Brewdog: IPA Is Dead Sorachi Ace (Scotland:IPA:7.5%ABV)

Visual: Slightly browned head of sud leaving bubbles on a glowing golden brown body with reddish streaks.

Nose: Crisp wheat, bubblegum and jiff lemon. Bitter, mixed with a butter popcorn style. Milk, shortbread and cream doughnuts.

Body: Bitter and bubblegum. Noticeable malt back. Slight custard. Light pineapple and strawberry. Smooth and creamy.

Finish: Bitter hops, malt drink and penny sweets. Bitterness is given free reign over the light custards sweetness. Grapefruit.

Conclusion: This is one mixed up hop, yet despite that it reminds me of its home country of Japan in a lot of ways.

Fresh and bubblegum pop, neon light imagery and annoying pop stars mix with the tradition respecting hops looking on disapprovingly with their cutting bitterness. In fact give it a brutally hard to remember alphabet and its the Tokyo experience in one ( I mock because I love)

Now I’m not sure how this hop could be used in conjunction with others without it loosing its unique character. But it’s a great single hop oddity. Plus, lets face it; working out how to use the hops is someone else’s job, I just drink ‘em.

Background: Usual Disclaimer: I am not unbiased on Brewdog beers despite my best attempts. This single hop beer is part of a four pack, showcasing hops from around the world. Sorachi Ace is a Japanese hop I’d not run into before (Disclaimer: I’m not exactly unbiased on Japan either, so frankly this beer could have been cat pee and I’d have still wanted to love it.). Apparently the base beer recipe is based on a reduced alcohol version of Hardcore IPA. Thanks To Martin for the gift of this beer!