Party beer

Last week I started to brew my first batch. Around xmas time a bunch of folks I went to school with get together and play beer pong and BS for a weekend. I would like to produce a beer that will have a 5-10 % alcohol content, not too filling and have a taste that a wide variety of beer drinkers would like. After this batch I would like to go to a partial mash kit. Could anyone suggest a kit that is good to start out with. I usually drink coors or american ale. I realize that most people start to rant and rave about the piss water but hey they must be doing something right if they can sell it in the quanities that they do.

deitzberg said:

Last week I started to brew my first batch. Around xmas time a bunch of folks I went to school with get together and play beer pong and BS for a weekend. I would like to produce a beer that will have a 5-10 % alcohol content, not too filling and have a taste that a wide variety of beer drinkers would like. After this batch I would like to go to a partial mash kit. Could anyone suggest a kit that is good to start out with. I usually drink coors or american ale. I realize that most people start to rant and rave about the piss water but hey they must be doing something right if they can sell it in the quanities that they do.

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Making an American lager (like Coors, or Bud) is extremely difficult, especially if you don't have good temperature control. The light flavor means there is no place for any off-flavors to hide, and even experienced brewers find those styles the most challenging to brew. Some of those styles use rice or corn, which must be mashed, to lighten up the body and color.

A blonde ale might do the trick for you, if you can't lager. Maybe try one now, to see if it's something that your friends would like.

Try a Cream ale. This would make for a great party beer that most everyone would like. Plus, it acts as a gateway beer that may interest some of your friends in more quality brews.

edwort's kolsch with 1# of honey or corn sugar added. should end up about 6% and dry and swillable.

I have crazy hours and can not make to the brew store that is close to me so I am going to need to order my ingredents online. There are tons of websites that have kits what would be a decent one to order from??

If you're otherwise inclined to try one of the recipes mentioned, you can just as easily order the ingredients online as you could a kit.

Check austinhomebrew.com and brewmasterswarehouse.com ... A lot of the tried and true recipes from members here are available by name at Brewmaster's Warehouse.

I've had great success with austinhomebrew.com, morebeer.com, and northernbrewer.com. My next order will come from brewmaster's warehouse- he has flat rate shipping and some great reviews. I also have ordered from Midwest Brewing and been happy with them.

If you choose a kit from one of these top rated online stores, you'll be fine.

Keep in mind that if you can't ferment at 50 degrees and then lager in the 30s for weeks, you will want to stay away from a kit with lager yeast. A kit that uses ale yeast will be fine, and try to keep the temperature to no higher than about 70 degrees for a "clean" tasting ale. As the others said, a cream ale would work or maybe a kolsch if you can do cool temperatures.

HOOTER said:

Try a Cream ale. This would make for a great party beer that most everyone would like. Plus, it acts as a gateway beer that may interest some of your friends in more quality brews.

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I'd have to second the cream ale suggestion. My very first home brew was a cream ale as I wanted to convince SWMBO that I can actually make beer that she would like and prove that a "light" beer can still have more flavor than anything she's ever tasted before. She comes from a strict light beer BMC background and thinks anything else is just too strong, heavy, malty or bitter.

Just for fun when I was taking my last gravity reading I had her taste the sample. I expected it to be spit right back into my face, but she actually said it was great even if it was flat and warm. So if my wife who only drinks bud light or some other light commercial beer thinks a 2 week old sample is drinkable I'd say a finished product would be a perfect choice for the masses at a party.

I suggest a wheat beer of some kind - they're trendy at the moment and straightforward to make. My second batch is a wheat and I see my friends' eyes light up when I mention it.

+1 on the cream ale suggestion, i've made several batches for parties, and the usual first taste reaction is "wow this is good! you made this?"... never a dissapointment.

+1 on the wheat beer suggestion. Don't go for a hefeweizen (German-style), that's a totally different style that is not for the masses. Make an American Wheat, it's nice and drinkable and you can turn around a batch in 2 weeks if you keg, 4-5 weeks if you bottle. As quick as it comes!

I highly (and humbly) recommend my own Minute Wheat recipe. It's a real crowd-pleaser, popular with homebrew newbies as well as certified master brewers. Clean and crisp, with a lovely mouthfeel.

deitzberg said:

I realize that most people start to rant and rave about the piss water but hey they must be doing something right if they can sell it in the quanities that they do.

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Yea, they sell it cheap

Wow maru, sounds like you are 90% of the way to making her love homebrew. Good luck.

NRS