Sorachi Ace?

[Rieewoldt]

Hi,
Was wondering whether or not anybody had used any sorachi ace hops to good effect?, tried a search but did not get too much info.
Any thoughts/experiences/suggestions would be beaut. thanks.

 

[jyo]

G'day, Kayne. I haven't brewed with Sorachi yet but I tried a beer from the last WA case swap brewed by Brendanos which was all Sorachi in a wheat beer. It can only be described as lemon zest/ citrus. I really enjoyed it.
Here are the reviews:

1) brendanos - Pearl Harbour - 4.1% - Bottle Conditioned - Best After 20/12/10
WW 26/12 (well the label said wait until after 25/12!) - Appearance as you would expect for a wheat beer. Slight hiss on opening the Coke bottle lid however beer doesn't seem undercarbed as I anticipated. Aroma is what I'd describe as minty. Didn't find it offensively bitter but certainly front of mouth and flavour is also similar to aroma - minty/lemons. Not a style I'm familiar with but guessing this example falls in the outer extremities of the guidelines smile.gif I still found it quite refreshing on yet another Perth scorcher. Cheers.

jyo-4/1 Lemon and lime aroma. Lime and grapefruit flavours to the bitter end. I'm guessing this is from the Sorachi Ace(?) really interesting hop. Some honey malt sweetness. Great persistent head, great carbonation. This went down a treat on a near 40 degree day. Cheers, mate.

MC - Aroma was quite subdued given the hopburst used. Doughy aroma with lemon/orange oil; the kind of fruit aroma that you get from confectionary or fancy soap rather than from actual fruit. Bitterness was certainly challenging, but it was forty degrees on Christmas so it was actually quite welcome. Thanks for the introduction to a hop which I haven't tried before.

whitegoose 04/01 - Wow! I had no idea what to expect from this beer, other than offensive bitterness. The aroma completely baffled me, but once I sipped, the big flavours I got were lemon zest/pith, then grapefruit, then pine. As the beer warmed the aroma changed to become dominated by sweet citrus. This beer really was offensively bitter, but I forgave it and we became friends.

Hope this helps, mate.
Cheers, John.

 

[Rieewoldt]

G'day, Kayne. I haven't brewed with Sorachi yet but I tried a beer from the last WA case swap brewed by Brendanos which was all Sorachi in a wheat beer. It can only be described as lemon zest/ citrus. I really enjoyed it.
Here are the reviews:

1) brendanos - Pearl Harbour - 4.1% - Bottle Conditioned - Best After 20/12/10
WW 26/12 (well the label said wait until after 25/12!) - Appearance as you would expect for a wheat beer. Slight hiss on opening the Coke bottle lid however beer doesn't seem undercarbed as I anticipated. Aroma is what I'd describe as minty. Didn't find it offensively bitter but certainly front of mouth and flavour is also similar to aroma - minty/lemons. Not a style I'm familiar with but guessing this example falls in the outer extremities of the guidelines smile.gif I still found it quite refreshing on yet another Perth scorcher. Cheers.

jyo-4/1 Lemon and lime aroma. Lime and grapefruit flavours to the bitter end. I'm guessing this is from the Sorachi Ace(?) really interesting hop. Some honey malt sweetness. Great persistent head, great carbonation. This went down a treat on a near 40 degree day. Cheers, mate.

MC - Aroma was quite subdued given the hopburst used. Doughy aroma with lemon/orange oil; the kind of fruit aroma that you get from confectionary or fancy soap rather than from actual fruit. Bitterness was certainly challenging, but it was forty degrees on Christmas so it was actually quite welcome. Thanks for the introduction to a hop which I haven't tried before.

whitegoose 04/01 - Wow! I had no idea what to expect from this beer, other than offensive bitterness. The aroma completely baffled me, but once I sipped, the big flavours I got were lemon zest/pith, then grapefruit, then pine. As the beer warmed the aroma changed to become dominated by sweet citrus. This beer really was offensively bitter, but I forgave it and we became friends.

Hope this helps, mate.
Cheers, John.

thanks mate, it certainly sounds like it packs a punch certainly given me a few ideas and directions. Am doing my first BIAB in a week or so, just getting a few ideas together. Might leave the sorachi ace until I have the BIAB thing sussed with a few common hop brews first. Thanks John

 

[vykuza]

Last year I made a few brews with Sorachi Ace, then ended up giving away my last few ounces of it. I didn't care for it.

I made a weizen with it that ended up tasting like a can of SPC tinned fruit salad, a basic pale ale, that was ok, but got a real touch of "fake" orange/fanta flavour and a Saison, which I got 1/2 way through the batch and tipped the rest on the lawn.

Three strikes and it's out! I wouldn't recommend it as a single hop. It's just incredibly... unsubtle.

That said, I'd definitely consider blending it with other citrussy American hops in an American IPA or similar.

 

[Rieewoldt]

Last year I made a few brews with Sorachi Ace, then ended up giving away my last few ounces of it. I didn't care for it.

I made a weizen with it that ended up tasting like a can of SPC tinned fruit salad, a basic pale ale, that was ok, but got a real touch of "fake" orange/fanta flavour and a Saison, which I got 1/2 way through the batch and tipped the rest on the lawn.

Three strikes and it's out! I wouldn't recommend it as a single hop. It's just incredibly... unsubtle.

That said, I'd definitely consider blending it with other citrussy American hops in an American IPA or similar.

Thanks nick yeah when I searched the forum I saw your post giving them away. gave some to my mate today and he's going to trial them in a nz ipa with some nelson, may just have to use them sparingly?

 

[milob40]

placed it in the bin alongside the remainder of my citra hops (big brother to citra if you ask me but more intense citrus )

 

[Rieewoldt]

hi guys

just tried a brew based on neils centamarillo ale using sorachi and cascade, works quite well, citrus/sherbert tastes. Not unpleasant anyway!

 

[bconnery]

I made the following beer using NickRs hops. I wanted to get a bit of malt background as the beers I'd tasted with this hop indicated it could really be too dominant without some support.
I like it. It had a strong tinned mango hop aroma and taste early. Definitely some lemon now, one taster said a hint of mint.
Several brewers who tasted it recently said toasted/coconut, which would appear to be the hops fading and the malt coming through over the top I'd say.

The Brew Dog Sorachi Ace single hop IPA is worth trying to see what can be done with this hop in a biggish beer.

So, I think this could blend well but if used on its own I'd recommend some solid base and specialty malt support, based only on my tastings of this. That's not to say there's not another way...

Recipe: I'll be back for breakfast pale ale
Brewer: Mooshells
Asst Brewer:
Style: American Pale Ale
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (35.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 22.00 L
Boil Size: 28.00 L
Estimated OG: 1.051 SG
Estimated Color: 17.3 EBC
Estimated IBU: 38.7 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 80.00 %
Boil Time: 70 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
3000.00 gm Pale Malt, Maris Otter (Thomas Fawcett) (5Grain 66.67 %
1200.00 gm Munich I (Weyermann) (14.0 EBC) Grain 26.67 %
200.00 gm Special Roast (98.5 EBC) Grain 4.44 %
100.00 gm Brown Malt (145.0 EBC) Grain 2.22 %
20.00 gm Sorachi Ace [12.10 %] (Dry Hop 4 days) Hops -
15.00 gm Northern Brewer [11.40 %] (60 min) Hops 19.5 IBU
20.00 gm Sorachi Ace [12.10 %] (15 min) Hops 13.7 IBU
20.00 gm Sorachi Ace [12.10 %] (5 min) Hops 5.5 IBU
2.00 gm Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) (Boil 60.0 min) Misc
2.00 gm Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) (Mash 60.0 min) Misc
1 Pkgs SafAle American Ale (US56) (DCL Yeast #S-0Yeast-Ale

 

[kocken42]

I had what I presumed to be a Sorachi Ace Pale Ale from Feral Brewery a few weeks ago. The description of the beer said something like 'made with a new Japanese hop variety'.

The beer was lemon yellow in colour, and the flavour was similar. Spicy lemons I would say. It almost had a hotness to it (hot hot curry hot) and was a good representation of what Sorachi Ace is and what it can do. Personally I didn't enjoy the beer, but can see Sorachi Ace having it's place among certain beers.