Ace of Spades
Hopworks Urban Brewery

Ace of SpadesAce of Spades
Beer Geek Stats | Print Shelf Talker
From:
Hopworks Urban Brewery
 
Oregon, United States
Style:
Imperial IPA
Ranked #753
ABV:
8.6%
Score:
93
Ranked #3,579
Avg:
4.18 | pDev: 9.33%
Reviews:
104
Ratings:
318
Status:
Active
Rated:
Jun 23, 2023
Added:
Aug 26, 2009
Wants:
  79
Gots:
  30
Organic NW hops added at every stage of the brewing process: mash tun, first wort, kettle, hop back and dry-hop. Big citrus and resinous hop aromas and flavors. Clean, crisp bitter finish. USDA Organic Imperial IPA.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by Aleforme:
Photo of Aleforme
Rated by Aleforme from Washington

4.5/5  rDev +7.7%

Sep 13, 2012
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 4.07 by WillieThreebiers from Connecticut

Jun 23, 2023
 
Rated: 3.72 by ebanigan

Apr 25, 2022
 
Rated: 4.25 by shigg85 from Japan

Dec 12, 2021
 
Rated: 3.99 by lemmy187 from Missouri

Nov 05, 2021
 
Rated: 4.38 by GClarkage from California

Sep 23, 2021
Photo of DefenCorps
Reviewed by DefenCorps from Oregon

3.89/5  rDev -6.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
Can from TJs.

A clear dark orange with a dense off-white head with excellent retention and lacing this looks great. The nose is old school DIPA. Pine, orange, grapefruit peel, grapefruit zest, caramel, sticky. The palate opens bitter and sticky with lots of pine, candied orange, candied grapefruit, bitter, pith heavy and resiny. Creamy bitterness. The mid-palate has some caramel. Drying, oily, bitter on the finish, with resin lingering. Quite good!
Aug 07, 2021
Photo of BennyPhD
Reviewed by BennyPhD from Texas

4.03/5  rDev -3.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
I have had several of the 16 qz. cans poured into a medium snifter. The look and color was OK, but seemed a hazy and a bit light for an Imperial IPA. The taste was rather mild and yet pleasing. Something for a hot summer afternoon. My biggest disappointment was the purported IBU rating of 100. I did not get enough bitterness to give it much above a IBU 50. Compared to other IPAs, Karbach Hopadillo for instance (65 IBU), this brew is positively tame for bitterness. Still, it is a good beer and I have already purchased it a second time.
Feb 02, 2021
Photo of gvickery
Reviewed by gvickery from Texas

4.84/5  rDev +15.8%
look: 4.75 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.75
Look: Slightly hazy orange medium copper.
Smell: piney, caramel, almost a really good fruitcake aroma. (Collin street bakery.com).
Taste: So well balanced, solid malt base with the west coast hops. It doesn’t feel like an imperial ipa. Just some lingering bitterness in the back of your throat.
Feel: As you’d expect, a little on the thick side. But really good. Not too heavy.
Overall: One of the best dipa’s I’ve ever had. Two thumbs up.
Dec 30, 2020
 
Rated: 4 by BEER88 from North Carolina

Oct 15, 2020
 
Rated: 3.79 by mtbdonn from Colorado

Sep 30, 2020
Photo of StonedTrippin
Reviewed by StonedTrippin from Colorado

3.8/5  rDev -9.1%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
a super robust imperial ipa here, bold at every turn, a little bit old school in that it seems to have as much bitterness as flavor, and that there is some richer malt character in the mix, but this is also kind of timeless, classically northwestern, with lots of sappy pine, bitter citrus, and warming alcohol. props for using organic ingredients too, or being fully organic even, salmon safe, 1% for the planet, all of it, whichever it is that apply, these guys are good about all of that stuff usually and i love them for it, very cool. to me this smelled and tasted just a little old, even though it was just canned a month ago, like some oxidation is setting in, making heavier an already pretty sturdy grain base and pushing the hops more bitter than flavorful, but evidence of its full potential is still very much on display. to me big pine, white toast, zested and pithy grapefruit, slow smoldering resin ball, and some light lemon as well adding a little clean brightness to the mix. its a little boozy and drinks as a sipper even with higher carbonation, not my personal favorite proportions on this one, but its a very well made beer nevertheless. i picked this up to do a side by side with the gin barrel edition, and liked them both without being floored by either. i am glad to be seeing more and more beer from these guys around the boise market, i need to start diving in a little deeper!
Sep 09, 2020
Photo of Scotchboy
Reviewed by Scotchboy from Idaho

4.16/5  rDev -0.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5
On tap in Nampa ID; served in a nonic.

A: Clear straw gold with minimal fluffy white head.

S: Big nose of citrus and pine, crackery malt sweetness.

T: Orange, pine, sweetness; dank and old-school familiar, but very bright. West-coast-y but more sweet than bitter.

MF: Drinks like a single IPA, which is a compliment; slightly drying on the finish.

O: Really enjoyable double IPA, old-school hop profile balanced with some sweetness, lots of piney citrus.
Aug 24, 2020
 
Rated: 3 by TallGuyCM from California

Jun 23, 2020
Photo of tone77
Reviewed by tone77 from Pennsylvania

3.79/5  rDev -9.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
A bottled beer courtesy of the captain of the canquest, woodychandker? Rare, but it happens. Poured from a brown 22 oz. bottle. Has a golden/orange color with a 1/2 inch head. Smell is of caramel malts, citrus. Taste is dank, pine, light citrus and malts, a bit boozy for the abv, significant bitterness. Feels full bodied in the mouth and overall is an enjoyable beer.
May 21, 2020
Photo of woodychandler
Reviewed by woodychandler from Pennsylvania

4.01/5  rDev -4.1%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
Now that I have begun really diving into the Bottle backlog here at Chez Woody, I am unstoppable! Yes, it means suspending The CANQuest (tm) for the moment, but the thought of being rid of these pesky bottles for once & for all is so heartening that I almost do not have words. These next bunch were all purchases through Tavour & as I have said repeatedly, I have no real beef with them. It was their inflexible local shipper + the continual adding to the backlog that led me to part ways.

From the Bottle: "Certified Organic by Oregon Tilth"; "HUB Beer [-] Environment * Quality * Community"; "Certified B Corporation 1% for the Planet"; "HUB Hopworks Urban Brewery"; "Ace Of Spades Imperial India Pale Ale"; Hopworks Imperial Series"; "Organic Ace Of Spades Imperial India Pale Ale"; "100+ IBU"; "This hopped out beast has a blend of NW hops added at every point: mash tun, first wort, kettle, hop back and dry hop. All this green goodness results in a beer with a huge citrus hop aroma, flavor and a deep clean bitterness. Store cold, enjoy fresh! [undersigned] Christian Ettinger [-] Brewmaster Owned & Operated".

I Pop!ped the cap & after careful consideration, started a slow, gentle C-Line pour into the awaiting glass. One must not rush into these things. It rushed up to greet me with two-plus fingers of dense, foamy, rocky, tawny head with very good retention, leaving nice lacing in its wake as it fell. Color was an oh-so-slightly-hazy solid Amber (SRM = > 7, < 9). Nose had a pronounced grapefruit-orange-tangerine tang with a caramel malt backbone. Mmm. Mouthfeel was Medium-to-full, not quite creamy & therefore, a little light for the style. The taste was surprisingly mellow, very orange-tangerine + caramel and a slight alcohol heat to warm the belly. Mmm. This resided in that really dangerous part of town, the one where a tea-like mellowness lives with a brawling bruiser. It lures you in & then delivers a sucker-punch when you aren't looking. Another way to think of it is as an iron fist encased in velvet. Either way, this started slow & mellow & came on like a Mickey Finn. Phew. Finish was amazingly only semi-dry, again reinforcing my allusion to tea. It had a lulling mellowness to it that was utterly dangerous. It was like amped-up hop tea & if you've never tried it, put down the bowl & try that, instead. YMMV.
Apr 08, 2020
Photo of stevoj
Reviewed by stevoj from Idaho

3.88/5  rDev -7.2%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
22 oz bottle from Tavour. Medium/ dark golden with nice frothy head leaving sheets of lacing on the way down. Aroma comes in with a lot of grain/ malt character and a little bit of citrusy piney hops on the back end. Taste is some caramel malts, some orange citrusy hops, very very smooth. A bit of alcohol heat warms they gullet on the way down.
Mar 11, 2020
Photo of Jarph0821
Rated by Jarph0821 from Washington

4.29/5  rDev +2.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25
Well balanced overall. 8.6% is well masked. Loads of citrus, mostly grapefruit.
Sep 22, 2019
Photo of NickSMpls
Reviewed by NickSMpls from Washington

4.18/5  rDev 0%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Dark amber color, great head formation and sticky lacing, just right. Pleasant hoppy aroma, no prominent fruit or pine notes, which is good in its own way. The beer has a straightforward hoppiness, with a clean mouthfeel and no off notes. It's good to have just a straight-on IIPA with crisp, clean color, bracing hoppiness and no attempting fancy fruit and other tastes...let the beer speak.
Sep 01, 2019
Photo of hreb
Reviewed by hreb from Washington

3.81/5  rDev -8.9%
look: 3.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
22oz bottle served in pint glass. Pale and slightly cloudy yellow amber color. Big citrus aroma and stronger hop flavor. Very bold taste. Weighty on the palate, but not syrupy. Sip this like a high-IBU barleywine.
Oct 12, 2018
Ace of Spades from Hopworks Urban Brewery
Beer rating: 93 out of 100 with 318 ratings