Ah, summer! Shorts, sunscreen, and summer beers. SolAce is a sessionable
American-style wheat ale brewed with a touch of coriander and lemon
zest.
Grainbill:
4.0 lb American 2-row
5.5 lb Wheat Malt
0.25 lb Munich Malt
0.25 lb Honey Malt
(+.5 lb Rice Hulls)
Hop schedule:
.5 oz Amarillo (8.5%) - boiled 60 min
1 oz Sorachi Ace (14.9%) - boiled 5.0 min
Additions:
2.0 tsp Coriander (crushed) - boiled 5.0 min
6.0 tsp Lemon peel (fresh) - boiled 5.0 min
Yeast:
White Labs WLP029 German Ale/Kölsch
The goal of this brew was to make a drinkable, lemony beer fit for the beach or a BBQ. I finished the beer with Sorachi Ace hops, originally grown by Sapporo in Japan. This variety has a distinct lemon scent and taste and pair well with wheat’s slight spiciness. Crushed coriander adds an additional spice bite, while Kölsch yeast imparts a clean, crisp finish.
SolAce pours a cloudy light golden orange with a pillowy white head that leaves rings of lace as you drink. The aroma is light citrus with notes of baking bread. Tasting the beer, you can pick up straw, white bread, and honey followed by a lemony kick that lingers well into the finish, along with some spiciess from the wheat and coriander.
In this case, the lemon flavor might be a bit overdone. There’s a harsh bitterness that is likely the result of some lemon pith being thrown in with the zest. This flavor intensifies as the beer warms to the point of reminding one of Pine-Sol. I’ve yet to add citrus zest to a beer with good results.
The name “SolAce” is a mashup of Sol (“sun”) and the Sorachi Ace hop variety. I should have done more research on the name because apparently Firestone Walker (one of my favorite breweries) has a wheat beer named, yep, Solace.