Sorachi Ace Hops - What have you done?

[dirty_martini]

I made an IPA with an even mix of summits and sorachi aces. both 2 oz at KO and in dry hop. it was one of the more interesting IPAs Ive ever tasted. Really quirky flavor profile. tangerines, lemon, grassy.

also one of the longest lasting IPAs ive ever had. I poured a 8 month old bottle that hasnt been refrigerated and it still tasted pretty fresh.

 

[Steelers77]

I'm making a SA amber tomorrow. I just got done packages a ton of these and tasted a few in the process. DAMN! I think this will go well in an amber, thinking of useng the same grain bill I used for the Nugget Nectar clone I just made. I've always read they had a lemon flavor, but when I tasted them they seemed to have more spice with maybe a hint of lemon. Don't know, but we will know in a few weeks! WOOHOO:rockin:

 

[mullenite]

I'm making a SA amber tomorrow. I just got done packages a ton of these and tasted a few in the process. DAMN! I think this will go well in an amber, thinking of useng the same grain bill I used for the Nugget Nectar clone I just made. I've always read they had a lemon flavor, but when I tasted them they seemed to have more spice with maybe a hint of lemon. Don't know, but we will know in a few weeks! WOOHOO:rockin:

Something I try to point out is that they have a lemon flavor but are not acidic so it comes off as kind of fake lemon or lemon-scented cleaning product like.

 

[Steelers77]

Ohh, thanks for the insight. I will report back when the amber is finished

 

[BendBrewer]

Sorachi Ace Report. I made BM's Centennial Ale and subbed the late additions out with SA hops and added a pound of honey to the boil.

I get Coconut flavor out of it. A little harsh or surprising at first sip but seems to go down fine after that.

That being said, Coconut really isn't a flavor that I plan to be shooting for in my beers anytime soon. Glad the hops were free.

 

[Houblon]

Something I try to point out is that they have a lemon flavor but are not acidic so it comes off as kind of fake lemon or lemon-scented cleaning product like.

Lemon Pledge

 

[nutty_gnome]

I still like my "sorcachi suckers" american wheats with SA; they go over big with the ladies in my life.

But the more I taste them I think that some people have used the word 'lemon soapy' which I think is more accurate. I've also seen the coconut taste fade after a few months and the lemon come to the front.

I also made AHS's Karankawa Pale Ale which uses sorachi ace and find that when used as a bittering hop with couped with other aggressive hops it didn't dominate.

I still like SA.

 

[Steelers77]

Has anyone paired these with Simcoe, or Amarillo, or maybe some Citra?

 

[SpanishCastleAle]

Has anyone paired these with Simcoe, or Amarillo, or maybe some Citra?

Have a PA on tap with SA and Centennial as dry hop. The spice of each seems to add up to a lot of spice. More spice and less citrus than I expected but I didn't use any of either in the boil, only dry hop.

 

[Brewkowski]

I just finished off a keg of a summer wheat beer I'd done with Sorachi and Amarillo, I thought it came out great, but it definitely had like a pina colada taste to it. I had used a little orange peel and 1 oz of each hops, I was expecting fruity but I was really surprised how it turned out. Maybe US-05 had something to do with it?

 

[mullenite]

I'm thinking of adding some lactic acid next time I make this beer to get more of a real lemon flavor.

 

[Steelers77]

Did you have any wheat in the recipe? Maybe make an American wheat with this combo and see what happens.

 

[mullenite]

Did you have any wheat in the recipe? Maybe make an American wheat with this combo and see what happens.

Mine? Was a small batch with Briess wheat DME and only Sorachi Ace hops.

Next time I'll probably do a full batch with 50/50 White Wheat/2-Row and some lactic acid (or a sour mash) and keep the same hopping schedule (60, 20, 10, KO).

 

[Steelers77]

Sounds like we could come up with a psedo hard lemonade.

 

[beerookie]

Im sorry that I'm joining in on the conversation of pros but isn't Sorachi Hops a Japanese hop? If so, doesn't that defeat the purpose of brewing a belgium style ale like a Saison like some of you are talking about? I don't mean that in any sort of disrespect but just curious

 

[fastricky]

I'd say it's probably a good fit for a Saison. (Rules are made to be broken beerookie!)

But I will say I don't get the lemon-flavor thing at all from that hop. I'd say it's more of a bright resiny flavor.

But not lemon.

 

[SwampassJ]

Anyone think Sorachi in a Schwarz Beer would turn out ok? And what type of addition times/amounts would you guys use in it?

 

[fastricky]

Hmm, I don't think it's a good match for a Schwartz beer, it'd be too strong a flavor for that type of beer.

 

[Wayne1]

I made an IPA style brew using Pilsner malt for the base malt and various varieties of "noble" hops. Sorachi Ace was used throughout along with Tettenang, Hallertauer, and Saphir.

The beer was fantastic and didn't last nearly long enough in the keg. This will be made again in a 10 gallon batch to enjoy the flavors over a longer period of time.

The noble hop flavor came through big time. I wouldn't say one hop dominated or overpowered any of the others, but they all blended together to give that unmistakable noble hop presence.

Using Sorachi Ace was very helpful in this recipe as the higher AA% made it possible to do without breaking the bank, too much, on hops. I still used close to a pound total for five gallons.

 

[Alehouserock]

I've made a number of Saison variants using Sorachi Aces, and I know one other person made my Sorachi Saison. I've seen a few others mention it in random threads, so I wanted to know: What have you brewed with Sorachi Ace?

Can someone help me with the extract version of this for this?

6.00 lb Pilsner (2 Row) Bel (2.0 SRM) Grain 55.8 %
2.00 lb Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 18.6 %
2.00 lb Wheat Malt, Bel (2.0 SRM) Grain 18.6 %

Pilsen extract?
And 2lb of specialty grains for the munich
wheat DME? or would I want to do a wheat extract?

 

[Walker]

Can I get the recipe for this?

It's listed in the recipe pulldown under his name.

 

[cimirie]

Just brewed an IPA this past weekend with predominantly Sorachi Ace. I've been waiting for a very long time to use them.

5.5 lb M.O.
4 lb 2-row
2 lb munich
1 lb aromatic
1 lb crystal 40
.5 lb carafoam
.25 lb special b

.75oz Magnum 60min
1oz SA 20min
.5oz cascade 20min
.25oz magnum 20min
.5oz SA 10min
.5oz SA 5 min
.25oz Cascade 5min
.5oz fuggles 5 min

And I'll dry hop after secondary with 1.5oz SA

My fermentation room (ie bathroom) smells awesome while it's bubbling!

I'll let you know how it turns out.

 

[Alehouserock]

It's listed in the recipe pulldown under his name.

I noticed that, I was actually asking for the extract version or how to convert it to extract

 

[Walker]

I noticed that, I was actually asking for the extract version or how to convert it to extract

well.. that's what you are asking NOW, but not originally.

Can you get pilsner extract? I've seen munich extract before, as well as wheat extract, but I haven't used extract in a while and don't know what's out there.

 

[beerjunky828]

Making a Double IPA and plan on dry hopping with Sorachi Ace.

 

[SumnerH]

well.. that's what you are asking NOW, but not originally.

Can you get pilsner extract? I've seen munich extract before, as well as wheat extract, but I haven't used extract in a while and don't know what's out there.

Pilsner extract is pretty standard, even comes in DME--Munich's a tougher find but you can get it in LME at the very least.

Wheat extract is usually 50/50 barley/wheat (or in that realm). I'd use twice as much of that as there is wheat malt, enough munich extract to make up the munich contribution, and then enough pilsener extract to make up the OG difference after those two.


Actually, that's not true; I'd mini-mash the munich, wheat malt, and 1 lb of pilsner malt using DeathBrewer's stovetop partial mash method, and use pilsener DME to make up the rest. That sounds scary to someone who's never done partial mash before, but the process isn't very much different from steeping grains. But if I were totally scared of partial mashing, all-extract is a possibility.

 

[Walker]

Pilsner extract is pretty standard, even comes in DME--Munich's a tougher find but you can get it in LME at the very least.

Wheat extract is usually 50/50 barley/wheat (or in that realm). I'd use twice as much of that as there is wheat malt, enough munich extract to make up the munich contribution, and then enough pilsener extract to make up the OG difference after those two.

Yeah, that's a good idea.

Using that approach, I get this from ProMash:


3.3# Pilsner LME
3.3# Wheat LME
1.65# Munich LME

That's actually a LITTLE higher than jezter's OG (1.055 vs 1.053 - note that it is a 5.5 gallon batch), but comes pretty close.

If I recall, LME comes in 3.3# bags/cans, so you use one bag of wheat, one bag of pilsner, and a half bag of munich.

 

[RevFry]

I first used Sorachi Ace in an American Pale Ale along with Crystal. After tasting it first in Elysian Brewing's Loser Pale Ale. It turned out amazing. I'm brewing another batch next week and trying to think of where else I can use this hop.

 

[jacko623]

Guys,

I just picked up 2 ounces of Sorachi Ace leaf hops. I'd like to form a beer to compliment the lemograss that comes from the hops, and I don't really drink wheat beers. Any ideas?

I'm mulling over the idea of using your standard APA grain bill: 2-row, 1-2 pounds of rye, maybe a bit of carapils and crystal. I'm targeting 5% alch. I can almost taste the spicey rye with the lemon grass notes. I think it'd make a great summer time beer. Does anyone have any input?

I know 2 ounces of sorachi isn't a lot - but I'm not a HUGE hop guy. 50 ibu is more than enough. Unfortunately my BeerSmith doesn't have the Sorachi hop profile there...

Thanks in advance dudes! :rockin:

 

[mochunk]

The first brew I did just a few months ago was a Black IPA (Northern Brewer kit) featuring SA. I fell in love with the hop after Three Floyds Samurai Gazebo.

I had a feeling it'd work well against a dark smoky grain bill, and I was right. While I basically just replaced the provided Summit with SA for bittering, and then 2 oz's for dry hopping, it worked extremely well.

Plans to reproduce the beer with either a full Sorachi Ace schedule, or possibly some better partner varieties are definitely on the table.

Can't ask for much more than a homerun on the first ever batch.

Signed up just to chime in on the thread as Sorachi Ace is definitely a favorite of mine (Have a Rye in secondary today with Cascade and SA).