Batch for my friend's first baby girl - need ideas

A good friend of mine is having his first kid in January. They're expecting a baby girl and I would like to brew up a batch to celebrate. Id like to do something thats "girly": light, sweet, smooth, probably fruity or floral and either pinkish or purple. To get the color I'm thinking either a strawberry, raspberry or blueberry beer.

So far I've only brewed extract and partial mash, I do have the equipment to do an all grain brew. However since it would be my first time, and I don't have time to brew another batch if it fails, I'm leaning more towards what I've done already. I was also leaning more towards doing my first larger since I now have a fermentation chamber that I can keep steadily as low as 40. I was thinking that a larger would give me that smooth easy taste and not take away from the flavors im looking for. Finally no matter what I brew, I will be making a yeast starter for it. Kegging to force carb, then bottling.

I am open to any and all ideas for recipes, brew kits, ingredients/spices and finally if any of you out there have also brewed beer celebrating a baby girl's birth, what did u do/what would you have done differently?

Knowing what I know about babies (we have two kids), they can surprise you early, so expect to have your beer done by mid-December if you can. It sounds like you're leaning towards a fruit beer. For a base, i'd probably go with a witbier, a kolsch or even a low hop pilsner with fruit adjuncts. If this is your first go at a fruit beer, i'd suggest you go with a natural fruit extract. JD Carlson makes several of them and you should be able to find them at your LHBS or at places like northern brewer online.

For my Cranpus cranberry christmas ale, I use a pilsner based recipe with just a hint of noble hops (lots think floral notes) and a half ounce of mulling spices in the boil. Just before bottling, I add 4 oz. of all natural cranberry extract to the bottling bucket with my priming sugar. It all gets mixed together when I rack the beer to the bucket and it turns out pretty wnderful.

I was leaning towards a fruit beer for its color/flavor. But I'm not sold on it. I've done a blueberry wheat, letting the beer sit on ground up blueberries in the secondary. The flavor ended up not carrying through well and i still added blueberry flavoring at the end.

I was thinking i could always use some fruit for coloring and really only giving the beer a slightly fruity taste. Also maybe incorporating some vanilla if it felt right for the beer.

i made a hibiscus wheat for our baby shower

soft pink color with a hint of tart hibiscus in the background but still an easy smooth drinker
5 1/2# pilsner malt
4# white wheat malt
1/2# crystal 10
17IBU magnum at 60min
3oz hibiscus flower in the boil at flameout

you can prob add a little more hibiscus if you wanted more pink color and were planning on aging for a bit

Never heard of hibiscus - what would u say the taste was like? Did it have a floral smell?

tart and slightly floral - commonly used to make Jamaica tea/beverage at a lot of mexican restaurants and can usually be found at Hispanic markets or health food stores

Thanks ill def check it out

I've brewed this twice.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f75/succulent-strawberry-blonde-132423/

It is fantastic. The sweetness of the berries goes away, leaving the tart flavor and MASSIVE strawberry aroma behind. Easy, and could be kegged and ready early if needed.
I go 2weeks ferment, 1week on berries in secondary, 1week racked off beries in tertiary. Have not been disappointed.

Sounds good, did the strawberries color the beer at all?

better come up with a preggertini for mom too. She wont be able to drink a beer.

If you would like to add some tradition, you could consider a Dutch style "Oud Bruin" (Old Brown). It is a sweet beer low in alcohol and bitterness, traditionally given to women recovering from childbirth. It is assumed to have a positive effect on breastfeeding.

It changed the color very very little if any. It is not a pink beer by any means.