At my brother's wedding I couldn't bring my own beer to be served at the reception, but the rehearsal was at his in-laws' house and there was a small after party in the hotel (that almost got the police called. . . my extended family is just far too loud.... so my parents broke it up with my help).
In any case, I kegged up:
Wedding Night Stout - A Guinness clone for the Irish side of the family (The best comment: It tastes very stouty). This was about an 8 gallon batch (3 for me) and only served at the after party. I'm getting to drink at least 6 gallons of it at home.
Green Mountain Summit Amber - The wedding was in VT, so I made an Amber Ale (one of my most popular ones with the family) and used Summit hops. This one was popular but I would choose more hops variety next time. Only served at the Rehearsal Dinner (I only have a 2-keg system).
White Wedding Kölsch - Absolutely my most popular beer. It came out excellently with a white-wine nose and a light body. There were even a couple of people at the after party who'd lived in Cologne for a year and thought it was great (though not a Kölsch... it had to be brewed in Cologne to be called that).
My take-aways were:
* Have a lighter (on flavor) beer. . . a blonde, kölsch, or lager.
* Avoid after parties in hotels. These must be at someone's house.
I used standard 5 gal kegs (pin lock). It was a relatively new system that I got specifically so I could do this at the wedding. I put the kegs in a bucket with ice and had no problem... neither venue had to look fancy, though... Cobra taps zip-tied to their respective keg and tags with the beer type also zip tied (and laminated) worked well. The party taps can be positioned over the ice bucket... so even spills are minimized.
Now I just wish they didn't drink all my Kölsch! I'd have liked to enter that one in a contest
(It was easily my best beer of the three).
Congratulations!!
Good Luck!
Wedding Beer batch #1: Oatmeal stout
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