Sudden Death Brewing Company doesn’t hide where its name comes from. Founded in 2022 in Lubeck, Germany, and built out of a love of ice hockey and American craft beer culture, the brewery runs its own brewpub and pizza spot alongside the beer itself. Ack! Ack! Attack! is one of its hazy double IPAs, and this can came to us via agoodcase.dk, a Danish retailer that imports smaller European craft beer.
Ack! Ack! Attack! at a glance
| Brewery | Sudden Death Brewing Company, Lubeck, Germany |
| Style | Imperial / Double New England IPA (DDH Hazy Double IPA) |
| ABV | 8.0% |
| Size | 440ml can |
| Hops | Simcoe, Citra, Enigma |
| Ingredients | Water, malt (barley, wheat, oat), hops, yeast |
| Serving temp | 6-9C (43-48F) |
| Where we found it | agoodcase.dk, a Danish importer of European craft beer |
How it tastes, by the numbers
Ack! Ack! Attack! is an 8.0% Imperial/Double New England IPA in a 440ml can, brewed with water, malt (barley, wheat and oat), hops and yeast, and hopped with Simcoe, Citra and Enigma. The label recommends serving it at 6-9C, on the warmer end for a hazy IPA, which gives the hop aromatics more room to open up than an ice-cold pour would.
The full review
Poured into a straight pint glass, Ack! Ack! Attack! is a hazy orange-gold with a thick, rocky white head that takes its time to settle, a good early sign for a can that’s meant to be dry-hopped hard. The Simcoe/Citra/Enigma combination is a hop bill we’ve seen work well elsewhere in the New England IPA space, and it shows here: expect ripe stone fruit and passionfruit up front from the Enigma, backed by Citra’s citrus zest and a resinous, slightly dank edge from the Simcoe.
At 8.0% this sits at the upper end of double IPA territory, but the body carries it well. The oat and wheat in the malt bill give it that soft, almost juice-like mouthfeel NEIPA fans look for, and the bitterness is kept low enough that the beer reads as fruity rather than sharp. It’s not a beer you’d mistake for a session IPA, but the alcohol doesn’t fight the hop character the way it can in some double IPAs pushed to this strength.
The only real gap on the can itself is IBU, it isn’t printed anywhere, so if you’re calibrating by bitterness on paper rather than by taste, you’re going in without that number. In the glass, though, it reads as a well-balanced hazy double IPA rather than a bitterness bomb.
Thick, creamy head, hazy orange-gold body, and a Simcoe/Citra/Enigma hop bill that leans hard into stone fruit and passionfruit rather than raw bitterness.
- Simcoe, Citra and Enigma is a proven combo for stone fruit and tropical juice character, and it delivers here
- 8.0% ABV with almost none of the heat you’d expect at that strength
- Pours a thick, creamy head that holds up well in the glass, a good sign of a well-dry-hopped NEIPA
- Comes from a brewery with an actual physical home (a Lubeck brewpub), not just a contract-brewed label
- IBU isn’t printed on the can, so bitterness-sensitive drinkers are working blind on paper
- Distribution outside Germany and Denmark looks limited, this was picked up from a specialist importer, not a general bottle shop
- At 8.0% it’s a sipper, not a session beer, so it’s easy to underestimate over a couple of cans
- Hazy Double IPAs are best fresh, and can date wasn’t printed anywhere obvious, so check before stocking up
Who it is for
Ack! Ack! Attack! is for hazy IPA drinkers who want the strength of a double IPA without losing the juicy, fruit-forward character that makes New England-style beers popular in the first place. It’s less suited to anyone after a clean, bitter West Coast IPA, or anyone looking for a lower-ABV session beer.
Ack! Ack! Attack! FAQs
What is Ack! Ack! Attack! by Sudden Death Brewing?
Ack! Ack! Attack! is an 8.0% Imperial/Double New England Hazy IPA brewed by Sudden Death Brewing Company in Lubeck, Germany, hopped with Simcoe, Citra and Enigma and sold in 440ml cans.
What does Ack! Ack! Attack! taste like?
It pours hazy orange-gold with a thick white head, and the Simcoe/Citra/Enigma hop bill comes through as ripe stone fruit and passionfruit with a citrus zest edge, backed by a soft, low-bitterness oat and wheat malt body.
How strong is Ack! Ack! Attack!?
It’s 8.0% ABV, which puts it firmly in double IPA territory rather than a standard or session-strength IPA.
Where can I buy Ack! Ack! Attack!?
We picked ours up from agoodcase.dk, a Danish importer of European craft beer. Check Sudden Death Brewing’s own online shop and stockist list for current availability in Germany, since hazy double IPAs like this one tend to be rotating, limited-batch releases.
Sudden Death Brewing’s Ack! Ack! Attack! is a small-batch release not sold through US delivery apps. Almanac Time Bender Hazy Double IPA is a comparable US-available hazy DIPA.
Where to buy Ack! Ack! Attack!
This can came from agoodcase.dk, a Danish retailer that imports smaller European craft beer brands. Sudden Death Brewing also sells directly through its own online shop and Lubeck brewpub, though hazy double IPAs like Ack! Ack! Attack! tend to be rotating releases rather than a permanent lineup item, so check current stock before making a special trip.
The verdict
Ack! Ack! Attack! is a well-built hazy double IPA that leans on a hop bill (Simcoe, Citra, Enigma) that consistently delivers stone fruit and passionfruit character without tipping into harsh bitterness, even at 8.0% ABV. The main catch is availability outside Germany and Denmark, and the missing IBU number on the can. If you can track down a can, it’s a strong example of what a small brewpub-scale brewery can do with the New England IPA style.
