Sniffing Along Memory Lane: Aromatherapy, Beer-Style

Memory’s a funny thing. You can’t remember what you had for breakfast, but you can remember where you where when Jordan took that last winning shot against Utah. (Big River Brewing Company at Epcot, drinking a pint of Rocket Red Ale.) Other memories are maddeningly fleeting and vague.

Out here in California, a man gets exposed to a number of strange notions, including aromatherapy. But despite aromatherapy’s quackish reputation, scent clearly holds a powerful sway over our minds.

Growing up in Florida (before the developers bulldozed the state into one continuous salmon-and-turquoise-colored strip mall), I would play in groves of orange trees that hung heavy with fruit. Dewy spring mornings rose as the chirping crickets finally ceased singing. Vapors of orange blossoms and jasmine hung thick in the air. Riding home from my paper route was like swimming through a warm and heady scented pool. Diaphanous curtains of flowery perfume brushed my face and sweetened my morning ritual of reading the comics.

I only recalled these vibrant images one recent morning, after the jasmine flowers near my new office burst forth in a riotous rebound from a late-spring cold snap. Now I can’t walk by a jasmine bush without feeling a rush of warm nostalgia.

Why does scent recall otherwise “lost” memories and feelings so strongly? While the scientists try to figure that one out, we homebrewers can focus on channeling this sensory experience into a new, uh… beeromatherapy approach for happy living.

To channel my childhood memories into beer, I decided to focus on the flowers—which smelled far better than the morning comics. Fresh blossoms are delicate creatures, full of perfumed oils that are easily destroyed. Perversely, they need heat to achieve their full aroma potential, so dry hopping with them isn’t very effective. The real trick is finding the right blossoms for brewing. Choose the freshest flowers you can find—farmer-direct, when possible.

To showcase floral aromas, and celebrate the spring and summer months, I feel it’s best to go dead simple with an American Wheat Ale base. Subtle aromas are enhanced and supported by the sweet, bready characters of malted wheat. A light touch of my favorite American Wheat hop, Liberty, provides a soft, spicy bite to offset any cloying finish. Lastly, fermenting with a clean and neutral yeast strain allows the nose to bloom without phenolic and estery interference. We’re not adding any orange zest to the beer, because that would overpower the blossoms’ softer floral texture.

Liberate the fragrant oils by adding the flowers to your kettle at knockout. The recently completed boil’s relatively gentle heat will sanitize the blossoms while dissolving their waxy bindings. Whirlpooling the wort will settle the beer and distribute the petals.

Let the tea steep in a lidded kettle for 10 minutes before chilling. For maximum effect, chill the wort quickly to preserve the impact of the essential oils.

In an alternative bloom application, fellow homebrewer Richard Sloan (XLPerro) used dried Mexican Jamaica (hibiscus) blooms in his Cerveza de Finca Cal-Mex Farmhouse Ale. In a 5-gallon batch, he added 6 ounces of the flower at knockout. Using a nylon mesh grain/hop bag allowed him to easily pull the flowers from his deeply rose-colored brew.

Taking a cue from Persian cuisine, rosewater would make a simple yet powerful addition. Any commercial products you use should be pure, without additives. For another hit, spike your brew with a homemade infusion of flower petals in vodka in secondary or at bottling time.

Of course, flowers aren’t the only source of scents that take you back. The memory of my grandfather, who smoked a pipe of sweet black cherry tobacco. Imagine, then, making a smoked raisin Barleywine aged on cherries. Or, to reproduce one of my favorite meals from a small Chinese restaurant, I could add a dose of ginger and Szechuan peppercorns to a Saison, and bring back the gritty, peppery sear of the hot pot. For you poor saps in New Jersey, well, I’m sorry—I really don’t know how to safely create eau d’industrial waste!

MEMORY LANE JASMINE-ORANGE ALE
For 5.5 gallons, at 1.050 OG, 13.4 IBU, 4.8 SRM, 5.5% ABV

Malt
6 lb. wheat malt
4 lb. Domestic 2-row malt
1/2 lb. CaraVienne malt
(Extract: Substitute 5.6 lb. wheat DME or 7.4 lb. wheat LME for wheat and 2-row)

Mash
Strike with 13 quarts of water to rest for 60 minutes at 152°F.
(Extract: Steep the CaraVienne for 30 minutes.)

Hops
3/4 oz. Liberty (pellets) | 4.0% AA | 60 minutes

Yeast
Neutral American (Wyeast 1056, 1272; WLP001)

Extras (added at flameout)
4 oz. fresh-picked jasmine blossoms
8 oz. fresh-picked orange blossoms ■