Recommendations on a quick beer to appeal to the masses

November 3 is "Teach a friend to brew day". I'd like to brew a beer that will be ready by Thanksgiving and will appeal to the masses. We are hosting Thanksgiving @ our house and I'd like to offer some of my homebrew. I'll be kegging the beer. Any suggestions on a recipe or style?

I'm making a pumpkin beer for the occasion myself. I've never been a big fan of that type of beer, but I figure that with it being the holidays and all.... Plus I figure that maybe it would come out better than store bought pumpkin beer?

I'm also going to supplement with a Black Butte porter clone though.

An American Wheat Ale, like Goose Island's 312, is always a good "appeal to the masses" kind of beer, even though it's not very seasonal. If you want something more wintery, try a dry Irish Stout.

I suggest making a nice pale ale, maybe with a touch of honey. Aim for ~40 IBU's using a citrus blend (simcoe, cascade, amarillo, etc.). Add the honey late in the boil, or if you are an all-grain brewer, use honey malt. Most people don't mind a nice mild pale ale, and the citrus/honey sweetness should turn a few people on to craft beer if they are new to it.

I'd stay close to the lighter end of the color chart, but adding a bit of color might be nice. Maybe use some Crystal 40?

Good Luck!

I would go with a pale ale or a session english ale like a oridnary bitter or an esb. they tend to be more balanced than american style beers (as some folks don't like a massive amount of hops) and their dark but not too heavy. Since they are session beers ya can drink a bunch of em and not get sloshed quickly...

An amber ale might not be a bad idea either

so i've not kegged before and this will be my first. Nov 3rd to Nov 17th is 2 weeks to ferment. Will a beer carbonate in 5 days to be ready?

Do a search on Cream of 3 Crops. Ferments out fast, ready to drink relatively quick. Also, it appeals to BMC drinkers.

Do a search on here for 7 day grain to glass recipes heffes are a quick turnaround beer I've seen a few 10 days primary then keg also seen 7 day grain to glass

If you force carbonate you can have it ready very quick.
Are you going to carbonate natural or force?
The nice thing with force carbonating is you can control the level better and there is no sediment in the beer.

i had planned on force carbonating

i was looking at the Cream of 3 Crops recipe. That looks like the way to go with the crowd I'll have. It should be a step up from Natural Light!

You should have no problem carbing by then. As long you can chill it down force carbing should only take a day maz. Turn up the PSI (to about 30), shake it, leave it for 30min to an hour, purge excess CO2, and repeat about 4 to 8 times. I would test it everytime after 4 to see. Then you just condition it in the fridge unitl ready.

To help a proper amount of yest in a starter will speed things up.

60 psi, shake it as much as you can stand, hit it with 60 psi again and repeat.
Let it sit overnight, bleed off pressure and let it sit for an hour or two and serve.

I agree with the citrus pale ale. Most people will enjoy it.

The bigger flavor beers are going to not meld in time for turkey day. Punkin and stout stuff needs a good month post ferment IMHO.

Centennial Blonde. I made 10g for my sons first birthday party, my beer noob friends killed 1 keg and moved on to my Drifter Pale ale clone and my Chinook Pale ale. Centennial Blonde is a tried and true, quick beer recipe, and obviously, a gateway beer for other fine home brews. The next week, 3 kegs blew empty. All I have left on tap is the last keg of Centennial Blonde. Brewed it on the 3rd and served on the 29th, 10g cost me $31. Amazing beer.

Recently, I did a quick cream ale, fast and easy. http://www.singingboysbrewing.com/Cream_Ale.html Don't have to use the Saphir hops, Hallertauer or Crystal would work well, too. Next time I do it, I'm substituting half of the pale malt with pilsner.