IIPA Using Sorachi Ace

It was necessary to substitute some hops in my Double India Pale Ale recipe and I was pleasantly surprised with the outcome using the hops with the lemony flavor.

Normally, I use a lot of Warrior, Simcoe and Columbus in this brew but I had a difficult time finding any Warrior or Simcoe this time around so I had to come up with an alternative plan. I had heard a lot about the new Sorachi Ace hop that claims to have a distinct lemon flavor and aroma and decided to give it a try along with some reliable standards (Cascade and Amarillo) to formulate a strong IPA recipe. Well, this is a great beer and it is true that the Sorachi imparts a serious dose of lemony goodness. I also used the 'Wet' dry hopping schedule on this beer with excellent results.

For 10 gallons of beer:

Mash

• 23lbs. 2-row
• 1.5lbs. Carapils
• .5lbs. Cry #60
• 3ozs. Sorachi Ace hops (in mash)
  
  in 7.5 gals. H2O @ 152f. with 2 tsp. gypsum for 60mins. 85% efficiency
  
  

Boil for 90mins (180 IBU's)

• 1oz. Cascade (7aa) 90mins.
• 5oz. Sorachi ((10aa) 90mins.
• 1.5oz. Cascade 45mins.
• 1.5oz. Sorachi 45mins.
• 2.5oz. Amarillo (8aa) 30mins.
• Irish moss 15mins.
• 4oz. Amarillo 2mins.
• 2oz. Sorachi 2mins.

Ferment on yeast us05 yeast cake from previous pale ale.

• Original Gravity 1.076
• Final Gravity 1.012
• ABV 8%
• SRM 8
• Attenuation 84%

Racked to kegs after primary fermentation of 7 days and forced carbonated. Chilled and dry hopped in tea ball, .5oz. Sorachi ace for 4 days.

I would highly recommend using the Sorachi Ace if you like the citrus/lemon flavor and aroma in your pale ales and IPA's. This beer is very quenching and refreshing. The difficult part is remembering that it packs 8% alcohol by volume. The other 'up' side to this story is that the Sorachi Ace is relatively cheap. I payed $23 for a pound of it from Hops Direct. http://www.hopsdirect.com/

Questions or comments are always welcome.