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So, I've got about a pound of Sorachi Ace to use - I've never brewed with them before. I don't have to use them all at once, but will consider any suggestions on how they're best used. I'm hoping some of you have experience with them, and can make sure I put them into good use. Bonus points if it's a brew with a relatively quick turnaround time and with a yeast that will be happy on the warmer end of the spectrum .

Fake edit: akr71 need not reply - a search pretty much shows how you feel about these hops.

lol, yeah, the old Sorachi Ace is a bit of a different hop. You probably don't want to ask me or Nash about it either....let me just say, don't do a Sorachi SMaSH.

Haha, maybe I should find something to make from them besides beer.........

Or maybe I can just bitter with it. Guess I'll probably be finding out one way or another....

The beer I made with them was just odd. It might turn out different for you, but I won't be using them again.

Sorachi Ace = mr. clean

mr x wrote:The beer I made with them was just odd. It might turn out different for you, but I won't be using them again.

Odd how? Too lemony? If I can get a better grip on how they taste, I can probably turn them into something useful.

No lemon - none, and I used a huge amount. It was an odd licorice like flavour that is hard to describe, other than as not good.

Sorachi's Ass SUCK donkey balls

I had 44 lbs of the stupid awful things to burn through, after the test SMaSH batch I decided to be a real nice guy and start selling them off at a stellar price to all my buddies. Well, they sure did appreciate that. The remaining 30 or 35 lbs were all used for bittering over a period that was WAY too long, sure I used some as finish hops, you know like 50g in a 600 L batch. If they did taste like lemons they'd be awesome, unfortunately they just taste like crap, but yeah, a wonderful bittering hop

You'd do okay using them in fairly small quantities as a finish hop

vgoreham wrote:Fake edit: akr71 need not reply - a search pretty much shows how you feel about these hops.

actually I've never used them, but too many brewers I trust have spoken ill of them, I'm scared to try them...

correction, I'm scared to pay money for them.

NASH wrote:Sorachi's Ass SUCK donkey balls

I had 44 lbs of the stupid awful things to burn through, after the test SMaSH batch I decided to be a real nice guy and start selling them off at a stellar price to all my buddies. Well, they sure did appreciate that. The remaining 30 or 35 lbs were all used for bittering over a period that was WAY too long, sure I used some as finish hops, you know like 50g in a 600 L batch. If they did taste like lemons they'd be awesome, unfortunately they just taste like crap, but yeah, a wonderful bittering hop

You'd do okay using them in fairly small quantities as a finish hop

Any chance you (and then everyone else here) just got a bad batch of them? I'm definitely reconsidering using any amount in a brew now - I haven`t had many brewdays lately and in a few weeks this batch might be all I have!

Anything's possible. Maybe your beer will be great.

vgoreham wrote:

NASH wrote:Sorachi's Ass SUCK donkey balls

I had 44 lbs of the stupid awful things to burn through, after the test SMaSH batch I decided to be a real nice guy and start selling them off at a stellar price to all my buddies. Well, they sure did appreciate that. The remaining 30 or 35 lbs were all used for bittering over a period that was WAY too long, sure I used some as finish hops, you know like 50g in a 600 L batch. If they did taste like lemons they'd be awesome, unfortunately they just taste like crap, but yeah, a wonderful bittering hop

You'd do okay using them in fairly small quantities as a finish hop

Any chance you (and then everyone else here) just got a bad batch of them? I'm definitely reconsidering using any amount in a brew now - I haven`t had many brewdays lately and in a few weeks this batch might be all I have!

No. They still taste like hops don't get me wrong. I drank 20 fucking L of the stuff all by myself and that is a magical feat I am incredibly proud of. Nobody else would drink it. It was a big SMaSH, over 8% ABV, I thought maybe after pounding a half dozen of them it'd settle in as a pretty darn good beer but alas, the fucking beer gods would NOT shine down upon Sorachi's Ass. The moment that fucking keg blew is a very special moment I'll carry to my grave

Apparently, somebody has managed to make a great beer with Sorachi:

Duggan’s Brewery Sorachi Lager (Ontario)

SCORE: 90 PRICE: $11.25/6-pack

Duggan’s Brewery, a downtown Toronto gastropub, recently closed its doors, to the dismay of pint-sipping gourmets, but the suds live on, praise be. Owner Mike Duggan’s excellent India Pale Ale as well as this new offering are being made at Cool Brewing in the city’s west end and can be found at various restaurants as well as the LCBO. Made with Japanese-developed sorachi hops, which impart a distinctively lemony aroma, the new beer is light (at just 4-per-cent alcohol), crisp and slightly, deliciously bitter.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/foo ... le2094832/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;