Welcome to Bushwick Brews, Bushwick Daily’s brand spankin’ new beer column. Each week we’ll feature one of the neighborhood’s many exciting beers on tap. This week we started at The Sampler, the new craft beer emporium on Starr St. With an impressive 18 rotating taps, most from obscure breweries. I knew I would find something special and Rafael, part owner/manager did not disappoint when he poured me a glass of Newburgh Brewing Company’s “Aces Wild” Double Cream Ale.
This ale is deep gold in color with a creamy white head. Before I even took a sip of the Aces Wild, its strong herbal aroma hit me. I wasn’t able to pick out the specific herbs myself, so Rafael stepped in to help: Aces Wild is brewed with mint and tarragon, giving it the wonderful scent of a summer herb garden and a fresh aftertaste.
The other star player in the Aces Wild is the Sorachi Ace Hop. A Japanese hop, the Sorachi Ace is notable for its herbal, lemony flavors and is used to brew beers like Brooklyn Brewery’s Sorachi Ace and the Japanese import Sapporo. In Aces Wild Newburgh used the Sorachi Ace to dry hop, which means they added it after the boil and fermenting of the beer was finished. This results in the hops contributing less to the bitterness/flavor of the beer and more to the aroma of the beer, allowing the Sorachi play complement to the tarragon and mint.
