Beer ideas for a pig roast

Every other year we do a pig roast family reunion and this is an "on" year. It'll be in the fall, late September or early October. I'm looking for suggestions on what kind of beer to make. I don't have any way to do lagers, which is kind of a bummer. And I'm still too new to brewing to be able to look at a recipe and understand what it will taste like, so I'm going to need some kind of description. What else...? Probably nothing too exotic / fruity / crazy. I want something that most people will like, but I'm ok with stretching some people's palettes.

Any help will be greatly appreciated!

A Pale Ale, Porter, Saison, Blonde or Cream Ale

I think most would agree that IPAs go great with bbq, but everyone likes APAs too

I like an English bitter with pit bbq, like Cooper's. I even make a mop sauce out of it.

Just about everybody likes an amber or a brown ale. I'm a big fan of porters & scotch ales, but not everybody is. What you pair with the pig depends on what everybody likes. Maybe you could offer a couple of choices in beer? Just a thought.
Regards, GF.

i used to do the same thing for our pig roasts. i started off with Pig Pale ale which was a lightly hopped beer. then one year i did Pig Porter as well. One of the last ones i did was Snout Stout which was a heavy duty stout that was not appreciated. my advice is to brew a summery ale that would appeal to the masses.

As a BBQ guy, there are couple different possible routes to go:

Thanks all for the input. It's tough for me because I'm torn between making something everyone will like and making something a few ppl will like a lot. I mean, BMC already has the "mass appeal" thing figured out. But, then again, I do want it to be popular.

I've got time to change my mind, but right now I'm leaning towards making something fairly neutral, like a pale ale. More feedback is always welcome.

I did a Cream Ale for a group of BMC people and it was well received.

I would go for something that appeals to the most people.

A Cream Ale or a Blond would fit the bill nicely. Either of these choices are likely to be a big hit, and are STILL going to taste much better than the BMC crowd are used to drinking. Good Luck!!!

I'd make two beers, one a lightly hoped blonde ale, cream ale, APA or SF lager like a clone of Anderson Valley Summer solstice.
The second should be a remake of the best beer you have made that you really like. If no one drinks #2, you'll have more to take home, you can always take beer #1 to other parties, picnics and get togethers.
Some people are weird about food/drink and just don't want what they are not used to. You have to accept that. Experts are saying that craft beer is going to max out at about 40% of the market because 60% of consumers like watery beer, white bread, tasteless fast food and similar items.
But its a party, I'd at least try to make a beer you think the other folks would enjoy.
You could always your family members what they like. They might surprise you with requests for cherry chocolate bourbon stout or something similar.

Pig plus Fall minus ability to lager equals mock Maibock in my book. Ever had a Dead Guy ale?

That would be Octoberfest-ish.

I think a dry hopped cream ale wild be different enough but not weird. Or a blonde, which seems to go with food.

Just not too hoppy, since that's probably what turns people off to "craft" styles.

Yeah. Low hopping, with some level of maltiness seems to go well with my pit bbq. But the Cooper's english bitter goes well with that smoky bark on the outside in my opinion. Makes a great mop sauce too. Even a malty amber would be good in that regard.

Saison all the way.

It's the best generic food pairing beer and the high carb level goes well with fatty foods.

You can never go wrong with a pale ale as well, something with moderate bitterness though.

Pork likes apples.

Hard cider is so, so good with pork. I love it with smoked pork butt, baby backs and, I may lose my Milwaukee card for saying this, but cider and brats is even better than beer and brats. I'd recommend a mildly sweet cider.

Xpertskir said:

Saison all the way.

It's the best generic food pairing beer and the high carb level goes well with fatty foods.

Click to expand...

^This

Biere de Garde would be great choice, too. 3 Monts would be a great example. I could only find a partial mash version of the recipe, but it is easy enough to convert:


https://www.brewtoad.com/recipes/3-monts-clone-from-brasserie-st-s/print

Smoky/roasty food demands a smoky/roasty brew:

Oaked Imp. Stout.

I think the take away here is that pork goes with damn near anything.

I was waiting gut someone to say saison. It goes with food, but it lacks broad appeal. I think that's one of those that a few people would really, really like. But many would steer clear.

Stone just made their pale ale recipe public. I think that would be a good beer that everyone could enjoy and you cant go wrong with a nice cold pale ale during a BBQ

My family throws a pig roast every August. When it started out I would purchase and provide a keg of something light (Bud light or PBR) and Dos Equis Amber. One summer I brought a keg of https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f63/biermunchers-oktoberfast-ale-ag-39021/ and it went very fast. The next summer I was asked where the keg of it was (I had nothing decent brewed up for it). I usually bring a empty 1/4 so that one of my family friends can mix up his concoction of a 30 pack of bush light, a handle of vodka, a 2 liter bottle of sprite and a tub of country time lemonade mix. Stuff goes fast. I think I may bring some Apfelwein this summer.

I would agree with something light like a Cream Ale or a Blonde for one choice, with something a bit more flavorful for the others. Be it an amber, an oktoberfest or a (I)PA.

I love the feedback! I really appreciate everyone's thoughts. I'm not sure who it was that planted this seed, but I'm thinking two different beers are required - one light and fairly neutral and one with more flavor. For the more flavor beer, I have one in mind but need to do more research. I think I'm gonna post those questions in the recipes section...

Since I started brewing my family has had 2 reunions that I provided beer for. I brewed up 6-8 different beers for each event. I bottled and labeled them, made up a 'beer key', listing the name, ABV, and style, to post near the cooler so folks could try whatever they liked. It turned out to be a lot of fun, there were lots of small discussions of the various brews and everyone found something they liked! Only downside is that they may come to expect it at every event, so the pressure may be on me to make some good ones.

The Witbier I made with Brewers Best kit was excellent and goes well with slow roasted meat...

Festbier. Marzen, Octoberfest recipe brewed with US-05 and finished off with gelatin and amylase in the secondary to clean it up. They will taste great and fit the season.
I make beers like this a lot and they always turn out great, clean and crisp.