Brooklyn Brew Shop's Rose-Cheeked and Blonde

[TasunkaWitko]

Tonight, I am brewing a rose-kissed Belgian Blonde ale from Brooklyn Brew Shop. Called "Rose-Cheeked and Blonde," this beer is a typical Belgian Blonde with the addition of rose hips and petals, which are added during the boil. Brooklyn Brew Shop describes it as "a breath of fresh air with a heady swirl of floral-toned aromatics that’ll make you blush.... Rose hips (the dried fruit of the rose plant) add just a touch of fermentable sugar and reddish colour, while the buds leave a heady, floral aroma." At 6.5% AV, I can imagine that it will pretty interesting once finished.

The recipe for this beer can be found in Brooklyn Brew Shops's BEER MAKING BOOK, and is also currently offered as a pre-packaged mix at www.brooklynbrewshop.com:

https://brooklynbrewshop.com/collec...ducts/beer-making-mix-rose-cheeked-and-blonde

From what I can see, there is a slight difference between the two versions; the pre-packaged version, which I am brewing right now, seems to employ torrified wheat, which is not in the recipe that is in the book. The written recipe, however, does call for Carapils. I have written Brooklyn Brew Shop inquiring about this, and will share their answer, assuming that I will get one. Aside from that, the beer is comprised mostly of Belgian Pilsner malt, with a little Aromatic tossed in for some great malty flavour and aroma. As for hops, this beer uses Styrian Golding hops to the tune of a little more than 21 IBUs; most of the hops are added at the beginning of the boil, with a small amount added right near the end for aroma.

As mentioned above, I am brewing this beer right now, and am about halfway through the boil. I have been basically following the instructions as outlined here:

https://brooklynbrewshop.com/pages/instructions-rose-cheeked-blonde

So far, the brew has been going very well, with mash temperatures holding right about where I wanted them to, and no sticking during the sparge.

Following the usual procedure, I'll chill down the wort once the boil is finished, then transfer to the fermenter, pitch the yeast etc. If anything worthy of note occurs, I'll post it here.

As always, I invite discussion on this beer and this brew; if anyone has any questions or comments, please feel free to post them here, and I will do my best to address them.

More as it happens, etc. & c....

Ron

 

[Griffin495]

Good luck with your brew. The BBS is usually pretty good at getting back to you with answers to your questions. Or they always did when I asked. They'll tell you what your OG should be on any of their recipes as they are not in the book. I've brewed that batch a few times...sort of. I asked them how it would work if I left out the rose hips and petals and just made a blonde ale. They said it would be fine and it was a pretty good little batch the few times I did it. I've never been able to find Styrian Goldings at my local store, so I've subbed Styrian Celeia. How that changed the flavor from the original recipe, I don't know, but it was a tasty brew. Again, good luck with yours.

 

[DownstairsBrewing]

Good luck with your brew. The BBS is usually pretty good at getting back to you with answers to your questions. Or they always did when I asked. They'll tell you what your OG should be on any of their recipes as they are not in the book. I've brewed that batch a few times...sort of. I asked them how it would work if I left out the rose hips and petals and just made a blonde ale. They said it would be fine and it was a pretty good little batch the few times I did it. I've never been able to find Styrian Goldings at my local store, so I've subbed Styrian Celeia. How that changed the flavor from the original recipe, I don't know, but it was a tasty brew. Again, good luck with yours.

Weird that you can get Celeia there, but not Goldings - most places would be very much the opposite. It is one of the recommended substitutes in a couple of places, although going the other way.

I was sort of wondering what it would be like as a blond ale as well, without the rose content. Might do a 1 gallon batch each of with and without.

 

[TasunkaWitko]

Good morning, guys, and thanks for the comments. From what I could see of the recipe (without the rose element), it is a fairly typical Belgian Blonde Ale, and I am sure that it would be a good one. Most of the BBS recipes that I have seen or made are built on a solid foundation based on whatever style, with a few things added for some character. All of the beers I've brewed by them (recipes as well as mixes) have been great, except one that I screwed up through no fault of theirs (a peanut butter porter that I got a little over-enthusiastic with).

I took a peek at my beer this morning and fermentation is ramping up really nicely; soon, there will be a steady blip blip blip coming out of the blow-off tube, but I won't be there to listen to it as we will be out of town most of this weekend, during what will be the most active part of fermentation. When I get home on Sunday, I'll swap the blow-off tube for an air lock, then settle in for the wait until bottling.

One noteworthy thing about this brew, which has been going very well: I didn't have any actual "Belgian" yeast on hand, except some S33; however, plugging that yeast into Brewer's Friend, I kept getting abnormally-low ABV numbers, way off from what the recipe calls for. This, plus an inquiry that I made in the past about a similar beer (West Coast Golden Strong Ale), led me to decide to go ahead and use the "standard" yeast that comes with BBS mixes. I believe that this yeast is from Munton's but do not know for sure. When I plugged Munton's into Brewer's Friend, the ABV numbers went right where they were supposed to be. Another consideration was the ambient temperature, which was a little higher than I'd prefer. The "stock" yeast seems to do well in warmer temperatures, so I went with it and expect things to end up fine.

 

[Griffin495]

Weird that you can get Celeia there, but not Goldings - most places would be very much the opposite. It is one of the recommended substitutes in a couple of places, although going the other way.

I was sort of wondering what it would be like as a blond ale as well, without the rose content. Might do a 1 gallon batch each of with and without.

I just checked my notes of what hops I have on hand, and I definitely have Celeia. Now, whether that's left over from the blonde ale or a different recipe, I'm not sure. I'm at work and my big binder with all my notes on past brews is at home. I'll check when I get home and report back, but pretty sure I used Celeia. I'd be curious to see what you think of it without and without the rose.

 

[DownstairsBrewing]

I just checked my notes of what hops I have on hand, and I definitely have Celeia. Now, whether that's left over from the blonde ale or a different recipe, I'm not sure. I'm at work and my big binder with all my notes on past brews is at home. I'll check when I get home and report back, but pretty sure I used Celeia. I'd be curious to see what you think of it without and without the rose.

What I found odd is that I had not heard of Celeia before, both my locals will fairly reliably have packs of Styrian Golding in the refrigerator. I guess Celeia is a hybrid cross with Aurora, so just a little earthier.

There is a lavender version of the recipe in the same book, not quite my style, but I have liked some Belgian blondes. The base and the plus-rose are worth a 1 gallon experiment.

 

[TasunkaWitko]

There is a lavender version of the recipe in the same book, not quite my style, but I have liked some Belgian blondes. The base and the plus-rose are worth a 1 gallon experiment

I'll be brewing the lavender one next, probably Sunday - everything identical except the for the lavender vice rose element. These are a little outside of what I would normally try, but they sounded good for this time of year and they should make a pretty cool comparison.

 

[Vintah Montoya]

Omg! The witch in me totally just squeeee'd out loud! I've made wine using lavender, and have dreamt of doing a rose petal chardonnay. But hadn't thought of incorporating that into beer. Now you got my noggin working!

 

[TasunkaWitko]

A little goes a long way - the rosehips were about the same diameter as a dime, and only two were called for in the recipe (equivalent of 1 teaspoon), added 20 minutes into the boil. As for the petals, they were the equivalent of one tablespoon (dried) or 1/4 cup (fresh), added right at knock-out, along with the Belgian candi sugar. This is for a 1-gallon batch.

I am sure a person could add a little more than called for - perhaps double - but I do not know, for certain. Sometimes less is more, as we all know.

Give it a try, and let us know what happens ~

 

[DownstairsBrewing]

Good morning, guys, and thanks for the comments. From what I could see of the recipe (without the rose element), it is a fairly typical Belgian Blonde Ale, and I am sure that it would be a good one. Most of the BBS recipes that I have seen or made are built on a solid foundation based on whatever style, with a few things added for some character. All of the beers I've brewed by them (recipes as well as mixes) have been great, except one that I screwed up through no fault of theirs (a peanut butter porter that I got a little over-enthusiastic with).

I took a peek at my beer this morning and fermentation is ramping up really nicely; soon, there will be a steady blip blip blip coming out of the blow-off tube, but I won't be there to listen to it as we will be out of town most of this weekend, during what will be the most active part of fermentation. When I get home on Sunday, I'll swap the blow-off tube for an air lock, then settle in for the wait until bottling.

One noteworthy thing about this brew, which has been going very well: I didn't have any actual "Belgian" yeast on hand, except some S33; however, plugging that yeast into Brewer's Friend, I kept getting abnormally-low ABV numbers, way off from what the recipe calls for. This, plus an inquiry that I made in the past about a similar beer (West Coast Golden Strong Ale), led me to decide to go ahead and use the "standard" yeast that comes with BBS mixes. I believe that this yeast is from Munton's but do not know for sure. When I plugged Munton's into Brewer's Friend, the ABV numbers went right where they were supposed to be. Another consideration was the ambient temperature, which was a little higher than I'd prefer. The "stock" yeast seems to do well in warmer temperatures, so I went with it and expect things to end up fine.

Actually, S33 is one of the Belgian 'summer' yeasts that wants a higher temperature - I think it is aimed at wheats and some of the Trappist stuff, rather than a blonde. My guess is your ABV numbers would go up with a higher fermentation temperature (do not know of BF does that). I have not used S33, but my understanding is that is is a bit fussy. In that Fermentis line, T-58 is the yeast for blonde anyway. When I do this, I am planning to use a liquid yeast, and build an oversized starter.

Not sure what yeast BBS uses, but my general impression is that they err on the size of overpitching for the 1 gallon batches.

 

[TasunkaWitko]

Good morning, folks - sorry for my tardy reply; things get pretty busy for my during the last week or so of each month.

Since my last post, I switched my blow-off tube for an airlock after the most active period of fermentation had passed. The beer looked really good, with a nice colour somewhere between butterscotch and toffee; it also smelled very good, and I think we're onto some good progress. The rose element seemed very subtle, as far as the aroma went; I'll wait until I've actually tasted it, but I am guessing that one could bring up the amount of rose hips and rose petals a bit, if they want to. I'll reserve judgment for later, where that is concerned.

I generally let my beers go in primary for 3 weeks before cold-crashing and bottling; however, since we expect to be out of town during that time, I may start the cold-crashing a few days early and bottle on the 3-week mark - we will see.

Actually, S33 is one of the Belgian 'summer' yeasts that wants a higher temperature - I think it is aimed at wheats and some of the Trappist stuff, rather than a blonde. My guess is your ABV numbers would go up with a higher fermentation temperature (do not know of BF does that). I have not used S33, but my understanding is that is is a bit fussy. In that Fermentis line, T-58 is the yeast for blonde anyway. When I do this, I am planning to use a liquid yeast, and build an oversized starter.

Not sure what yeast BBS uses, but my general impression is that they err on the size of overpitching for the 1 gallon batches.

Hi, DsB -

I very nearly went with S33, but in the end chose the BBS yeast, due to the stated "temperature ceiling" on my S33 package, with was about 5 degrees shy of the ambient temperatures. I checked with Brooklyn Brew Shop regarding this, and they said that I made the right call, as their yeast does well in warmer temperatures. We'll see how it turns out in the end, but so far, so good. Let me know how yours turns out! The base recipe for the blonde is a winner, for sure - I've found it to be a really special mix of malts that is very tasty and has an enticing aroma. The Styrian Golding hops seem to go perfectly with this grain bill, but I am sure that a little experimentation could yield some great results.

More as it happens, etc. &c....

Ron

 

[TasunkaWitko]

It was quite a challenge to find an image that I was happy with to use as a label for this beer; in the end, here's what I went with:

 

[TasunkaWitko]

I had been doing my best to leave this alone the past week or so, after the most active period of fermentation had slowed down (or so I thought). When I went to cold-crash the beer last night before bottling, I noticed that the fermentation had started up again and was quite active.

I thought to myself, Oh no - infection or wild yeast!

However, I don't see any telltale signs of that, and the beer smells incredibly wonderful; also, I remembered that this has happened before when using Brooklyn Brew Shop's yeast, so my guess (hope) is that this is nothing to be concerned about.

We are going to be gone on a trip next week, so I will "let it ride" and take a look at how it is when I get home.

More as it happens, etc. &....

Ron

 

[TasunkaWitko]

Please don't ask me why, because I don't know...but this beer has been cold crashing for almost two months.

I'll try to get it bottled tonight - we are embarking to Australia next week, so it can carbonate while I am gone.

Ron

 

[TasunkaWitko]

I did get this beer bottled last night. I added a small amount of yeast, just in case the extended cold-crashing was detrimental to the yeast that was already there.

I'm using European 33cl bottles now, so I was easily able to get 10 bottles from this batch, with just enough left over for a small sample. Even though the beer is not carbonated yet, I was able to get a sense of what is to come, and it is sure going to be good, I think. There is a nice, rich, almost addicting maltiness to the beer, but it is very well-balanced by the hops. The rosehips and rose petals do provide a very slight, reddish tint, and do contribute in a subtle way to the aroma and the taste of the beer, giving it a hint of what seemed to me to be an almost apple-like quality; not much, just a whisper.

I'll know more when the beer has carbonated and conditioned a bit, but I think I will like this.

Ron

 

[TasunkaWitko]

I've been able to try this beer twice now, and have really enjoyed it.

The colour and clarity were very good, in my opinion, mostly due to the extended cold-crashing and the fact that the beer sat for two months after bottling before I managed to get my labels on it. The beer poured pretty well and had good lacing, but I would have preferred a little more head than shown above (the second bottle was much better). When I bottled this beer, I was going for a "medium" carbonation, but a little more probably would have been ideal.

The rose aspect of it was pretty subtle; it was there on the nose - just a whisper - and I could detect it in the finish, as well, in the form of a nice, little bite at the end...just barely enough to be unique but not enough to make you cringe at all. When I make this again, I might double the rose petals and/or rose hips; but I wouldn't do much more than that, as I wouldn't want to over-do it. As it is, it is pretty close to being "just right."

These are all just little details, however; the bottom line is that I really enjoyed this ale. The malts that are used in this beer really produced a very tasty end result and the hops were definitely a good choice. The over-all effect of both the aroma and the flavor resulted in a very drinkable beer that left you wishing there was just a little more in the glass.

My second sample of this was just as good, and had an even smoother mouthfeel, for whatever reason:

In reality, the beer was much more clear than this photo indicates, and I am not sure what happened - but the taste was just as good as the first one.

My dad, whom I share all of my beers with, also enjoyed this one. He was a big fan of Brooklyn Brew Shop's Bruxelles Blonde, and this one was at least as good, in his opinion, except for the lower carbonation, which was my fault.

I gave away two bottles to work colleagues, and have two left each for myself and my father. I'll try to get some more details as far as the characteristics of the beer, but it was definitely a good one.

I haven't yet brewed the Lavender or Chamomile versions of this beer, since I'm waiting until it is closer to springtime, but I am guessing they will be very good, as well.

 

[Griffin495]

Just a question, do you think rose hips act in much the same way as hops in that the flavor might fade over time? You always hear IPAs are best drunk fresh before the hop flavor fades, maybe the rose faded in the two months it sat? I've brewed this beer a few times minus the rose petals and hips and its a nice beer.

 

[TasunkaWitko]

It's very possible, Griffin - I dropped the ball three times while brewing this beer. The first was taking so long getting around to cold-crashing it, the second was taking so long bottling it, and the third was waiting so long after bottling it before I tried it. I brewed it on 20 July, and my first sample of it was on 3 January. On the other hand, the hops are still there in very good form, so my guess (heavy emphasis on "guess") is that the recipe simply has such a small amount that the effect was minimal.

I have a mix for Brooklyn Brew Shop's Bruxelles Blonde, which is a very similar recipe that does not include the rose aspect. I intend to brew it this summer, using rose hips and petals from wild prairie roses that grow in my area. When I do, I'll double the amount, and see if there is any appreciable difference. Bottom line, though - is that this really was a good one; it's possible that the subtle qualities are meant to be just that: subtle.

 

[TasunkaWitko]

Since my post above, I've tried this beer once again and currently have a bottle left. It continues to be a great beer and I am enjoying it quite a bit.

At this most recent tasting, I had a better chance to evaluate the carbonation level; in my opinion, it is just fine in that regard, and I have no complaints. It seems to me to be carbonated correctly or possibly very slightly "under" - however, the smooth, gentle mouthfeel allows me to get a better appreciation of the malt and hop combination, so I like it the way it is. It is more carbonated than a hefeweizen, but not as carbonated as a BMC type fo beer, so I'm going to call it good, just the way it is.

The rose continues to be subtle, but it is definitely on the nose and in the finish - I like it, and any more would possibly be too much.

As I said above, I have one of these left, and will probably have it this weekend.