Wedding brew help!!!!! (Labor Day 2017)

[nstowe81]

My sister is getting married!

She wants me to make 25 gallons of beer (22oz bombers) for her wedding favors. She and her girlfriend are a house divided. The fiancé likes ipa's, and my sister likes less hoppy beers. (She's not apposed to hops).

This would be considered a wedding gift. My sister is willing to buy the bottles and the labels. I would design the recipe and brew it as a wedding gift.

Limitations: I brew on a grainfather, crush my own grains, ferment in 6 gallon buckets, I can control the fermentation temp of one batch at a time.

Thoughts: since this is for the masses, doing a simple citrusy pale (almost smash) might cover the most bases.

I've been brewing for almost 5 years but never had to turn and burn this fast nor be this consistent on a bottled beer... My initial thoughts are to do a hoppy wheat or pale ale that is pretty damn simple and reproducible. I brew in my basement so the fermentation conditions would be pretty consistent without the temp control. (Mid-upper 60's).

I already told her IPA's are out due to the expense. So, hoppy wheat/pale ale is the general direction.

Do you have any advice, tried-and-true recipe suggestions, or words of encouragement or deterrent?

 

[theheroguy]

A moderately hopped saison made with 3711 is easy cheap and can't fail to please when properly executed. You could buy a pound of some hop like mount hood or german tradition which is good for euro ales/lagers but still has decent alpha and make a slew of batches. You could also make it a single malt beer. 3711 pilsner malt mt hood smash is something I have in a fermentor right now and it taste great. I like that Yeast strain also because you don't really have to be concerned temp control.

If you buy a 55lb sack of pils malt and a pound of hops you could do this recipe 5 times and end up with 30 gallons of beer

11 lbs grain
1.2 ounce hops 60 min
2 ounces 10 min

for a 6 gallon batch at around 77% efficiency (what I would expect with my setup) You get a beer thats aroun 5.3% abv and 37ish ibus. I think it would be pretty easy to play around with that 3.2 oz of hops to get an ibu-flavor contribution tradeoff that works for you.

Should be reproducible, very well received, and hard to mess up.

 

[nstowe81]

Thanks! I have had excellent luck with Saisons as well. Is 3711 spicy or fruity at lower temps? My plan is to make a few Biab's and let them choose.

 

[mongoose33]

I have no input on your recipe, but regarding beer at weddings:

My daughter is getting married in early April; I wanted to provide homebrew for the reception, and the hotel will not allow it. We're doing open wine/beer/soda, and any beer I might want on tap must be bought from a distributor. You'd think since the beer I'd supply would be free as opposed their having to buy it from a distributor they'd be all over this, but no.

We've reserved a suite just down the hall from the ballroom, so I can have whatever I want in there as it's a private room, but my beer can't leave it.

Your situation is different, but you might want to find out exactly how your beer will be distributed to guests, and whether or not you'll run into difficulties. I tend to be of the philosophy "it's easier to beg forgiveness than get permission" but it all depends on what the local laws are. I live in Wisconsin, the reception is in Dubuque IA, and their laws are much stricter than what we have here.

Just food for thought. Good luck and great brewing, and enjoy!

 

[Redtab78]

What about doing biermunchers centennial blonde? Maybe formvariation, you could make some with dry hops, and some without? It's an easy and fast recipie, and every time I have made that beer, I get all kinds of praises on the simplicity and drinkability.

 

[saltymirv]

I would do a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale clone. Its always a crowd pleaser and not too pricey.

http://byo.com/cider/item/3025-sierra-nevada-pale-ale-clone

For the second beer, maybe a hefeweizen or cream ale?? Both are super crushable and cheap to brew