog
 
Scotland, United Kingdom
Style:
English IPA
ABV:
7.5%
Score:
86
Avg:
3.78 | pDev: 11.9%
Reviews:
19
Ratings:
23
Status:
Retired
Rated:
Dec 04, 2014
Added:
Mar 01, 2011
Wants:
  3
Gots:
  0
No description / notes.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
 
Rated: 2.25 by olradetbalder from Sweden

Dec 04, 2014
 
Rated: 3.5 by MordeciaFunk from Australia

Mar 09, 2012
 
Rated: 4 by MaryCeleste from Sweden

Dec 16, 2011
Photo of laituegonflable
Reviewed by laituegonflable from Australia

3.3/5  rDev -12.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
Pours an orangey amber colour with off-white head that's dense and crema-esque but with larger bubbles atop. Lace is nice, clingy but thin. Looks OK.

Smell is really rather odd. Big spicy orange aroma to that, sweet and glacé in a certain way but a citric tang to it and a slight booziness. Slight grand marnier kind of aroma. Touch of mandarin to it as well, and maybe some caramel malt underlying. I'm intrigued, but reserving judgement.

Taste is similar, but weak and largely missing actually. Tang on the front with slight orange and tangelo notes, descends into mid-palate which is frankly a bit insipid. Finishes stronger, with that grand marnier booziness, not very heavy though and could use more oomph. There's a spice to it and a richer citric note, but ultimately it's like a lightly spiced soft drink. Potential is there but some holes really need patching.

There's definitely body there and texture. Wish there were more flavour to go with it.

Drinks alright but there's room for improvement. I've seen other people use sorachi ace to far greater flavour results - our own homebrew operation included. Don't know what else to say; I'm disappointed.
Dec 08, 2011
Photo of lacqueredmouse
Reviewed by lacqueredmouse from Australia

4.1/5  rDev +8.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5
Pours a cloudy and very pleasant orange golden colour, with a speckled head of pocked bubbling. Foam is off-white, and a little flat, persisting only because of the large bubbles. Minimal lace. Body is quite thick and holds the fine carbonation very nicely. Looks pretty good, all up.

Nose is a very good exposé on Sorachi Ace. Big sweet, oaky vanilla characteristics coming through, along with a slight spice and a sharp lemony character. Vibrant and fresh.

Taste is wildly fruity, with massive characters of apricot pie coming through, tinged with lemon and peach. On the back, we get slight wood tannins and a dry, almost puckering bitterness. Feel is smooth for the most part, but with the dryness on the back and the really fragrant front palate characters, it could support a little more sweetness.

Ah, what a unique hop and what a unique beer. This does a great job of showcasing one of the more unusual hop varieties around today. It leaves nothing out, and leaves nothing to the imagination. By the end of the beer, Sorachi Ace is lying quivering, naked and violated in front of you, without any of its secrets intact.
Nov 26, 2011
 
Rated: 4.5 by mungus from Australia

Nov 20, 2011
Photo of MrKennedy
Reviewed by MrKennedy from Australia

3.7/5  rDev -2.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5
330ml bottle purchased from Slowbeer and poured into a Tripel Karmeliet tulip style glass.

Has an orange appearance with a touch of deep gold about it. Hazy and with an off-white head of foam that has good retention about it and a creamy look to it.

The smell is the best i've had from any use of this particular hop variety. Real distinct lemongrass there, so too some citrus rind.

Taste has predominantly a lemongrass flavour to it, a little floral as well.

Solid consistency to the bitterness from front to back giving it a nice mouthfeel.

It does what it sets out to achieve and that is a decent representation of a single hop variety. In fact it is the best representation of this particular single hop variety that i've come across. Not something that i could drink much of on any given night, it is just one of those things, but it does avoid the in your face abruptness that other beers that have used Sorachi Ace tend to have.
Sep 11, 2011
Photo of TobiasGoth
Reviewed by TobiasGoth from Sweden

4.12/5  rDev +9%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Appearance The IPA has a translucent to opaque apricot (SRM 13, read more about the Standard Reference Method) quality to it. A good centimeter of light beige head and artful lacings to go with it. Some doughy lees left at the bottom of the bottle.

Smell Aromatic hops and hay, crammed with the summer fruits of nectarine and apricot (once again!) but also a background splash of exotic coconut.

Taste A saccharine taste initially reminding me of brown sugar. Then gently biting hops, following by a world of exotics fruits, apricots, nectarine and cantaloupe. Ending in a dry and hoppy finish.

Mouthfeel Medium and soft, just enough of carbonation to playfully alert my tongue. Damn, they’ve definitely nailed the body and carbonation on this series of beers, it’s rock solid.

Sorachi Ace, a hop variety I recently discovered but have come to enjoy and cherish dearly. I truly like this but to be honest the Nelson Sauvin has still has to be my favorite in this four pack series. There just too many flavors at once and the sweets and bitters go in too many different directions occasionally.
Sep 06, 2011
Photo of spicelab
Reviewed by spicelab from Australia

3.98/5  rDev +5.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5
With thanks to Chris@Slowbeer.

Stained orange, moderately opaque. Large fine white head, retreats slowly, depositing nice lace trails.

A lot has been said about the characteristic lemongrass and custard notes of Sorachi, so I won't repeat it here. Even more prominent for me is massively overripe banana skins. Plenty of garden compost as well. Malts are obviously around but mainly provide a very solid backbone.

Pretty similar to the nose, with additional hints of bay leaf and fresh earthy bitterness.

Reasonably full and even with moderate carbonation, length and bitterness. Very appropriate for what this is trying to do.

Easily the best brew utilising Sorachi hops I've encountered. The malt proportions and ABV are just right to showcase the characteristics without taking over. Good stuff.
Aug 26, 2011
Photo of GONZALOYANNA
Reviewed by GONZALOYANNA from Spain

4.24/5  rDev +12.2%
look: 4 | smell: 5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
330ml bottle served in a Pint glass.Enjoyed on mar´11
Orangish light amber.Yellow froth,dense & lasting.Small bubbles.Chill haze.High & intense perfume profile.On palate lemon zest & resins.Very smooth bitterness at first sip but increasing in the middle.Medium carbonation.ABV is not felt.Good & refreshing drinkability.
Aug 21, 2011
Photo of bark
Reviewed by bark from Sweden

3.79/5  rDev +0.3%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 4
The colour is copper (18 EBC), the liquid is clear. The three finger head is off-white and compact. It leaves some lacing when it sinks down.

The smell is fresh, sweet and hoppy. Notes of exotic fruits like kiwi, orange peels, apricots, carambola and sour fruit drops. There is a powerful bitterness and hints of bread, resin and bitter herbs. It is robust and dominant.

The taste is very bitter. Sweet hints of brown sugar and candy sugar. But this beer is about the hop. The flavours makes me think of canned exotic fruit cocktail (apricots, mango, cherries, carambola, guava, papaya…). Flowers, raisins, resin, hints of nuts. The aftertaste is a bit milder but still bitter with a bit more polished flavours of fruits (adding plums + black currants) and a growing dryness. The finish is bitter and dry with fruity hints of fresh hops.

The carbonation is quite light; the few small bubbles are sharp. The liquid is smooth, almost thick.

A very interesting take on the trendy new world hop variety: Very fruity and a bit dry. And it doesn’t get single-minded as some single hop beers tend to be.
Jul 01, 2011
Photo of NATOuk
Reviewed by NATOuk from Northern Ireland

4.12/5  rDev +9%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Appearance
Poured into a large bubble glass, pours a murky orange colour with an active head settling down to a White ring and good lacing.

Smell
Very unusual aromas here, The main component seems to be lemon peel and some light fruitiness, although the advertised bubblegum does seem to be there in the background. Overall it's an oddly distinctive but subdued aroma.

Taste
This is a very hard beer to describe, it's very different from anything I've tried before. Initially light malt and some fruit sweetness, the middle is a drying bitterness which builds up to a nice finish with the lemon peel in there as well. I could see how some might think it could come across sickly sweet but I find it rather pleasant overall.

Mouthfeel
Medium, slightly viscous texture in the mouth which coats the mouth well, medium carbonation.

Overall
I was told in advance that this was an odd beer, and it certainly is. Certainly one which gets people talking, I think this is a great beer to savour the smell and taste of. Definitely not a session beer but pleasant and distinctive. I look forward to trying this again.
Jun 26, 2011
Photo of Wattsox
Reviewed by Wattsox from Northern Ireland

3.1/5  rDev -18%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2.5
330ml bottle, consumed Jun 2011, BBE Feb 2012.

A - Hazy copper body with a decent, relatively loosely-bubbled head that dissipates down to wafer-thin cover and decent lacing.

S - Very unusual aromas; fruity, flowery, sort of pineapple / grapefruit or bubblegum type notes. Very unique hop, quite tricky to place.

T - Similar to the aromas, quite intriguingly fruity and bittersweet sort of taste, bubblegum, floral and sharp fruit notes, ending in a lingering bitter finish.

M - Medium body, medium carbonation, smooth with a lingering bitter finish.

O - Overall I can't really decide on this one... I'm torn between intrigue and dislike, I can definitely see that this one could be quite polarising... I'll try another bottle another time and possibly re-review.
Jun 25, 2011
Photo of CrazyDavros
Reviewed by CrazyDavros from Australia

4.03/5  rDev +6.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Pours amber with a large, fading head.
Nose shows lemon, lilly pilly fruit (I'm almost ashamed I'm using that as a descriptor... but it's so true) and custard. Underneath is some sweet caramel. Very nice.
The lilly pilly and custard is even stronger as flavours, very interesting stuff! Later on sweet malt and a piney bitterness rolls through.
Body is pretty thick.
Unfortunately the custard and lilly pilly aroma becomes very slightly mouldy/stale smelling later on. Other than that pretty amazing stuff.
Jun 23, 2011
Photo of rarbring
Reviewed by rarbring from Sweden

3.48/5  rDev -7.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3
The beer is hazy copper amber, an off-white head with good lacing. Some curtains.

The smell is sweet coconut and dill and crayfish (!).

The taste is very sweet, dextrose sugar, perfume, sweet slightly spicy.

Medium carbonation, slightly coarse, a good body, a very dry finish.

This is the most unexpected and difficult of the IPA is Dead series, torn between love and hate, so I'll settle for an average grade.
Jun 13, 2011
Photo of Evil_Pidde
Reviewed by Evil_Pidde from Sweden

4.13/5  rDev +9.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 5 | overall: 4
A: Pours hazy light copper with a large compact creamy tan head that looks like whiped cream. Dissipation is slow and leaves nice lacings.

S: Lots of fruit; mainly citrus: grapefruit, lemon and some faint pineapple. Caramell malt with some sweetness. Butter.

T: Bitter and sweet at the same time. Some vanilla (oak-barrels?). Buttery sweet caramell malt. Lots of both floral and bitter hops. Pine, lemon (sezt), grapefruit and some pineapple. Really spicy.

M: Bonedry long bitter aftertaste. Body is medium and carbonation the same. The aftertaste is fantastic!!!

O: This was an interesting IPA with some thngs that's stands out. Not what you are used to, but still very nice!
Jun 10, 2011
Photo of ohoh
Reviewed by ohoh from Sweden

3.68/5  rDev -2.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Bought as a part of IPA is dead. It looks a bit strange from the beginning, with a deep, somewhat hazy orange. Looks like some soda i can't really place but... IRNBRU? Nice head however, white-cream white with some lacing.

Smells a bit like it looks. Sweet lemon cake?

Taste is a full sorachi bang, in two waves. Fruit juice + artificial fruit. It's finished off with a grapy bitterness and leaves a long taste of blood grape

It has a bit of a yeasty character, which is a bit weird.

The bubbles are sharp, which works well with the full body. Slowly drinkable.

Single hop IPAs / single-sort-of-ingredient-beer seem to be all the rage nowadays and while it works in some cases (perhaps the first Nelson Sauvin Mikkeller) I'm not sure it's a durable idea. I like this beer, I'd just like the brewers to go further and maybe give us a Sorachi Ace pils. More drinkability and... more surprising.
Jun 01, 2011
Photo of dgilks
Reviewed by dgilks from Australia

3.7/5  rDev -2.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5
Quite hazy golden colour with a thick, fluffy off-white head. Good head retention.

Lemon drops, pepper, lemon thyme, custard and a little herbal. Interesting.

Musty lemon with lots an odd fruity note. Slightly vinous. Odd. Moderately-high bitterness. Light malt.

Medium to medium-light body with moderate to moderately-high carbonation. Fine.

An interesting hop here but I'm not convinced that it works. The fruitiness is strange and the herbal, musty character is just plain wierd.
May 29, 2011
Photo of moshiric
Reviewed by moshiric from Japan

3.53/5  rDev -6.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
A- lighter copper. Poured in a pint glass. Thick head. Pretty nice lacing.

S- hard to place, but I think it's slightly grapey.

T- hop taste is not sharp, but the aftertaste is bitter.

M- maybe a little too carbonated. The aftertaste stays on pretty heavy, but isn't to absurd for the style.

O- an interesting version of an IPA. It was nice once. Not sure if I will revisit.
May 09, 2011
Photo of Brabander
Reviewed by Brabander from Netherlands

3.8/5  rDev +0.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
I had a beertasting yesterday evening with my cousin Bert and his son Michael. After a while Mrs. Brabander joined the tasting. I used small Westvleteren and La Trappe tastinglasses.

I am not sure if i got this beer from Apophis666 (Sietse) or from Zimbo (Craig). Thanks anyway!!

This was one the first beers we drank. This is a cloudy beer and with the four different hops the beer tasted fine. There was an undefined taste is the beer which was pleasant but non of us could give it a name.
May 05, 2011
Sorachi Ace (IPA Is Dead) from BrewDog
Beer rating: 86 out of 100 with 23 ratings