Rose Petals

A few of us made a rose IPA a while back, chose some floral hops to go along with the rose petals & hips. I think we ended up using about 1 lb of each for 5 gallons, half at the end of the boil and the other half in the dry hop. I wouldn't boil them (veggie/tannin flavors) but adding them at flameout gives you some nice color, and the dry hop gave us good aroma. The rose hips are much easier to use and give you a more concentrated aroma/color. If you're looking to get rose flavor to come out in the finished beer, I'd use rose water or make your own tea, as we didn't get much flavor at all, but it's hard to tell since it's a very delicate flavor. Good luck!

 

It sounds tasty, especially with floral hops. What are the most floral tasting hops anyway?

 

Been using flowers and such in saisons for years, including rose petals and lavender. I use two ounces of rose petals in secondary for a week or two. Also made an Earl Grey saison last year that didn't suck. I that case I made two gallons of tea the night before brewing, put it in the fridge overnight and added at flameout to cool the beer.

 

I have never brewed with either lavender or rose pedals. The closest I've used is heather flowers and tips. I used two OZ. at the end of my boil (about 5 min). The flavor from the heather was virtually undetectable. If I ever use them again I would triple the amount. I have had a lavender and honey beer before. It tasted like soap. I have no idea how much lavender was used, but I might be fairly light handed with the lavender as I would assume it is far stronger than rose pedals.
What is the recipe you are planning to use?
Personally, I wouldn't worry about hops. It's a Saison after all. I would just use some traditional bittering hops and a small late addition if you want. But, I think the flavors from the yeast will play well with the flowers.
I should add that, unlike most brewers, I believe that if you are going to make a flavored beer, then make a flavored beer. IOW make sure the beer tastes like rose, not like hops.
The tea might be the best way to go as you can adjust the flavor of the tea, then reduce it via boiling (if needed), then add to taste.
The only thing to check before doing this is the effect of boiling the flower pedals. There are a lot of fruits that should not be boiled before adding to beers because it causes chill haze, tannin extraction and some other problems. It might not be an issue, but you should check with someone in the know.
Anyway, please repost or BM me with the results. I'd like to know how this turns out.
Good luck.

 

I'll have to look at my notes, but I use 1/2 to 3/4 cup of fresh lavender flowers and leaves. doesn't taste like soap, that seems to happen when an extract is used.

 

I had the beer at a tasting. I don't know the brewer, so it very likely could have been extract. It was just a very strong lavender taste. It certainly drowned out any honey flavors.

 

I know we used Smargd (sp?) and Amarillo, plus some NZ Hallertau. Crystal, Willamette & Centennial are all good for floral aroma/flavors as well from what I've read.

 

Not sure if I totally agree with them, but, Jamie Floyd from Ninkasi did a presentation at our brew club last month and said that they did a tarragon and another flower/spice addition to the tanks on a beer 3 years ago. No sanitizing, just "dry hopped" with them straight. 3 years later he tasted some, no infections. He said that the lower pH and anything above 4% ABV is enough to keep unwanted pests at bay. Denny Conn has also stated that when adding vanilla or other things to secondary he doesn't do anything to sanitize because alcohol should be enough.

That said, I am not personally convinced that a 4% ABV can withstand the microbes that could produce Lactic Acid, Acetic acid, or stave off Brett. Other beer spoilers like enterobacter yes, but not the souring/wilding ones funky beer lovers enjoy so much.

If you secondary a short time on this beer, carbonate, chill down entire batch right away, and drink fresh, not sure why you wouldn't have a problem just doing a secondary on the flowers straight though.

 

Brought a cup of water to a boil, removed from heat and tossed in the flowers. Let it sit for 5 minutes and toss the flowers and liquid into the secondary.

The rose petal was done on a whim, I needed something else to get the order over the minimum, and I was really pleased with it.

 

I think bravo would make a nice addition to a saison. I may have to try it on my next 3711 type creation. I'm thinking next to nothing at 60, and about a half to 3/4 oz at 10 and 0 would be about right (at least for this hop and my last saison, which was 12 lbs 2-row, fermented at 64F with 3711, plus hops, nothing else). The last batch I used more hops, but they were weaker and lower AA hops, and it came out very nice.