Sorachi Ace
Lemongrass and dill, and nothing else smells like it. Bred by Sapporo, abandoned, and rescued by American growers.
Alpha acid
10-16%
10% - 16%
Against every variety on this site
Typical use
Dual
Enough alpha to bitter and enough character to finish the same beer.
At 60 minutes
45 IBU
For 30 g at the mid-range alpha in a 20 litre batch at 1.050, by Tinseth
Origin
Japan
Publicly released in 1984
Where it belongs
- Saison
- American Pale Ale
- Witbier
If you cannot get it
Ranked by how convincingly each one stands in. A substitution changes the beer; matching the alpha acid only matches the bitterness, not the aroma.
Buying it
Hops are perishable and alpha acid falls with warm storage. Buy vacuum-packed pellets, check the crop year and the alpha figure printed on the pack, and keep them in a freezer. A pack stored in a warm cupboard for a year can have lost a third of its bitterness, which is the usual reason a repeated recipe comes out tasting flat.
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