Wedding Beer Suggestions

Hello all. I am seeking some suggestions and or recipes for a beer I am going to brew for my brothers wedding (rehearsal dinner). The wedding will be in the summer. I am looking to brew something that will appeal to the whole crowd. I would like it hopped enough to know of its prescence, yet not to bitter. I would like a slight hoppy aroma also. I was thinking of a cream ale, or an amber ale. I am open to any suggestions for this upcoming brew.

I am an all grain brewer, but am not opposed to an extract or partial mash. I also dont know if I should just do an extract(just to play it safe). Thanks for the help.

Cream Ale for sure. Do it all grain, its cheaper. Warthog Cream Ale in BYO clone issue is very nice.

A Saison, Blond Ale, or American Pale Ale.....definately an Apfelwine!

if it were me, I'd go with a lighter, sweeter pale ale hopped just enough to please yourself, but accessible enough to everyone else.

an amber wouldn't be a bad choice though.

Summer lime ale
Name_Color_Weight(lb)
Briess Pilsen_1.1_3
Briess Vienna Malt_3.5_1
Briess White Wheat Malt_2.5_5
Adjunts
Name_Weight(lb)
Flaked Rice_1


Boil addition
Boil for (min)_Ingredient_Amount
60_Hallertau - US_0.5
20_Irish Moss_1tsp
5_Hallertau - US_0.5

Yeast
Safale S-04-Whitbread Ale_Packs_1
Zest from 2 limes into fermenter


Original Gravity_1.042
Final Gravity_1.008
Final ABV%_4.4
Color_4
IBU_9

I like the saison idea. Plus you can get those beers to a fairly high ABV so people will get a little sloshed

American wheat, with a little extra hoppiness added. I think wheat beers are accepted enough by megaswillers, but you have a chance to show off what real beer can be like by adding some extra hops. Maybe 1oz at 10 and 0min, and a dash of dry hopping? 35IBUs, 1.055

You could also do an amber ale with the same stats. Bottom line: when appealing to a large crowd, you have to avoid all the extremes: not too dark and acrid, not too bitter, not too sweet, not too much hoppiness.

Witbiers usually go over extremely well in mixed crowds.

Orange/spicy/floral flavors go over well with the women
If you say "its like Blue Moon", the people who kind of think they know about beer will like it
Beer nuts will like it because Witbiers are really good beers, esp in the summer!

I would go with Jamal's American Blonde Ale, it is in Brewing Clasic Styles Book. It is a cheap, easy, and great recipe. Can't remember all of it but mostly 2 row, crystal 20 I think, Willamette hops, and White Labs Cali Ale yeast. Brew put in primary for 2 weeks 68 degrees (i think). I cold crashed mine for 2 weeks. Serve out of a keg!

Thanks for all of the suggestions. The wheat beer sounds interesting. I have never done a wheat beer. Am I wrong to think that nothing changes??

You could do a blood orange hefewiezen. I brewed one up earlier in the summer and it turned out great. My family and friends all loved it, even my sister liked it who doesn't drink beer. You can do a search for blood orange hefe
and get the recipe. Good luck! I'm sure it will turn out great whichever route you go!

andyherrick said:

Thanks for all of the suggestions. The wheat beer sounds interesting. I have never done a wheat beer. Am I wrong to think that nothing changes??

Click to expand...

The only real difference is you might want to add a half pound of rice hulls if you are using a high percentage of wheat. It'll help prevent a stuck sparge.

If you want to do a wheat beer I'd recommend biermuncher's blueballs belgain wit. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f71/blue-balls-belgian-wit-blue-moon-clone-24978/ my personal preference is using an amercian ale yeast in wheat beers to produce something more like an american wheat like blue moon than using a belgian yeast and getting something more like hoegaarden. i like both but an american ale yeast would make for a better crowd pleaser in my opinion.

Brew a Berliner weiss and then get the photographer to take pictures of everyone as they try it for the first time

California Common always seems to be a crowd pleaser in my experience..

I would look into blacklabs orange cascade. Read the whole thread and there its very convincing. It is going to be my next brew for I am brewing it for the same reason. My best friend is getting married in March so I am sampling now. I also sampled a Raspberry Chocolate Wit at my LHBS and it was killer. Good luck to you and keep us posted.

I would also reccomend a saison, as it is something different than what most people are used to, but stil lenjoyable by those not really into beer.

On a note about ABV: For a wedding, at least the rehearsal dinner, I would suggest you go a bit light rather than heavy. Sure, it sounds fun to get sloshed, but if you have a decent or even moderate amount to drink the day before your wedding, your skin tone and eyes will not look as good in photographs. So, if the couple to be married have a professional photographer and want to have some wonderful pictures, make sure they don't drink the day before, or at least keep it to very light drinking.

This advice is being repeated by my friend and wedding photographer. Just a word of caution is all.

I appreciate all the good advice. I have been looking around at cream ales. I dont think I have ever even had a cream ale. And I have had a lot of beer in my day. Does anybody know what the bitteness levels are on a typical cream ale? I feel pretty good when brewing pale ales. Any other lighter beer i have brewed with low IBU's seem to not taste right. They particularly dont wow me. So I am nervous to brew beer with low hop quantities.

Massive hop flavor can cover up some flaws in beer, so the lighter-bodied less hoppy beers like cream ales really have no room for flaws. Make sure you have good fermentation temp control and aren't underpitching.

Saison seems like a terrible idea for a BMC crowd. I suggest you go KOLSCH.

Make a nice classic Kolsch now. Bottle it in a few weeks. Between now and the wedding, take the bottles and rotate them in your fridge so each sixer gets 3-4 weeks in the back of your fridge to cold condition. This will get you a nice beer in the end that's similar to a lager.

Failing that, a Wit with American yeast would work, or the Heffe.