Golden Ace - Feral Brewing Co.

vancurly

Australia

2.48/5  rDev -27.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

I'm not a fan of this beer. I get some bitter lemon and an awkward note of pawpaw or some other tropical fruit. Combined with the fleshiness of the Belgian yeast, I find it lacking balance, and difficult to enjoy.
For me, this is a rare miss from one of Australia's best brewers.

Serving type: bottle

12-27-2011 01:48:38 | More by vancurly

mungus

Australia

4/5  rDev +17%

02-15-2013 02:51:14 | More by mungus

soju6

Missouri

2.65/5  rDev -22.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

A: Pours a hazy golden color with a big fluffy head that slowly fades to good lacing.

S: Aroma of citrus, mostly lemon with a bit of spice.

T: taste of citrus, primarily lemon. Not much else can get through, just a bit of grain. Bitterness seems to be mostly tart lemon with a slightly sticky finish.

F: Light body, Crisp with plenty of lemon tart. Not quite balanced.

Not really enjoyable.

Serving type: bottle

08-21-2012 04:39:22 | More by soju6

MrKennedy

Australia

2.85/5  rDev -16.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

330ml bottle thanks to sinkas, poured into a Lost Abbey tulip.

Light glowing golden appearance. Decent foam on top and lacing after swirling and the foam recedes.

Has a touch of pepper early in the smell before the lemon and lemon zest kicks right in. Later some yeast emerges, but lemon is what the hop variety is all about.

Taste has a mix of lemon and yeast, both noticeable, but neither dominating, nor really working together.

Oily body, some lemon tang and a little warhead like bitterness as opposed to traditional hop bitterness. Long back end to it, which loses sessionability.

Decent Belgian style beer. Much better from the bottle than I remember on tap, where the Sorachi Ace was really obtrusive. Ok, but not something I'd really recommend given the polarising ability of the hop variety.

Serving type: bottle

05-10-2012 11:26:16 | More by MrKennedy

tbeckett

Ontario (Canada)

3.28/5  rDev -4.1%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Tap at Biero in Melbourne. From notes.

A - Poured a hazy light golden colour. Good carbonation with one finger of white head. Spotty lace and a film of retention.

S - Tropical fruit, citrus, oranges.

T - Orange is much stronger, light malt, citrus hop, tropical fruit.

M - Good carbonation, light to medium body. Some crispness.

O/D - Had no idea this was supposed to be a Belgian style. Didn't seem to fit the profile but was still tasty. Nice and smooth with good hops, light and refreshing but fair.

Serving type: on-tap

02-26-2012 05:17:17 | More by tbeckett

dmorgan310

Michigan

3.5/5  rDev +2.3%

02-03-2012 10:17:14 | More by dmorgan310

Texasfan549

Texas

3.5/5  rDev +2.3%

01-23-2012 09:20:46 | More by Texasfan549

koolk

Australia

4/5  rDev +17%

11-19-2011 04:53:43 | More by koolk

dansmcd

Australia

3.5/5  rDev +2.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

A - Fluffy white head perches on a cloudy light yellow-orange amber body. Nice lacing.

S - Lemon peel, Belgian yeast and some spice.

T - Quite tart and funky. Lemon is the overwhelming flavour here. Some bready malt and coriander.

M - Crisp. High carbonation and a light to medium body.

O - An interesting and refreshing beer. A decent option for a summer session.

Serving type: on-tap

10-28-2011 13:48:54 | More by dansmcd

dgilks

Australia

3.55/5  rDev +3.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Cloudy golden colour with a smooth, fluffy, dense white head. Good head retention.

Bright, phenolic aroma with a touch of estery stonefruit. Light spicy notes. Very interesting.

Spicy and a touch fruity with some interesting, musty notes from the Sorachi Ace hops. Moderately-high bitterness for style.

Medium-light body with moderately-high carbonation. Decent.

I find this beer to have a really nice yeast character but the hop character is a killer. I can understand what Brendan has tried to achieve with this beer but it would go down much better as a more traditional take on the style.

Serving type: bottle

10-10-2011 02:02:39 | More by dgilks

LittleCreature

Australia

3.63/5  rDev +6.1%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 3.5

Appearance - 4.0
Pours a finger of white head over a cloudy, peachy yellow body.

Smell - 3.5
Yeast driven aroma is spicy and dusty with a pleasant hint of lemon and bubblegum thanks to the Golden Ace hops.

Taste - 3.5
Less dry than the earlier released cleanskin, but still a very dry beer. Crisp, dry malt, sherbety lemon hop flavours and a suggestion of white pepper. Moderate bitterness, finishes dry with a lingering subtle hoppiness.

Mouthfeel - 4.5
Light, fine carbonation, light body, creamy mouthfeel.

Overall - 3.5
This is a hard beer to place in terms of style, sitting somewhere between being a Saison and a Belgian Blond, but with Japanese hops. Regardless, it is pleasant and quite drinkable, if not quite as memorable as Feral's best offerings.

Serving type: bottle

09-03-2011 06:02:05 | More by LittleCreature

spicelab

Australia

3.33/5  rDev -2.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

With thanks to Adam@Platinum Liquor

Opaque straw-orange, with a huge white head. Tiny spots of lace and a slight film remain.

Ginger beer, compost, custard apples and lemon-custard. Belgian esters and bitter rind poke through occasionally. Pretty full-on and weird, and eerily reminiscent of some dodgy early drinking experiences.

Taste is a quite tart and dry, and fairly snuffs out the faint Belgian character evident in the nose. The custardy, organic Sorachi character is unaffected though. Not feeling this.

Clean and dry, with less effusive carbonation than I was expecting. Nice.

Didn't quite work for me. Respect the individuality, but don't find the idiosyncratic hop profile particularly appetising.

Serving type: bottle

08-12-2011 11:39:06 | More by spicelab

lacqueredmouse

Australia

3.6/5  rDev +5.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Bottle purchased at Warners on the Bay by @LaitueGonflable.

Pours a very hazy and quite light golden yellow colour. Head is frothy and full, leaving some riddled streaks of lacing as it's tipped. Carbonation is fine, but there sure is a lot of it. Looks decent enough, but maybe just missing a little excitement.

Nose is lovely—the weird lemon-butter character that Sorachi Ace gives, atop a slightly rustic grain character, giving grass and hay as a solid basis for the hops. The lemon and butter gives a smoothness and sweetness.

Taste is crisp, but a little empty. Clear entry, with a crisp carbonation. A little bitterness mid-palate, before the buttery and slightly sweet hay character gives its funky load in the aftertaste.

It's a really interesting hop, and the lack of everything else in the beer means that it get shown off. I've seen it used to better effect in other beers—specifically Mornington Peninsula's Sorachi Kolsch, and Brooklyn's Sorachi Ace Saison—but this is tasty enough.

Serving type: bottle

08-12-2011 09:32:33 | More by lacqueredmouse

CrazyDavros

Australia

3.33/5  rDev -2.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Pours hazy gold with a small head.
Nose shows lemon sherbet and green leafy hops with a hint of custard. Pretty different.
Flavours include citrussy hops, alcohol, grainy malt and finish with a slightly metallic bitterness.
Nice moderate body and carbonation.

Serving type: bottle

06-20-2011 01:39:03 | More by CrazyDavros

ADZA

Australia

3.53/5  rDev +3.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

So glad this is finally bottled as ive never had chance lately to get to the brewery and try on tap and it pours a hazy golden hue with beautiful carbonation and lacing here and there,ton smell you know straight away the Sorachi Ace hop has been usedin large doses here with hints of spicy lemons,honey,orange rind,yeasty bread and white pepper,it has a medium bodied mouthfeel which is really smooth and the first taste i get which is quite dominant is spicy lemon hops followed by some bready malts and finshed with a dry,crisp,citrus finish and overall its not bad and be perfect for a hot summers day and as our most well known local brewery is finally bottling more than one of its brews im not complaining keep bottling fellas.

Serving type: bottle

06-09-2011 06:08:30 | More by ADZA

foles

Australia

4/5  rDev +17%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Interesting beer new on tap at the Feral Brewery. It has some of the hallmarks of a belgian blonde ale - belgian yeast character on the nose and in the body, pale colour, etc. But where it differs is that it is strongly bittered, and there is a crazy new lemony hop used in excess here. Its almost harsh and sour in its lemony twang that hits you like a ton of bricks. I think its Sorachi ace - apparently a very dominant hop. Maybe the batch just needs mellowing.

Ill try this again in a few weeks...
"18 months later"
This beer is growing on me. It appears they have tweaked the aggressive, unusual sorachi hop to sit in nicely with the this beer. I like the lemon/pine/sherbety/bushy character that this hop provides. Well balanced off-centre version of one of my favourite beer styles.

Serving type: on-tap

03-20-2011 00:34:05 | More by foles