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robohop

robohop

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Well, I am here asking for some help from the creative minds that frequent this forum. I'm geting married on 7/28/2012 in upstate NY and am planning on giving out some homebrew as favors. I mean really, what could be a better favor than beer? I need some help coming up with an idea for a recipe though that would have some sort of meaning for the both of us. I, obviously, love beer but my fiance' is a champagne lover (her only flaw). I'd love to find a way to have some champagne-y elements in the beer.

One other wrinkle is we have also have grown our own hops and would ideally, but don't have to, incorporate some into the product. We grew Cascade, Willamette, Brewers Gold, and Zeus. I know I'm asking a lot, but just threw it out there as an idea.

I'd love to hear your ideas of an all-grain recipe. Thanks again for your help on this, can't wait to see what you all throw out there. THANK YOU!!!
 
This brew linked below was a good hit at my wedding. Light enough in color not to scare anyone away, well balanced so you're not getting hit with any huge flavor all alone, and well, it is damn tasty too.

Belgian Golden Strong
 
robohop said:
Well, I am here asking for some help from the creative minds that frequent this forum. I'm geting married on 7/28/2012 in upstate NY and am planning on giving out some homebrew as favors. I mean really, what could be a better favor than beer? I need some help coming up with an idea for a recipe though that would have some sort of meaning for the both of us. I, obviously, love beer but my fiance' is a champagne lover (her only flaw). I'd love to find a way to have some champagne-y elements in the beer.

One other wrinkle is we have also have grown our own hops and would ideally, but don't have to, incorporate some into the product. We grew Cascade, Willamette, Brewers Gold, and Zeus. I know I'm asking a lot, but just threw it out there as an idea.

I'd love to hear your ideas of an all-grain recipe. Thanks again for your help on this, can't wait to see what you all throw out there. THANK YOU!!!
Click to expand...

Whoa, that's crazy, I'm getting married on 10/13/2012 and was thinking about doing the same! I was thinking of doing an octoberfest, since it will be in october.
 
+1 to the Belgian Strong. It is basically the champagne of beers. (Not Miller, that stuff is pish)
 
You can't expect to serve a large group of people Berliner Weiss lol. Good choice though. I can only imagine the casual beer drinker getting a bottle of that a venue. Reminds me of the guy at the liquor store who had returned a Duchesse de Bourgogne because it had "gone bad" and was "very sour, definitely a bad cork or something" :)
 
DannPM said:
You can't expect to serve a large group of people Berliner Weiss lol. Good choice though. I can only imagine the casual beer drinker getting a bottle of that a venue. Reminds me of the guy at the liquor store who had returned a Duchesse de Bourgogne because it had "gone bad" and was "very sour, definitely a bad cork or something" :)
Click to expand...

Heh. I just got to try some of this at my favorite beer store. No way I was going to pay $25 for it, but some lady brought it in with a wine stopper in it complaining that it had "gone bad".

I think you might be surprised at how many people enjoy berliner weiss, though. I have a lot of non-beer drinking friends who enjoy mine (and one guy who drinks it because "it's just like mike's hard lemonade".

Back to the topic at hand, I served Basil IPA and a Widmer Drifter clone at my wedding, and my wife's uncle made a milk stout to serve. All three were hits. If you want to go the "wedding favor" route and give away bottles, I'd suggest something lighter and bottle conditioned- Belgian pale or golden, or maybe a saison or biere de garde.
 
These are all great ideas! Thanks everyone, definitely a help to get my creative juices flowing. I like the Belgian ideas as we'll be serving a lot of Ommegang product at the reception so it would tie in nicely. Unfortunately the place we are having the reception won't let me serve my own stuff but I am allowed to give it as favors, and if they happen to get consumed, so be it! Gotta love workarounds to rules.

Let me throw this idea out there, if I remember correctly Dogfish Head's Midas Touch has some grapes used in its production. I thought using some sort of grape, maybe even just a tiny bit of a champagne grape's juice, might be a cool way to "marry" (pun totally intended) a beer and some champagne. I also don't want to get too crazy and bite off more than I can chew for this event.
 
Midas Touch is excellent in my opinion, but I think its definitely an aquired taste. I like all beer, but my first swig I took of that stuff my mouth was like "say whaaat??"
 
what about using some Nelson Sauvin Hops? they have hints of grape and white wine to them. obviously wouldn't be your home grown hops though

I saw a recipe on here for a Nelson Blonde that would prob fit the champagne profile
 
bottlebomber said:
Midas Touch is excellent in my opinion, but I think its definitely an aquired taste. I like all beer, but my first swig I took of that stuff my mouth was like "say whaaat??"
Click to expand...

I enjoy it too, and I think you're all correct, I don't want to push the flavor envelope too far. Just thought it'd be cool if I could incorporate some form of grape in there. Might be too much though.

Another idea I had was some sort of cider, after all it is upstate NY and we have a few orchards in the area. Not as fun as brewing, but still a nice homemade alcoholic tasty beverage :)
 
terrapinj said:
what about using some Nelson Sauvin Hops? they have hints of grape and white wine to them. obviously wouldn't be your home grown hops though

I saw a recipe on here for a Nelson Blonde that would prob fit the champagne profile
Click to expand...

Now that's a great idea too! Never would've though of that in a million years!

This forum never ceases to amaze me at the level of help and interest everyone puts into it. Thank you all so much!
 
If your fiancée likes champagne and you want to use hops, try a carbonated graff. A graff is just a hopped cider, and I find that carbonated cider (if fermented dry) will give very champagne-y elements.
 

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