Sorachi Ace and Citra hops

emacgee · 10-22-2009, 08:16 PM

I’m getting some Sorachi Ace and Citra hops from freshops and have never used either before. Wondering what peoples experiences with them have been. I’d imagine both would work well with late hopping/hop bursting/dry hopping and any other manner of flavor/aroma imparting method. Does anyone have a preference for any method with either? What properties can be expected from each from these methods? What other varieties do they go well with? Any feedback would be helpful.

IrlandeseBrewing · 10-22-2009, 08:26 PM

I just had this brought up to me on a question I had for an IPA brew from Ithaca brewing. They apparently use Sorachi Ace as a dry hop in their flower power. That must be the key for the almost lemony flavor I can sense when drinking it. I love that stuff so I say give it a go with the dry hop and see how it comes out. Flower power uses Cascade as well as Simcoe to bitter it up. Maybe those will work depending on what your looking for.

BrewRI · 10-22-2009, 10:24 PM

I had a Brooklyn Brewmaster's Sorachi (Something) at a local bar and while I can't give you a very detailed description it had a very strong hop flavor but not very bitter. Overall I remember it as a great drink.

emacgee · 10-23-2009, 03:27 AM

I've heard that it can be a bit harsh as a bittering hop and should be used more for later additions.

Houblon · 01-05-2010, 12:45 PM

I bought a lb(Sorachi) when they first came to market and didn't care for them but after many batchs find they do work when blended with other hops.

HickoryMike · 01-05-2010, 01:45 PM

I am about to brew with the Sorachi Ace and did some research today. Basically, expect a heavy lemon aroma/taste. I have read about some Sorachi beers that end up tasting like a lemon herbal tea and other beers that are big, lemony hop bombs. The bottom line: expect some lemon, citrus flavor with a floral nose.

Houblon · 01-05-2010, 04:00 PM

Lemon Pledge is what it reminds me of while brewing.

**pjj2ba** · 01-05-2010, 04:33 PM

I realy like Sorachi Ace. I use it for bittering in lagers and also for flavor and aroma in wheat beers. Like with any hop, if you add too much, you probably won't like the result.

Virant518 · 01-05-2010, 09:57 PM

I used 4 full ounces of Citra in a pale ale just as an experiment to see how the hops work (The recipe is my usual single-hop"test a new hop" recipe.)

The aroma is great, the bitterness is harsh, but there's something off in the flavor provided by the hop. It's super orangey, but it also seems to have what I can only describe as a "sweat" flavor to it.

Either there was too much in the flavor addition (1 oz@15min) or this hop needs to be blended with others or maybe avoided completely in the flavor step.

electric_beer · 01-05-2010, 10:16 PM

You're pretty brave buying a hop in bulk without ever using it. That said, here's what Brew Dudes said about them:
"Yeah, I am on the Citra hops bandwagon. I don’t even know that there is a bandwagon…

I read in BYO magazine that Sierra Nevada is using this new hop variety in their Torpedo Extra IPA. Of course, I want to get my hands on some. I don’t think that they are widely available for homebrewers just yet, but here is a compilation of the information that is out there about Citra hops:

Hybrid of a number of different hops. The breakdown is as follows:

50% Hallertauer Mittelfrüh

25% U.S. Tettnanger

25% East Kent Golding, Bavarian, Brewers Gold, and other unknown hops.

Origin: USA! USA! Presented at the World Brewing Congress in August of 2008.

Aroma/Flavor: Lots of descriptors out there: Citrus, peach, apricot, passion fruit, grapefruit, lime, melon, gooseberry, lychee fruit, pineapple, mango, papaya and other tropical fruit flavors and aromas. So, ah, fruity.

Alpha Acid: 10 to 12%

Typical Usage: I wouldn’t say there is a typical usage yet, but Sierra Nevada is dry hopping them in their Torpedo Extra IPA. Walla Walla Brewers made a fresh hop beer with all Citra
hops from Hop Union. It appears that Hop Union also had them at their table at the Philly Craft Beer Fest.

Beer Styles: So far, IPAs. Looks like the Washington Homebrewers Association got there hands on some in late ‘08 and they were brewing up some strong American and Belgian ales with them"

Seem like mainly an IPA hop and not really something you can use as a substitute. Although I guess you could use it as a sub for any of the varieties that its been bred from for similarities...