Brewing Beer for my own wedding... suggestions?

Hi everyone,

The little lady and i just got engaged, and she has asked if I would brew the beer for our reception. I of course was more than happy to oblige, because it means i get to crank out a bunch of pilot batches . Oh, and our guests can have a unique experience at our wedding that they'll never be able to get anywhere else ... that too.

Basically I have 1 year to try recipes and pilot a few with our friends, to try and get a sense of what will have both (relatively) universal appeal, and be a drinkable product that our guests can enjoy in whatever quantity they deem fit.

I am currently thinking of brewing 5 batches of 10 gallons each, which would mean that I'd have to find 5 distinct offerings that don't really overlap, and will be well received by a (more or less) lay audience. I know what *I * like (Double IPAs, barleywines), but I can own up to the fact that few others will share my affinity for the finer things in life!

What sorts of suggestions could you offer for 5 unique, yet universally appealing styles?

Thanks in advance!

First if you are having a reception you need to check with the building. Some places might not let you bring in your own beer but it is a great idea and I am doing it for my wedding which is in two weeks. It was a pain to get the reception hall to allow me but they budged.

I brewed and will serve a Magic Hat Clone, IPA, and my first batch of Barleywine.

Yeah, that's a good point - we are having a fairly informal reception so I don't think it will be an issue.

Don't do it!!! Save yourself while you still can!!!!!!!!!! Ahhhhhhhh!!!!

I'd like at least one hop-forward beer.... so far I'm thinking:

1) Single IPA
2) Czech-style pils
3) Hefe or Belgian Wit
4) ESB
5) ???

EDITS: i just noticed that a few other threads focusing on this very question have been posted in the past! Some awesome suggestions... i never even thought about an Apfelwein. I might just have to do 10 batches of 5 gallons each!

make a small batch of mead for the wedding party and when you give your speech you can bring it out and explain that the reason it is called a honeymoon is because you used to drink a fermented honey beverage (mead) for a month after getting married. i plan on doing this and starting the mead the day i get engaged.

Tinga said:

make a small batch of mead for the wedding party and when you give your speech you can bring it out and explain that the reason it is called a honeymoon is because you used to drink a fermented honey beverage (mead) for a month after getting married. i plan on doing this and starting the mead the day i get engaged.

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oh man, that is an awesome idea.... well done sir.

Or throw a cider in there.

Yeah, i definitely like that idea. My soon-to-be better half is a huge fan of Magners, so i might try to develop something like a dry-ish cider for her. I got a few suggestions from other brew friends by email, and i decided to go with the 5 gallon batches, and increase the number of offerings. We've got about 150+ people coming to this thing, so 50 gallons might me about right i think? Something like:

1) Single IPA
2) Mango Pale ale
3) ESB
4) Porter/Stout - chocolate/cherry porter
5) Czech style pils
6) Apfvelwein
7) Hefe or Belgian Dubbel
8) American blonde - strawberry blonde (?)
9) amber ale/nut brown/fat tire clone
10) Magic hat #9 clone

Made 5 5gal batches of mead for my wedding, and we ended up at a place that wouldn't let me bring it. If you do the mead, bottle just enough so you can have some on your 1 year anniversary, it will be much better than the year old cake if you do that one.

Any variety would be best. Not all people like Ales so try and get a few lagers. Since it will be summer think summer style maybe with some fruit.

What are you having to eat? This would be a great time to pair a beer with food.

We hadn't really thought in much detail about the menu yet, we're still very much in the preliminary stages of planning. What other sorts of lagers did you have in mind? Truth be told, I've really only brewed Czech lagers before....

I would say take the easy way out and brew a simple American Wheat and serve it with a slice of orange. It's fast to ferment, it goes great with any food, and it truly is a crowd pleaser. Just make sure to use an American Wheat or American Ale yeast b/c Bavarian or Belgian wheats are a very different animal.
Congratulations on your wedding and good luck!

Tinga said:

make a small batch of mead for the wedding party and when you give your speech you can bring it out and explain that the reason it is called a honeymoon is because you used to drink a fermented honey beverage (mead) for a month after getting married. i plan on doing this and starting the mead the day i get engaged.

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I did this exact thing. The guests especially liked my comment that consuming mead was thought to make conceiving sons more likely.

I made 6 gals - enough for just a toast at the reception and a bottle for the next 25 anniversaries (scary thought). I sealed the tops with wax for long term storage.

Cheaper than a champagne toast

pvh99 said:

I did this exact thing. The guests especially liked my comment that consuming mead was thought to make conceiving sons more likely.

I made 6 gals - enough for just a toast at the reception and a bottle for the next 25 anniversaries (scary thought). I sealed the tops with wax for long term storage.

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I did the mead thing in 1995- 5G, clover, still, half blackberry/half plain, and saved a few for anniversaries. It was the talk of the wedding, and more people commented on that than on the food that the country club served. Using it for the toast was very memorable.

(Disclosure- And a couple years after the marriage went kaput, I still had a few bottles of something special and nicely aged to enjoy with the new model!)

Tinga said:

make a small batch of mead for the wedding party and when you give your speech you can bring it out and explain that the reason it is called a honeymoon is because you used to drink a fermented honey beverage (mead) for a month after getting married. i plan on doing this and starting the mead the day i get engaged.

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Stole that Idea right out of my head... Yea mead used to be drank for a celebration. Especially at the wedding because they used to say the ph levels or something in mead would help you conceive a boy.

Most people, even non-beer drinkers enjoy wheat beer (Belgian Wit, Hefeweizen, American Wheat). This is especially the case when it tastes of fruit. The only catch is for guys...some don't like fruit so that's your call.

Oh, and advice? Don't brew or talk about homebrewing too close to your wedding...especially during your honeymoon. Just keep those thoughts inside

I brewed a cream ale for a wedding this past May. I went with this style because I thought it would be the most accessible beer for the average beer drinker, but also flavorful enough to satisfy hard-core beer lovers.

It did in fact fit the bill, all enjoyed. Another bonus, it was ready to drink in four short weeks.

How about some lightly carbonated ice-cold Apfelwien? It will be screaming a year from now.

BeerWars said:

How about some lightly carbonated ice-cold Apfelwien? It will be screaming a year from now.

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I'm guessing that's a good thing?

For our 75 person wedding, I made 10 gallons of Kolsch, Hefeweizen and Double IPA. Plus 5 gallons of Applewine for the toast. There was only some of the second keg of IPA left and some of the Applewine.
Make the Applewine now if you plan on serving some.

I'm glad I stumbled on this thread, I am getting married next June and part of the deal was we had to have our reception in a place that allows us to bring in our own alcohol. I was planning on doing an american wheat beer (the bluemoon clone recipe on here) and from there I am lost. I was planning on having 5 or 6 kegs, was it earier to have 3 ten gallon batches, or have some variety. My side of the family will try almost anything, swmbo's not so much. My a few of the people in the wedding party are homebrewers and I am making a RIS pretty soon that we all brewed together and going to age it until next year. These are a few of the beers that I have thought of serving:

pale ale
pilsner
maibock (either dead guy clone or a true maibock)
ipa
brown
esb
stout

marc06 said:

I'm glad I stumbled on this thread, I am getting married next June and part of the deal was we had to have our reception in a place that allows us to bring in our own alcohol. I was planning on doing an american wheat beer (the bluemoon clone recipe on here) and from there I am lost. I was planning on having 5 or 6 kegs, was it earier to have 3 ten gallon batches, or have some variety. My side of the family will try almost anything, swmbo's not so much. My a few of the people in the wedding party are homebrewers and I am making a RIS pretty soon that we all brewed together and going to age it until next year. These are a few of the beers that I have thought of serving:

pale ale
pilsner
maibock (either dead guy clone or a true maibock)
ipa
brown
esb
stout

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Sounds like we're on the same wavelength - I'm leaning toward variety over quantity. Even if we run out, that leaves the guests singing the praises of the beer they couldn't get enough of ! Here's the list i have so far... look's pretty similar to yours.

1) Single IPA - Pliny Lite ?
2) Mango Pale Ale
3) English pub bitter - ESB
4) Chocolate/cherry porter
5) Czech style pils
6) Apfelwein - Ed Wort's Apfelwein
7) Witbeer [Hooegarden]/ Belgian strong (Dubbel or trippel?)
8) American Wheat [american ale /wheat yeast} / Strawberry blonde
9) amber ale/nut brown /fat tire clone
10) Vanilla Mead for toast

Maybe a 1.045 lighter belgian style ale that finishes dry and fruity or a nice wit?

Fat tire clone is a great idea
Hat #9 is good too

I woudl brew 10 gallons of nice cream ale for mass consumption as well

How about some homemade soda for the youngsters.

jar- You planning on having 10 kegs at your wedding? I wish I could. I'll be living in North Carolina and I am getting married in Texas. So... I have to drive from NC to Texas with my kegs, suitcases, SWMBO, and the dog. I'm going to limit my production to 6 kegs and probably pick up a keg of Shiner or something.

My advise is to skip the wedding and buy a nice brewing setup. In the short run it will be cheaper .. and in the long run you get to keep it. And for all the time in between you get to drink beer and be happy.

Heckle said:

How about some homemade soda for the youngsters.

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Sorry, they have to fend for themselves....

Plus, I'm going to try and pass the hint to the guests that they should really hire a babysitter and leave the young'uns at home.

If you want a good fat tire clone for your wedding shoot me a PM...I have her dialed in.

I could have done a bunch of single batches of different styles but chose to concentrate on beers that I had dialed in 100%. I didn't want people tasting anything I didn't think was perfect, even if they didn't like the style, I knew it wasn't because of the brewing.

jar234psu said:

Plus, I'm going to try and pass the hint to the guests that they should really hire a babysitter and leave the young'uns at home.

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oh come on now how much is it to watch little kids dance?