Sorachi Ace- My "Heffe"

[nchapelle]

Lemonhead

Style: Weizen/Weissbier OG: 1.053
Type: Partial Mash FG: 1.013
Rating: 0.0 ABV: 5.24 %
Calories: 173 IBU's: 29.16
Efficiency: 70 % Boil Size: 5.83 Gal
Color: 5.3 SRM Batch Size: 5.00 Gal
Boil Time: 60 minutes

Fermentation Steps
Name Days / Temp
(none)

Grains & Adjuncts
Amount Percentage Name Gravity Color
7.00 lbs 70.00 % Wheat Malt, Ger 1.039 2.0
1.50 lbs 15.00 % Pale Malt (2 Row) US 1.036 2.0
1.50 lbs 15.00 % Caramel/Crystal Malt - 10L 1.035 10.0

Hops
Amount IBU's Name Time AA %
0.30 ozs 14.03 Nugget 60 mins 13.00
0.70 ozs 10.87 Sorachi Ace 10 mins 11.90
0.50 ozs 4.27 Sorachi Ace 05 mins 11.90

Yeasts
Amount Name Laboratory / ID
1.0 pkg Pacman Wyeast Labs

Additions
Amount Name Time Stage
1.00 oz Whirlfloc Tablet 15 mins Boil
1.00 oz Yeast Nutrient 15 mins Boil
1.00 oz Lemon Peel 05 mins Boil

Mash Profile
Light Body Infusion In 60 min @ 151.0°F
Add 12.50 qt ( 1.25 qt/lb ) water @ 167.5°F
Sparge
Sparge 18.02 qt of 170.0°F water over 60 mins

How does this look? Not exactly sure what to call this-- it's not really a hefeweizen because of the IBU's. I want to brew a beer to profile the SA but I don't really want to bitter with SA.

I want a drinkable brew with a big lemon taste in the May months.

Any suggestions?

 

[nchapelle]

It should read lemon peel as opposed to orange peel

 

[Oldsock]

Why not call it an American Wheat since you are using American ale yeast as well?

Looks like a fine recipe to me, although I'm not a big fan of Sorachi Ace.

I would probably dial back the crystal to a pound or less. I'd want a beer like this to be crisp and refreshing, and I think the added sweetness would get in the way.

If you want lemon character, why not add lemon zest instead of orange?

Good luck brewing.

 

[azscoob]

With a mash temp of 151° it would seem that you are looking for a crisp dry-ish quaffer, but with 1.5 lb of crystal malt, it may come off a bit sweet. I would drop the crystal entirely and up the 2-row by 1.5 lb. or drop it to .5 lb of c-10 and up the 2-row by 1 lb.

I see the orange should read lemon, brew it up and see how it is!

 

[azscoob]

I agree it is more to style of an American wheat as stated above

 

[nchapelle]

Ok, I dropped the crystal and changed it to American Wheat. It now fits perfectly with BJCP guidelines.

Does anyone have any experience with using lemongrass? I think it might complement the SA well with a nice blend of spices and lemon.

 

[Airborneguy]

I've used lemongrass before. I put 1oz dry lemongrass in a hop bag and added it in the last 10 minutes. It came through very nicely. I'm actually sitting on another oz right now until I figure out what I want to do with it. I'm thinking a pils with it as the late "hop" addition.

 

[nchapelle]

dry lemongrass? how does that differ from the stalks I'm about to buy from the asian food market?

 

[azscoob]

dry lemongrass? how does that differ from the stalks I'm about to buy from the asian food market?

I would guess the difference is its dry, so oz for oz the dried will have more flavor, the typical conversion is to use 1/3 the quantity of a dried herb as a sub for fresh. so for Airborne's recipe I would use 3 oz fresh as a sub for his 1 oz dried amount.

 

[Airborneguy]

I've never had fresh so I'm going to defer to azscoob's explanation. Mine looked almost like dried rosemary or thyme.

 

[nchapelle]

My LHBS said there isn't enough 2 row to convert the wheat... I've seen 70% wheat recipes before.

Does anyone have experience with doing a big wheat bill?

 

[Airborneguy]

Wheat can convert itself. 100% wheat beers are no problem other than maybe a stuck mash on some equipment.

 

[Oldsock]

Wheat can convert itself. 100% wheat beers are no problem other than maybe a stuck mash on some equipment.

Agreed, as long as you are talking wheat malt (not raw, flaked, torrified or otherwise unmalted).

 

[nchapelle]

Nailed the OG got a little higher than expected which is better than the alternative (I hate missing low)

Added 2 oz of dried lemon peel, decided to not add the lemon-grass. I had a lemon-grass beer (from magic hat) the Friday before I brewed this and I thought it tasted like incense so I decided to skip it for now.

The color was slightly darker than I wanted not sure what that was attributed to but overall this will be a very drinkable beer!

 

[JoeBuch]

any word on how this turned out? i'm thinking about brewing something similar