I just did a Sorachi Ace american wheat (70% wheat) and I love this hop
I used harvested pacman yeast and I really liked how nice it played with the delicate flavors of the beer.
I'm going to tweak it a little bit next time I brew it. Mine had a nice spice flavor already from the SA-- adding palisades should help bring that flavor out some more? I also added some dried lemon peel and I would like for the lemon flavor to be more pronounced. What would you suggest?
That sounds awesome. I was considering doing a Sorachi american wheat in the near future. I was thinking I'd use a little palisades in there since I have some left... I mean I get a peppery and passionfruit/apricot flavor but everything I read I see that it's grassy/apricot, so take that for what it's worth. You found that sorachi alone was a bit of a one note experience I take it?
On the spices/herbs side, I was thinking it'd be interesting to add saffron since citrus/saffron is delicious but being that it's the most expensive spice on the planet idk that I'll do it. It'd be cool to use cilantro to accent the lemon but you might get vegetal flavors from it, I'd do some research first. Maybe lemongrass?
If you really want to add some more spicy hop notes use a bit of noble-type hops. Liberty would be good as would Saaz and Hallertau. Also for the lemon peel, I'd just zest some fresh lemons as opposed to dried peel (or maybe even do both, I subscribe to the theory that the more layers of a desired flavor the better).
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So I just bottled my Thirteen tribute an hour ago. I have to say, it seriously tastes a LOT like thirteen! The yeast fermented very clean, the flavor is just a blast of citrus. I think they must use a similar ratio of Citra to Sorachi Ace because I think this would be the hop profile to use in a clone (though they use only the two hops, I added Palisades). It came out very dry, 1.006... I attribute that to the stuck mash, it probably wound up mashing for two hours. At this point it actually seems like it should be that dry but it's not carbonated yet so I can't be sure. My concerns about too much bitterness have been assuaged. Thirteen is actually fairly bitter so if I were to go for an actual clone I'd up the IBUs.
here's the description from their website:
Our anniversary ale, THIRTEEN is carefully brewed with raw and malted wheat and flaked oats, assertively hopped with Citra and Sorachi Ace, spiked with an addition of orange and lemon peel and vigorously fermented with an American Ale yeast.
Enjoy the incandescent appearance, immense citrus aromas and flavors, soft and fluffy mouthfeel and bitter zing.
ABV: 8.9 %
Malt: Raw & malted wheat, flaked oats
Hops: Citra, Sorachi Ace
Other: Orange & lemon peel
Hopefully it doesn't fade much while it bottle conditions, I'm extremely happy with where it's at right now. I'll post my thoughts again once it's properly conditioned.
