If you were to brew a batch of beer for a wedding...

What would it be?

I have a couple friends getting married this May and they are doing all homebrew for their reception. Thus, a friend and I are each brewing a 5 gallon batch for them as gifts.

The other batch of beer is a pretty standard Hefeweizen, and I am looking for inspiration/recipes. Anyone have a good allgrain recipe for something light and tasty that could be ready by the start of May? (I know I'm cutting it a little close on the time) Maybe something in the wheat category or a somewhat out there variation on a hefeweizen?

Thanks,
Bird

I don't have a recipe for you, but I like a nice Red/Amber ale for an easy drinking beer. If you brew a beer this weekend you have time for 3 weeks in fermentation and 3 weeks in bottles. That should be good if you hit everything right and the beer doesn't need to clean up any off flavors.

I am going to make a honey and heather ale for some Friends reception this fall. It is basically going to be a Fraoch like beer with slightly less of a heather presence, some honey malt and honey. I am planning it to be 5%

Honey has traditionally been associated with weddings/honeymoons for a LONG time.

Another lesser known is apple. I am planning an apple Kolsh and think that would be a nice beer as well.

I would go with a tasty Oktoberfast Ale and force carb to speed it up. I dont know why but I a nice malty beer going over well at a wedding. Wish I had an all-grain receipe for you but I'm still limited to doing partial mash brews.

Good luck, sounds like fun

I have a recipe for a ridiculously hopped blood orange hefeweizen aka the blood orange weiPA. Its extracs but can be converted easily. lots of citra and cascade hops. Made it last year and was a hit with my homebrew crew, best one i ever made (their words, nto mine). Or a regular blood orange hef might be a good option.

Cream ale and Irish Red are usually widely appreciated. Stick to lower ABV, low or no roast malts and lower IBUs to get a quick turnaround. Also, it helps to go light on the hop flavors and aromas if you're trying to please a wide audience.

If you use an English yeast strain (WLP002 is awesome), you can ferment your beer and have it ready for packaging in 2 weeks, leaving you 4 weeks for conditioning. I've got some great, fast recipes if you're interested!

I'm considering doing something like this, as i am in the early planning stages for my wedding.

The best think i can think of would be 'know your guests' cater to what they like ... or if you don't know, the best bet is just to keep it simple.

Also, +1 to lower abv. Think Session beers.

I plan on doing

Cream ale
IPA
Amber
Apfelwein, instead of Champagne toast.

Don't get too fancy... If you want a wit or hefe do one. Just don't get too fancy. But, if it were me I'd do a steam beer or something very crisp, clean, and clear. something everyone can enjoy.

I highly agree with the Irish Red or Cream Ale suggestion. A sweet, brown ale along the lines of Newcastle is another good recommendation, if you don't know your audience. Anything too hoppy or too heavy will be a hit with some, but will turn others off on homebrew or craft beers. A good middle of the road style is a good plan.

Now, if you know you have a bunch of beer geeks in the audience, brew something crazy.

A Kolsch would be a perfect spring wedding beer. Clean, crisp, fairly low ABV. However, you may be cutting it a little close with timing.

Go with a Kolsch. Almost everyone seems to love them and they're perfect in the spring/summer. You probably need at least 4 weeks to make it if you can force carbonate. My wedding in May only allows bottles, so I'll be bottling my Kolsch and testing in a few weeks.

Taliesin said:

Now, if you know you have a bunch of beer geeks in the audience, brew something crazy.

Click to expand...

I wish! I'm expecting a pretty average crowd of beer consumers, thus keeping it simple. I leaned a little towards hefeweizen or witbier since I know many people who are tuned off by strong hop flavors, however a well balanced amber/red could be good options as well.

BrightSpot, I'll send you a message as I am very interested in some good/fast recipes!

Thanks for the input all! You guys rock.:rockin:

Bird

I'd make two or three. A Cream ale or premium American style lager, porter or stout and a APA or IPA just to be sure to please any beer drinker in the crowd.

I just did an Orange Hefeweizen that went grain to glass in two weeks... and that was bottle conditioned.

8.0 oz Rice Hulls (0.0 SRM) Adjunct 1 5.3 %
4 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 2 42.1 %
4 lbs White Wheat Malt (2.4 SRM) Grain 3 42.1 %
8.0 oz Munich Malt - 10L (10.0 SRM) Grain 4 5.3 %
8.0 oz Wheat, Flaked (1.6 SRM) Grain 5 5.3 %
0.25 oz Hallertauer [4.80 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 6 4.6 IBUs
0.25 oz Magnum [14.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 7 13.3 IBUs
0.25 oz Hallertauer [4.80 %] - Boil 30.0 min Hop 8 3.5 IBUs
0.25 oz Hallertauer [4.80 %] - Boil 10.0 min Hop 9 1.7 IBUs
5.00 tsp Yeast Nutrient (Boil 10.0 mins) Other 10 -
1.00 Items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 5.0 mins) Fining 11 -
2.00 oz Orange Peel, Sweet (Boil 5.0 mins) Spice 12 -
1.0 pkg Hefeweizen Ale (White Labs #WLP300)

I know your looking for a wheat ale, but since you already have a hefe, how about a nice pale ale, I like edworts haus pale ale, and I think my centennial pale ale is pretty good too. Both would be good for a wide variety of people.

a nice blonde is a quick turnaround. its also one that fits in easily with the BMC crowd

I just brewed a blonde for my wedding April 21

I'm also gonna brew a pale ale probably or an IPA but I think the IPA I want to brew may be a little too much for most

Honey Kolsch all the way.

Kolsch. I'm drinking mine right now!

I always suggest Yooper's Fizzy Yellow beer. It has enough taste for people that like craft beer, but is very drinkable for the BMC drinkers.

It is always a hit when I brew it.

All these suggestions are great. Hopefully I'll get around to brewing this week[end]. I'll update with what I finally decide to brew!

Bird

American Wheat Beer spiced with 1/2 oz coriander and 1/3 oz sweet orange peel! It will be a crowd pleaser, great spring brew and cheap to brew! I'm making 5 gallons of it this weekend and even though I'm doing it partial mash the ingredients cost me less than $25 including dry yeast and hops.

My buddies wedding is in two weeks, i've kegged up:

Snow Day clone
Dead Guy clone
Chocolate stout
BM's Centennial blone
American IPA

If you can't find something you like out of that, well then you're SOL.

If you know nobody is driving, a golden strong...
Otherwise something blondeish, something apaish, or something amberish.