Sorachi Ace

[muthead]

Hi guys,

Keen to hear peoples opinions on Sorachi Ace as a hop. I just cracked A Canadian Blonde I did 3 weeks ago and am not that impressed. I'm thinking the brew isn't 100%, it seems quite watery with really poor head retention. It may get better with age. I hope. The Sorachi Ace just adds what I can only describe as a "manufactured citrus" flavour. It just doesnt seem right or natural like all other hops i have used.

Has anyone had the same experience?

Cheers,
Mut

 

[Pennywise]

I've not used this hop, but the watery mouthfeel & lack of head would have nothing to do with the hop, if anything hops help head retention in my experiences. What was the recipe?

 

[DUANNE]

agree with the above on mouthfeel and lack of head. but when i have used this hop it has given a lemon bleach kind of fake lemon aroma and flavour. toned down it is like a fake lemon mixed with coconut to me. the brew dog sorachi ipa is dead had a similar type flavour to me as well.

 

[muthead]

Pennywise the recip was nothing too flamboyant, only my 5th brew.

Morgans Canadian Light kit & yeast
650g destrose
350g LMDE
12g Sorachi steeped for 10 minutes

Left for 9 days in FV, 3 days consecutive sg readings. Bottled and this is day 21 and just thought I'd crack one and see what it's like.

Watery would be the most apt description. out of the 5 brews I've done none have been this watery - what could cause that? It seems flat very quickly.

The Sorachi Ace just seems pointless, no real umpf if you get my drift

 

[waggastew]

Tried the Brewdog Soriachi Ace IPA recently. Not a hop flavour I want to encounter again. Might be OK in the background, maybe with something fruity (Cascade, Amarillo, Nelson Sav) running the show? Would not recomend for a single hop brew.

 

[keifer33]

The amount of dextrose in there will definetly lead to a much more watery then if you used 1kg DME and 200g of dextrose.

 

[Josh]

Pennywise the recip was nothing too flamboyant, only my 5th brew.

Morgans Canadian Light kit & yeast
650g destrose
350g LMDE
12g Sorachi steeped for 10 minutes

Left for 9 days in FV, 3 days consecutive sg readings. Bottled and this is day 21 and just thought I'd crack one and see what it's like.

Watery would be the most apt description. out of the 5 brews I've done none have been this watery - what could cause that? It seems flat very quickly.

The Sorachi Ace just seems pointless, no real umpf if you get my drift

Canadian Light kit + mostly dextrose will give you a very thin, watery beer. Don't blame the hops for this one.

 

[Pennywise]

Yeah I wouldn't be using anything more than 300g of dex/sugar in any "standard" kit beer. Try using a more malt driven mixture which will help a lot, with both mouthfeel & head retention. For the Coopers Canadian kits that I ferment I generally go 8-900g dme to no more than 200g sugar, usually it's only 100g sugar.

A little :icon_offtopic: , but I find that Nelson Sauvin hops go well with the Canadian & Euro Lager kits. So if the Sorachi isn't your thing, I'd suggest giving that a go. Although 12g isn't a heap, I'd also suggest you up it to 20-30g

 

[PhantomEasey]

Canadian Light kit + mostly dextrose will give you a very thin, watery beer. Don't blame the hops for this one.

Agreed Josh - one of the first brews I made a few months ago was a Coopers Canadian Blonde kit with something like 500grams of dex + some late citra and the body was so thin and the mouthfeel so dry it made the hops taste very harsh.

 

[muthead]

Thanks all. Lesson learned re Dextrose / DME balance.