The early spring specialties from Hopworks Urban Brewery dropped just last month, and I’d received samples of both: Joker Imperial Hazy IPA and High Lift Cherry Sour, both in 16-ounce cans which is the format HUB is favoring for these lines. Let’s do some reviews!

Joker Imperial Hazy IPA

Joker is the “wild card” in the brewery’s Ace Series of imperial IPAs, a hazy DIPA that gets plenty of haze from its grist of oats, wheat, and “naked oats.” The hop bill features Cashmere, Chinook, and Kohatu hops; Kohatu is a New Zealand variety said to exhibit intense tropical fruit and pine character. The brewery’s description says:

We proudly present to you the fourth beer in our Ace Series: Joker, an Imperial Hazy IPA with juicy bursts of tropical fruit and spice supplied by Cashmere, Chinook, and Ko-HA!-tu hops. With a big body and low bitterness, this hazy will have you dancing and slinging jokes in your home castle!

Each year, the Joker, much like a real court jester, will be a wildcard when it comes to its hops and malt bill, so enjoy this year’s batch and look forward to a fresh, new Joker in 2022!

Joker is 8.1% ABV with 55 IBUs.

Appearance: Dark orange in color, hazy but more opaque than cloudy (more uniform than billowy), with golden-amber highlights at the edges of the glass. A good, fluffy off-white head.

Smell: Sweetly fruity with mango, passion fruit, and a peppery wild herb note. Touch of chives in bloom, along with some black pepper.

Taste: Tropical fruit that’s not overly sweet, while still seeming to be on the edge of overripe—kind of a “savory cloying” quality? A mellow savory bitterness more like muddled orange bitters than hops. Grainy, er, grains are a bit of a mishmash of flavors and kind of porridge-y. There’s a touch of alcohol but it’s mild. A good herbal finish with residual sweetness.

Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied with some grainy fluffiness, and an easy finish.

Overall: Easy drinking with pleasant fruity-spicy flavors.

High Lift Cherry Sour

The Fruited Sour series is new this year, a “new lineup of sours to complement its returning pumpkin ale, Great Gourds of Fire.” High Lift is the second in the series for the year so far, the first being Stoner Fruit (which I reviewed here). The brewery says:

This delightful Kettle Sour is packed with both tart and dark sweet cherries. Deep rich red color from the bountiful cherry blend and caramel malts. Cherry aromas jump up from the glass and it finishes with a mouthwatering cherry medley.

High Lift is 5.8% ABV with 3 IBUs.

There’s a bit of an issue with this beer, which you’ll see in my “Taste” section, but I won’t beat around the bush to make you dig for it: There’s butyric acid in this beer, a small amount, which gives it the slightest hint of vomit. Yes, that’s unpleasant and I don’t know how many people will be able to detect it. If you’re interested the subject, Jeff Alworth wrote a bit about butyric acid in sour beers a few years ago—check the comments in particular.

Appearance: Brown with some maroon tinge to it, with decent clarity. The tan head was fizzy and effervescent but didn’t last long at all.

Smell: Fruity tart note, almost a little candy-like, with caramel syrup and caramelized tart cherries. Some nutty malts, and a touch of almost balsamic tartness.

Taste: Tart, acidic, with a slightly woody note—cherry pits, perhaps? Somewhat reminiscent of an oud bruin (sour brown) in style. A rye-like nuttiness/graininess behind the sour note. Cherry skins, dark juiciness, a slight astringency. And yes, a gastric acid/slightly vomit-y note to the sour which picks up at the end.

Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied, tart at the back with a slightly astringent finish. Feels heavier than it is.

Overall: This was not my favorite. I get what HUB was going for, but the presence of butyric acid is off-putting.