Need beer recommendations for my wedding

This might seem early, but I want to make sure I have time to perfect any recipe. I am getting married next summer, a smallish wedding (less than 40 people) that will basically be a BBQ. My job is the beer.

I would like to have 2 or 3 beers on tap. I want crowd pleasing beers. Not everyone is a BMC drinker, but most aren't too adventurous, so no double IPA or something like that. I have already decided on a Pale Ale, I have a recipe that I am tweaking and I think it's almost ready.

One problem (well, not really a problem) is that we will be having a pre-honeymoon and will be travelling for about 3 months before the wedding, coming back a few weeks before. This sort of eliminates my other choice which would have been a hefeweissen, which would be much better fresh.

So what are some beers that are great summer crowd pleasing beers that taste great when they are 3-4 months old?

What about a saison, or if lagering is an option, you can't beat a nice pils in the heat. It can lager while you honeymoon.

sorry, I forgot to mention that I don't have lagering ability and don't plan on having it anytime soon.

A few weeks is plenty of time for a hefeweizen, especially when kegging. You can be drinking that puppy 2 weeks after brewday.

double_e5 said:

A few weeks is plenty of time for a hefeweizen, especially when kegging. You can be drinking that puppy 2 weeks after brewday.

Click to expand...

I know it's probably possible to do that, but I think I'd rather have the beer ready to go when I get back. I'm sure there will be plenty of other things to do, so having the beer either kegged or in secondary would be the best. So the beers will be 3-4 months old (or older if needed).

I hear Centennial Blonde is a crowd pleaser. I also hear it is good young, but ought to be damn fine with a couple of months on it too. (my batch of the same just went into bottles, so I won't have any direct experience for a couple of weeks).

Maybe something else nice and crisp, but different still, for the third beer. Maybe something light with rye?

And a batch of Apfelwine in case things get out of hand, or need to.

American Amber you can turn around quickly, and so long you avoid infection it is ALWAYS a crowd pleaser.

Summertime, I would go with Centennial Blonde or Cream of Three Crops (for the BMC), a hefe or rye or saison and then an IPA. Don't make anything too high in alcohol or you will have 40 people passed out right quick.

This selection will keep everyone happy and not be too overbearing. I love stout too, but I don't think that it would go to quickly in a crowd setting.

Someone correct me if I'm way off, but you could brew a lager of some sort and esentially cold condition in the corny in the refrigerator while you are gone. If your going away for 3 months, I would assume there really wouldn't be much you'd have to keep in there thus having plaenty of room to throw your corny in there to condition. Just ferment as cool as you can with the wet t-shirt method and she should benefit from a 3 month cold condition. Sound good or am I completely off my rocker here?

skeeordye11 said:

Someone correct me if I'm way off, but you could brew a lager of some sort and esentially cold condition in the corny in the refrigerator while you are gone. If your going away for 3 months, I would assume there really wouldn't be much you'd have to keep in there thus having plaenty of room to throw your corny in there to condition. Just ferment as cool as you can with the wet t-shirt method and she should benefit from a 3 month cold condition. Sound good or am I completely off my rocker here?

Click to expand...

You're 100% correct. Just make sure you pressurize to seal the gasket, and burp the corney before set and forgetting.

You may want to throw in a carboy to clear for a day for further settling to ensure that doesn't come up when tapping the keg, but that is how I lager.

I would brew an American wheat. I have a 312 discussion here that has produced pretty great results or for a different Am. wheat look for the Oberon clone discussion.

Here are my current recipes from the those threads:

...................................................................

262 Suburban wheat

Recipe: 262 Suburban Wheat (II)
Brewer: Justin S. Talbot
Asst Brewer:
Style: American Wheat or Rye Beer
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (0.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 11.00 gal
Boil Size: 13.14 gal
Estimated OG: 1.042 SG
Estimated Color: 3.9 SRM
Estimated IBU: 16.2 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
3.2 oz Rice Hulls (0.0 SRM) Adjunct 1.18 %
9 lbs 8.0 oz Pilsner (Rahr 2 Row) (1.8 SRM) Grain 56.05 %
3 lbs 8.0 oz Wheat, Torrified (1.7 SRM) Grain 20.65 %
2 lbs Wheat - White Malt (Briess) (2.3 SRM) Grain 11.80 %
1 lbs 12.0 oz Munich 10L (Briess) (10.0 SRM) Grain 10.32 %
1.98 oz Cascade [5.90 %] (30 min) Hops 15.8 IBU
0.75 oz Cascade [5.90 %] (1 min) Hops 0.3 IBU
2.00 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 10.0 min) Misc
2.20 tbsp PH 5.2 Stabilizer (Mash 60.0 min) Misc
2 Pkgs American Wheat Ale (Wyeast Labs #1010) Yeast-Ale


Mash Schedule: My Mash
Total Grain Weight: 16.95 lb
----------------------------
My Mash
Step Time Name Description Step Temp
30 min dough in Add 21.33 qt of water at 104.0 F 99.0 F
20 min Protein Rest Heat to 122.0 F over 5 min 122.0 F
50 min Saccrification RestHeat to 150.0 F over 10 min 150.0 F
5 min Mash out Heat to 170.0 F over 5 min 170.0 F

........................................................................

Titania

Recipe: Titania - American Wheat
Brewer: Justin S. Talbot
Asst Brewer: Jeremy Riemer
Style: American Wheat or Rye Beer
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (0.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 11.00 gal
Boil Size: 13.14 gal
Estimated OG: 1.058 SG
Estimated Color: 3.7 SRM
Estimated IBU: 13.8 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 80.00 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
12 lbs Brewers Malt 2-Row (Briess) (1.8 SRM) Grain 57.14 %
8 lbs Wheat - White Malt (Briess) (2.3 SRM) Grain 38.10 %
1 lbs Carapils (Briess) (1.5 SRM) Grain 4.76 %
2.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (Dry Hop 5 days) Hops -
1.00 oz Saaz [3.50 %] (Dry Hop 5 days) Hops -
2.00 oz Saaz [3.50 %] (30 min) Hops 8.4 IBU
2.00 oz Saaz [3.50 %] (15 min) Hops 5.4 IBU
0.55 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 10.0 min) Misc
2.20 tbsp PH 5.2 Stabilizer (Mash 60.0 min) Misc
2.20 tsp Yeast Nutrient (Primary 3.0 days) Misc
1 Pkgs American Wheat Ale (Wyeast Labs #1010) Yeast-Ale


Mash Schedule: My Mash
Total Grain Weight: 21.00 lb
----------------------------
My Mash
Step Time Name Description Step Temp
15 min Protein Rest Add 23.10 qt of water at 143.1 F 133.0 F
50 min Sacc Rest Add 11.00 qt of water at 208.8 F 155.0 F
10 min Mash out Decoct 9.27 qt of mash and boil it 168.0 F

.........................................................................

Thanks guys.

I'm thinking the centennial blonde will be good for the BMC people. And maybe a saison would be good for the more adventurous types. I have only ever tried 1 kind of saison, but I really liked it.