Brooklyn Brewery Sorachi Ace Saison
About a year ago, we found ourselves at Sunset Grill in Allston, MA with Brooklyn Brewery's Sorachi Ace Saison on tap. A new hop strain called Sorachi Ace? Saison? Lemony hops you say? We couldn't resist ordering and were quickly bowled over by this beer which, as you can probably tell, showcases Sorachi Ace hops.
Sorachi Ace are a new and rare hybrid of hops that was developed in Japan. They characteristically have a very lemony/lemongrass aroma and flavor. Since they're so new and still rare, they are only recently able to be found in many commercially produced beers. We hope to see more!
The lemon from the Sorachi Ace hops complemented the yeast profile of the Brooklyn Brewery beer so perfectly! We wanted more! Sadly we were driving, and couldn't partake of any more (Don't Drink Craft Beer & Drive!). It was a one off in Brooklyn's Brewmaster's Series and we figured we'd never see it again. Well you can believe we were stoked to hear they were bringing it back in their 750 ml bottle line, especially since it was during Summer of 2010, the Summer we've deemed "Summer of Saison!" We picked up a bottle at Berman's Wine & Spirits in Lexington, MA as soon as we heard it was out and here are our thoughts:
Appearance: Brooklyn Brewery Sorachi Ace pours with a hell of a puffy, white head just as a Saison should! Creamy on top, the froth is light and airy with big bubbles if you look at it from the side. The nectar itself is only the slightest bit hazy (maybe we should have mixed the yeast up a little better?) and light golden. It sure looks like a Saison!
Smell: Wow! Just as we remember this beer when we had it on tap about a year ago... so glad Brooklyn Brewery decided to put this in bottles! You get the dry malt along with the spicy yeast you expect when smelling a Saison, but it's like they've added some lemon to make it more refreshing... that's the Sorachi Ace hops coming through. Not fake lemon, but a nice squeeze of a fresh lemon. If you look for it, you can find an ever so slight Pine-Sol lemonyness in there, but it's slight and that's if we're looking for something to criticize this beer on. Many people would probably fine this smell just to be a lemongrass with a tad of alcohol in the back, we think, which makes sense as this beer is 7.6% abv. Also, the lemon isn't quite as up front as we remember back when it was first on tap. Before, it was a Sorachi Ace bomb! This go-around, it's a little more delicate of an aroma. Oh well, such is the variability of single batch beers! That said, it smells great!
Taste: It's dry on the front of the tongue and only gets drier as you swallow. It leaves the back of your mouth completely devoid of moisture it feels like... which is how we like our Saisons, especially on a 90°F day like today! Sorachi Ace Saison leads with a decent but medium bitterness that shows through more as the beer warms. It's pleasant to us, for sure, but a little bit more that the style traditionally showcases. We like it, and it makes sense for a beer at least partially meant to showcase this new type of hop. Despite the full head, this beer is full of carbonation in the form of micro bubbles that coat your mouth softly and smoothly. It's not prickly, just lightly bubbly like a delicate champagne. The malt is really just here to provide the bare necessities needed for beer as that's all it does. This beer is all about the yeast, Sorachi Ace hops and refreshment! This is a great brew in the vein of Saison Dupont, just with a more prominent and esoteric hop profile. Check it out for sure, we think it will become one of your favorites if you like Saisons like we do!
As a side note, we've picked up a whole bunch of Sorachi Ace hops from Freshops.com. We plan on making at least one Homebrew Recipe using Sorachi Ace, probably a Saison or Hefeweizen as these hops seem to go well with yeast forward beers. Any of you have a suggestion for a style of Homebrew you'd like to see using Sorachi Ace? Let us know in the comments below. Also, Freshops.com is where we bought the hop rhizomes to grow the Chinook hops used in our Hop Diggity Homebrew IPA Recipe. They're definitely worth checking out if you homebrew!
(Lemon Bowl image above by Amie Fedora, Amie Fedora Design & Photography)
