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Sorachi Pale Ale (hopburst)

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akueck

akueck

Certified Mead Mentor
Certified Mead Mentor
Jun 26, 2006
4,958
11
0
Ithaca, NY
I bought 1.5 lbs of Sorachi Ace a few weeks ago. Yes, lbs. It was not all for me; I have 7 other folks brewing up Sorachi beers and we'll all do a bottle swap to see what you can do with this uncommon Japanese cultivar. It has a characteristic lemony aroma and flavor, and a high alpha content (ours were 10.1%).

This is my first try at a "hopburst" style recipe. The idea is to add all the hops at the end, which means you need a lot of them. Boom!

Sorachi Pale Ale ~3 gallons
1.25 lbs US 2-row
1.5 lbs UK MO pale
1/4 lb Biscuit
1/4 lb Crystal 20
2 lbs liquid light extract
1/4 oz Sorachi Ace (10.1%) 60 mins
4 oz Sorachi Ace (10.1%) 5 mins
WLP041 Pacific Ale
OG 1.050

Collected only 2.6 gallons, lost a ton to the hop mass. Next time I do hopburst I'm brewing again with the leftover hops and/or trying to salvage the liquid better.

Currently bubbling happily. I intend to not dry hop to see what the hopburst does for me.
 
I used Soriachi in a Cranberry wheat in the spring. (I still have a bit of the last keg left). The Soriachi didn't give me any lemon notes as far as I could tell. I didn't go too high on the use though. about 1 oz /5 gallons at the last 10 minutes of the boil and then 1/2 oz at the end of the boil.

Great for use as a bittering hop though!

Please post your results and impressions.
 
Bottled this one today. It is quite hoppy! I'll have to wait until it's carbonated to really tell, but it seemed the bitterness was quite mild and there was a healthy dose of hop flavor. Not lemony though, but we'll see in a few weeks.
 
First bottle!

I am totally sold on the hopbursting. The bitterness is mild and pleasant, and there is tons and tons of hop aroma and flavor. It actually is lemony, which is pretty cool. I drank it along with a half shot of Limoncello, which made for a fun contrast of sweet/bitter but both with a lemony note.

Overall I'd say the flavor/aroma of the Sorachi is quite floral, with a distinct lemon note (without the sourness of lemon).
 
Yeah and I just gave 10 bottles away today. But! I can always make more. I have the secret recipe around here somewhere...
 
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