Hopworks Urban Brewery of Portland recently sent out samples of Ace of Clubs Imperial IPA and Stoner Fruit Apricot Sour, two of the first of its newest beers of the year. As detailed on the brewery’s 2021 beer calendar, these are part of the Ace and Fruit Sour series, respectively, created for 2021 and released in January.

HUB has new releases dropping every month. Here’s a pull quote from the press release regarding these first two:

“Imagine you’re stranded on a tropical island, sipping on a big Northwest IIPA when a mango and a coconut fall upon your head! Then, you’re flooded in a sea of apricots! That’s our new Ace of Clubs IIPA and Stoner Fruit Apricot Sour calling,” said Matt Speckenbach, Head Brewer at Hopworks. “I’m super excited for our new Ace Series this year and the new sours we’ve been brewing. Every other month in 2021, we’re releasing Imperial IPAs and sours with malts and hops paired perfectly with each season. I hope everyone enjoys these beers as much as we have!”

Without further ado, let’s hit the reviews.

Ace of Clubs Imperial IPA

Ace of Spades is the brewery’s classic imperial IPA, a solid beer that inspired the line expansion into the others debuting this year, starting with Clubs. Ace of Clubs is 9.1% ABV with a whopping 100(!) IBUs, and a hop list that caught my attention: Chinook, Columbus, Cryo Centennial, Cryo Sabro, and Moutere. Sabro—my favorite new hop, which exhibits coconut, tangerine, and tropical fruit (but especially coconut).

Here’s the brewery’s description:

A bold Imperial IPA built for the colder months, Ace of Clubs’ has a big malt body that plays perfectly with classic NW dank pine and grapefruit flavors, leaving you with tropical notes of coconut and passionfruit amidst its massive IBU that clocks in at a cool 100.

Appearance: Deep orange, a nice golden glow when held to the light, slight haze, and a creamy, lacy off-white head.

Smell: Pineapple and coconut, passionfruit for a tropical candy-like aroma, with a touch of spicy, zesty greens at the back, barely hinting at allium (presumably from the Moutere hops?).  Light note of alcohol comes through. Fruity overall.

Taste: Big hop bite which is less bitter and more spicy resin. There is bitterness, bitter greens, grassy and fruit peel notes, and it sidles up to pineapple rind and fruit juice. Coconut is washed out by the spiciness, mostly, coming across as more coconut husk than meat. Toasted biscuit malts and a slightly boozy alcohol note. Sticky hops.

Mouthfeel: Medium-full-bodied with a prickly herb/hop presences on the tongue, and a sticky sweet-resinous finish.

Overall: Quite a nice imperial IPA, I really like the coconut in the aroma, it’s well-balanced and not “hot” but it lets you know that it’s a big beer.

Stoner Fruit Apricot Sour

This fruited sour series has this inception note from the calendar release: “After a sour year of sour beers, Hopworks has created a new lineup of sours to complement its returning pumpkin ale, Great Gourds of Fire.” With Stoner Fruit, HUB leans into the apricot and fruit notes with Zappa hops, which I’d noted “are a neomexicanus-derived variety, apparently full of passionfruit, tropical fruit, and Fruity Pebbles notes.” (Sabro is also a neomexicanus hop.)

It’s 5.6% ABV with 4 IBUs, with a pretty straightforward description: “Stoner Fruit has bright notes of apricot on the nose and a light, tart malt body that finishes fruity.”

Appearance: Hazy apricot-orange, looks like unfiltered juice.

Smell: Lactic kettle sour with slightly earthy apricot flesh with a bit of skin. Bright yogurt-y note in the tartness and the fruit overall is subtle.

Taste: Puckery-tart with a green stone fruit flavor; it leans heavily into the sour with a big apricot purée impression, it definitely brings the fruit to the party with a bit of yogurt lactic notes along with it. There’s a wheat note at the back, a bit cereal-like.

Mouthfeel: Light-bodied to medium-light, with a bright acidity that leaves a puckering, prickling sour pinch at the back.

Overall: It’s a nice sour, fairly tart, with a really nice apricot presence in the flavor, delivering on its fruit promise.