Wedding Brew?

Looking to brew my buddy something special for his wedding. The weeding isnt until september so i can make something that takes a while to ferment out. Any suggestions?

Champagne Style Beer (Dogfish Head Fort, Infinium, etc). Would be good for a celebration, but wouldn't know how to brew it

Actually, who is the intended audience for the drinkers? Is this going to be a gift for your buddy only? For you buddy and wife? Or for the wedding guests in general?

I'd lean towards a nice balanced pale ale. If done right it will be way better than serving bud/coors, but will still be appealing to the masses. You could always do a second, more daring brew that the beer enthusiasts will enjoy. Oh, and since they ferment fairly quickly it will give you a chance to brew it a couple times and make any tweaks you want. I'd be leery of doing a first-time brew that I have no idea how it will turn out.

It would be a gift for the couple but id imagine my friend would be the one drinking it primarily

mattne421 said:

It would be a gift for the couple but id imagine my friend would be the one drinking it primarily

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Then you'd probably want to ask him what he wants!

yeah but id rather it be more of a surprise than me just making him beer

mattne421 said:

yeah but id rather it be more of a surprise than me just making him beer

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Gotcha. That makes sense.

If it is more of a "gift" than a general crowd drinking beer, then I'd think it would call for something special.

I wouldn't go too high gravity, though, as his new wife would probably not appreciate him getting absolutely hammered at the wedding reception!

I agree, if it's just for him as a gift I would make a special brew. Find out what kind of beer he enjoys and go from there.

I made 2 batches of wine for a recent friends wedding(each made 30 bottles, i kept 15 from each). Makes for a nice gift especially if you personalize the labels and add small things like foil shrink wrap around the top. They even have a color selection to match the wedding colors.

Here's an example.

beng said:

I made 2 batches of wine for a recent friends wedding(each made 30 bottles, i kept 15 from each). Makes for a nice gift especially if you personalize the labels and add small things like foil shrink wrap around the top. They even have a color selection to match the wedding colors.

Here's an example.

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VERY cool man. that is very nice looking and i imagine it tastes great

That kind of wine VERY easy to make.....its more so the sweeter style weighing in at about 6-7%. And I guarantee everyone at the wedding will enjoy it. Each kit is about 50 bucks. about 1.80 per bottle.

I think the shrink foil wrap is a good idea, but wax also looks good and gives it a rustic look, if that's what you're looking for. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/hot-glue-bottle-wax-experiment-127485/ If I were to do that and make a present out of it, what I would do is instead of labelling the bottles themselves, I'd make a little hanging tag label with some twine, to add to the rustic look.

As far as the beer itself goes, maybe a braggot, a.k.a. honey beer? It would go well with the honeymoon theme-

In many parts of Europe it was traditional to supply a newly married couple with enough mead for a month, ensuring happiness and fertility. From this practice we get honeymoon or, as the French say, lune de miel [lit. "moon of honey"].

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So I'd do a braggot or even a mead since you have enough time to let it get ready until then. If it were for an entire celebration I'd do either a Kolsch style or a brown ale.

Based on this thread https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/honey-rosemary-saison-281446/

I'm working on putting together a honey-rosemary saison.

I'm brewing a Pale Ale for a couple this weekend, the day they actually wed... and then about 8 weeks they will be throwing a reception when the weather is better. So it should be perfect by then.
The intent of the Pale Ale was to balance the drink-ability with my buddies preference since it will be shared.

I'd suggest a "tasting" dinner party. But a half dozen bottle you think he'd like you might be able to clone and ask him to bring some of his favorites too. Then pot luck the dinner. That way you can secretly get the info you need without asking him directly and enjoy a great evening with friends. Win Win

I was gonna say what fletchsj said. Get with him one night and just drink some beer, and see what he likes best that you can brew similar to.

great ideas guys i might do a mead. ive made a few batches of JOAM as well as a key lime mint mead. I have a JOAM from december that would be nice and aged well by september.

PassionForThePint said:

Based on this thread https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/honey-rosemary-saison-281446/

I'm working on putting together a honey-rosemary saison.

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Playing off the rosemary theme, which would be an awesome "tie in" for a wedding beer, I recently had a Rosemary IPA that was awesome.

It was at Moon River Brewing. Very nice beer. The rosemary has such a pine character that it just works beautifully with the IPA style. If you listen to the Moon River episode of the Sunday Session from last year, I think the brewmaster gives a recipe for it

For my wedding back in August I brewed a berliner and everyone went nuts for it (only had about 6 true beer people in attendance). It was a huge hit.