What beer do I brew?

[bruhaha]

Family wedding coming soon and SWMBO just informed me I was providing the beer for a pre-wedding family dinner. Wedding is Memorial Day weekend so I have around 7 weeks and counting down.

The party will be the week of the wedding and they tell me 35 will attend. Menu is a low country crawfish boil (Crawfish, corn on the cob, red potatoes and andouille sausage) with lots of spicy Old Bay seasoning which is a very dominate spice profile. I need to do a 6 week grain to glass beer that will be easy drinking against lots of spice, plus should be an across the board crowd pleaser. Lagers are probably out due to time. Would a Cream Ale or Kolsch be across the board pleaser? Other suggestions? How much should I brew? I will keg and can brew a 10G batch to split into two 5G kegs. Is this about right for 35 folks? Probably have a few bottles of wine for non-beer drinkers.

Thanks!

 

[jodell]

I brewed an Irish red and an APA for my wedding that both were big crowd pleasers. At first I thought it was everybody telling me they liked it just to be nice, but most of what I got was "I didn't like one so much but I loved the other!"

I like the idea of a kolsch or cream ale, hefeweizen would be good too.

 

[Morrey]

Yeah, I think 2 kegs, 5G each is plenty. If you find some fun, disposable 12 ounce cups, that prevents waste if a guest sits a beer down and walks off.

You made good choices seeing that you are almost hitting the summer months. Also a Belgian Wit like an Allagash White or Blue Moon is usually safe w/o being offensive to folks who may not be fond of hops, etc.

 

[Morrey]

hefeweizen would be good too.

Oh yeah, plus a good Hefe will be ready for the dinner party since they beg to be consumed young.

 

[bruhaha]

Sounds real good so maybe a Hefe. I was thinking that too but lots of folks are not well educated in various beers. I could ferment it at a bit lower temps to keep the banana from blowing their minds.

EDIT: Just checked my ingredients and only have Safale 05 in my fridge. Looks like a Wit or Cream Ale may be the ticket.