Brewing in memory of Mom. need help with recipe please.

My Mom died in 2010 (age 53) from Lupus and every year, several times a year the family gets together to remember & celebrate Mom. Each year there are a few of us that cook something, make something, bring something or whatever to share with everyone else as a keepsake or tribute to Mom. Well, my mom was once a home brewer back in the 80's & would be very supportive and interested in my brewing. Her birthday is coming up in July and we will have a family get together at that time. I would like to brew something next weekend to serve at the get together.

It needs to be a beer that non beer drinkers can drink (no stouts, ipa or porters). I want the flavors to have some relation to Mom. Her favorite flower/plant was hibiscus and she grew several so I would like to use some hibiscus flavor & it would be great if I could even use whole flowers from some of her still living plants. Also, in her last years she really enjoyed biscotti in the morning & began making her own. Almonds were also her favorite nut. She loved the wild black berries here in Texas and we would pick and freeze a ton of them.

So, I'm leaning towards a berry(black or rasp)& hibiscus wheat beer, but I don't know how to get a biscotti flavor or if it would even mesh well with the others. The other problem I have with wheat beer is clarity, most of the people who will be offered this beer are BMC types and I doubt a good number of them have ever even seen a wheat bear.

I'm thinking more towards an extract kit & just adding some flavor at some point since I only have one chance to get this right. I have done partial mash & I'm not afraid of BiaB AG batches if that is a better option.

Any suggestions guys?

 

Maybe something like this?

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f75/raspberry-hibiscus-weiss-295138/

 

1st off, condolences on the loss of your mother. I lost my mom to cancer in 2008 and miss her terribly.

I think that AZ IPA's recipe is solid and would be a hit based on what you described. The only other thing that I can think of would be a cherry beer which everyone loves. It would not have the almond flavor you are looking for though.

 

It's not my recipe - I just remembered reading something about it the other day and was able to find it again.

Seems interesting.

 

Concerning clarity; red solo cups.

 

I do like that recipe that IPA linked, I'll give it a thought. I forget HBT has a recipe list.

I feel like an idiot for not even thinking about that! much less the fact that we will be at the lake & all we will have is a disposable cups.

 

I did something similar in memory of my grandfather. He was a sweet old man who loved to farm and garden. He had a lot of English roots so I did an English Wheat with all English ingredients. Everything I used represented him. Grains of Paradise for his spiciness (if you have a really old-fashioned grandfather, you know what I mean), honey malt for how kind he was, dry hopped with some Kent Goldings to get some floral-ness, and even added some lavender with the dry hop. The wheat, of course, because he farmed it. I really like this idea. Maybe you can dig up one of her old recipes?

 

Cream ale with hibiscus would be light and smooth...

 

OK guys, its crunch time. I need to order the ingredients today. I've decided to just buy a kit from AHS & tweak it a little, but I would like a little input.

Ive decided that I want to either do a wit/weiss with Hibiscus & local honey, or a cream ale with Hibiscus flavor.

in your opinion Which recipe sounds best (all will be partial mash) ?

Honey Hibiscus Wit

• Specialty malts: white wheat ( 4 lb Liquid Malt Extract, 1 lb Honey, 1.25 lb Base Grains, 2 lb Specialty Grains)
• Featured hops: Hallertau
• Other additives: honey, coriander, bitter orange peel, Hibiscus (i'll add 4oz of hibiscus extract & "dry hop" with some Flowers picked from her flower garden)

Ahs cream ale (adding hibiscus) (I've never had a cream ale & there a no options locally so I don't know what to expect here)

• Specialty malts: Crystal 40L, Carapils® (5 lb Liquid Malt Extract, .5 Malto Dextrin, 2.5 lb Base Grains, 1 lb Specialty Grains)
• Featured hops: Willamette, Fuggle
• Other additives: malto dextrin (i'll add 4oz of hibiscus extract & "dry hop" with some Flowers picked from her flower garden)

AHS Miami Weiss (adding Hibiscus)

• Specialty malts: white wheat, Crystal 20L (5 lb Liquid Malt Extract, 2.5 lb Base Grains, .5 lb Specialty Grains)
• Featured hops: Cluster
• Other additives: lemon peel (might not add the lemon peel) & Hibiscus (i'll add 4oz of hibiscus extract & "dry hop" with some Flowers picked from her flower garden)