I'm brewing beer for 100's of people -- how much to brew?

[bigbeergeek]

Ah, more beer menu suggestions

I realize that designing the menu is the fun part, but it's taken care of friends. The bride and groom are beer enthusiasts and they know what they want -- IIPA, not regular IPA etc etc. As already stated the low alcohol/light beer will be a wit. Stronger and more flavorful beers will be available as well. The questions are: how many beers for 100 beer drinkers, and what ratio of brews?

Lineup:

Tripel
IIPA
Wit
Raspberry Brown (tentative)

The majority of the guests will be locals, I'm sure all guests will be lodging locally.

The suggestion of 2 beers per guest sounds light for confirmed beer drinkers. Assume all of those 100 guests will drink.

Thanks for all the replies so far! This is helpful stuff, guys and gals.

 

[bigbeergeek]

TL;DR - label the beers with ABV or put a mild explanation on the high-ABV ones ("double the alcohol of regular beer")

I read it

ABV will be posted alongside the cutsie beer names at the bar. All will be informed.

 

[snaps10]

We did 3 beers per person at the last wedding and it was perfect. They also served wine and some light mixed drinks. I think 3-4 is perfect for beer heads.

 

[bigbeergeek]

We did 3 beers per person at the last wedding and it was perfect. They also served wine and some light mixed drinks. I think 3-4 is perfect for beer heads.

Good stuff. I'm not sure what the rest of the alcohol situation will be like (wine, liquor). I think they came to me because they want to keep their alcohol costs down, so for now I'm assuming it will be a homebrew-only event.

:rockin:

 

[elleric]

I recall my wedding, when we were planning it we had to decide about the open bar... (before I started brewing) We were trying to figure the cost and the events manager girl at the club gave us the average and then the maximum she had ever seen on a per person basis. I told my wife and the girl that the number seemed very low based on my family.... but I got out voted.

We ended up past the maximum by almost 30%

So I guess this is a long way of saying you need to know your crowd and with 100 beer enthusiasts 3-4 each might be on the low side for them. And also I come from a long line of drinking problems.

 

[bigbeergeek]

What did your actual numbers work out to, out of curiosity?

 

[Lushife]

I would do three beers each if other stuff is being served and four each if not.

 

[woknblues]

The problem is that designing the beer menu is the most exciting part, the average amount consumed is the boring part. Figure 4 beers each and be prepared to have left overs, not a bad thing by any stretch.

My beer menu "would" be a good session beer like a Centennial Blonde or Cream Ale for the beer drinkers and possibly to convert some of the BMC crowd, a light fizzy BMC beer for the inhibited, and perhaps a tripple or an IIPA or a sour beer or something fancy and strongish for the enlightened.

My actual wedding had the usual beer you might expect at a wedding unfortunately, Stella and Heineken. We had also two wines and put out vodka, rum and jagermeister.... everythingwentbetterthanexpected.jpeg

 

[bigbeergeek]

I would do three beers each if other stuff is being served and four each if not.

I was thinking of doing more of the wit than (say) the IIPA since 2/3rds of the guests are BMC drinkers. I think your totals sound pretty good. 300-400 servings of brew... that's 6-8 kegs of homebrew! Mercy me...

Edit: Then again, it could be on the low side for the crowd. These folks like to dance and party late...

 

[salvar]

Just as a background I've served beer at about 100 weddings as a caterer. When it comes to serving beer there are a few questions I would want to know:

1) What is the duration of the reception?
2) What food is being served?
3) What other alcohol is being served?

If the duration of the reception is 4+ hours, the food is heavy with several courses, and no other alcohol was being served I think 4 beers per person would be more than sufficient. This is assuming that people will have to drive (even a short distance) and that the intent of the wedding isn't to get completely blitzed. Also, there is a tendancy to overestimate how much people will drink/eat. Remember some people will have 6 beers, some 2, etc.

I would recommend doing the split among your beers something like 10g Triple, 15g IIPA, 25g Wit, 20g rasp brown. This is the max I would consider and if any of the above factors (shorter reception, less food, other alcohol) come in to play I would reduce the beer served down to closer to the 2 servings that another caterer earlier recommended (this is more typical).

Although others have mentioned it, I will reiterate that the beer menu seems to be what the bride/groom/wedding party wants but not necessarily what their guests will want. What about the 50 people who aren't beer nerds? Will they want a BMC or at least a sessionable beer? If I were their caterer (or their friend) I would definitely attempt to persuade them to put something more sessionable in the mix. Even as a beer nerd myself, I wouldn't want to drink 5 Triples or IIPAs at a wedding and have to drive even 1 foot from the premises. And I dislike Wit beers and fruit beers so what I would likely do is drink 1 or 2 of the Triples or IIPAs and then stop drinking. If only there were a decent session beer!

Good luck and I hope you have fun brewing this.

 

[broadbill]

Good stuff. I'm not sure what the rest of the alcohol situation will be like (wine, liquor). I think they came to me because they want to keep their alcohol costs down, so for now I'm assuming it will be a homebrew-only event.

:rockin:

Hope they are good friends. In trying to keep their alcohol costs down, they transferred the cost to you basically. You have committed a month of Sundays for their wedding with the selection you are talking about (assuming you do 15 gallon batches; if you only do 5 gallon batches you are looking at 2-4 months trying to get those volumes of beer!).

That is not an insignificant amount of time, if you are anywhere as busy the rest of us are on the weekends. Is that time you are willing to give up for their wedding?

That's great they are beer-geeks and all, but they sound awfully demanding when it is going to be you doing all the grunt work of brewing, cleaning, etc; the stress of timing and not screwing up a batch; getting the beer to the event, etc.

They are also requesting some advanced styles of beer...for example, you'll need to build starters for the Tripel and the IIPA, extended conditioning, dry-hopping, adding fruit flavor, etc. Not only that, I am willing to bet that most of the beer drinking guests will not even touch those styles. The fact is that even a fair percentage of craft beer drinkers will still turn their nose up when they find out its homebrew. Even if they are into homebrew, none of those styles don't lend themselves to hours of drinking that should go on during a wedding.

I'm predicting that you will be putting alot of work in only to bring alot of the beer back home with you. The bride/groom will have gotten what they wanted but I'm not sure the guest will, and it will be all at your expense.

Just my $0.02. I know it sounds harsh...sorry about that.

 

[broadbill]

I was thinking of doing more of the wit than (say) the IIPA since 2/3rds of the guests are BMC drinkers. I think your totals sound pretty good. 300-400 servings of brew... that's 6-8 kegs of homebrew! Mercy me...

Edit: Then again, it could be on the low side for the crowd. These folks like to dance and party late...

Frankly, you are smoking crack if you think that those guests are going to go for a Wit in the absence of BMC.

 

[bigbeergeek]

Hope they are good friends. [...] I know it sounds harsh...sorry about that.

From post #1:

A very good friend is getting married September 21st, 2014.

I'm the best man in the wedding. I have been friends with this man for 25 years. I'm not being taken advantage of. This was my idea and is my wedding gift to them. You do come off harsh and a little a**holeish, not helpful, which is what this thread is about.

Frankly, you are smoking crack if you think that those guests are going to go for a Wit in the absence of BMC.

No, no crack here. I've served wit at a couple functions (large 4th of July parties) and the wit keg floated first both times. "I'll take another one of the light ones." While craft beer drinkers might pass on a wit (personal preference), the BMC crowd doesn't in my experience.

Frankly, your input isn't very helpful here.

 

[broadbill]

From post #1:



I'm the best man in the wedding. I have been friends with this man for 25 years. I'm not being taken advantage of. This was my idea and is my wedding gift to them. You do come off harsh and a little a**holeish, not helpful, which is what this thread is about.



No, no crack here. I've served wit at a couple functions (large 4th of July parties) and the wit keg floated first both times. "I'll take another one of the light ones." While craft beer drinkers might pass on a wit (personal preference), the BMC crowd doesn't in my experience.

Frankly, your input isn't very helpful here.

fair enuff. I'm only reiterating what everyone else has recommended to you, albeit a bit more direct. Don't come to a discussion board if you don't want discussion.

 

[bigbeergeek]

fair enuff. I'm only reiterating what everyone else has recommended to you, albeit a bit more direct. Don't come to a discussion board if you don't want discussion.

No one has been a ******, but one.

 

[broadbill]

No one has been a ******, but one.

At least you've been a good sport about it, telling everyone "hey, that's a great idea, but I'm going to summarily ignore it. Yeah, I know I came on here asking for advice, and I know you have actually brewed for a few weddings in the past, but its apparent that I seem to know more than you do."

The board need a circle-jerk sub forum for some of the thinner skinned individuals.

 

[snaps10]

Dang. I need a beer. Hmmm. What style should it be? Aaauuuggghhhhhhh

Seriously. I need a beer. I think I'll have one. BBG, you're welcome to swing by for a pint or four.

 

[bigbeergeek]

At least you've been a good sport about it, telling everyone "hey, that's a great idea, but I'm going to summarily ignore it. Yeah, I know I came on here asking for advice, and I know you have actually brewed for a few weddings in the past, but its apparent that I seem to know more than you do."

The board need a circle-jerk sub forum for some of the thinner skinned individuals.

OK troll, go feed elsewhere...

 

[bigbeergeek]

Just as a background I've served beer at about 100 weddings as a caterer. When it comes to serving beer there are a few questions I would want to know:

1) What is the duration of the reception?
2) What food is being served?
3) What other alcohol is being served?

If the duration of the reception is 4+ hours, the food is heavy with several courses, and no other alcohol was being served I think 4 beers per person would be more than sufficient. This is assuming that people will have to drive (even a short distance) and that the intent of the wedding isn't to get completely blitzed. Also, there is a tendancy to overestimate how much people will drink/eat. Remember some people will have 6 beers, some 2, etc.

I would recommend doing the split among your beers something like 10g Triple, 15g IIPA, 25g Wit, 20g rasp brown. This is the max I would consider and if any of the above factors (shorter reception, less food, other alcohol) come in to play I would reduce the beer served down to closer to the 2 servings that another caterer earlier recommended (this is more typical).

Although others have mentioned it, I will reiterate that the beer menu seems to be what the bride/groom/wedding party wants but not necessarily what their guests will want. What about the 50 people who aren't beer nerds? Will they want a BMC or at least a sessionable beer? If I were their caterer (or their friend) I would definitely attempt to persuade them to put something more sessionable in the mix. Even as a beer nerd myself, I wouldn't want to drink 5 Triples or IIPAs at a wedding and have to drive even 1 foot from the premises. And I dislike Wit beers and fruit beers so what I would likely do is drink 1 or 2 of the Triples or IIPAs and then stop drinking. If only there were a decent session beer!

Good luck and I hope you have fun brewing this.

Thanks for this post, probably the best advice I've gotten so far. I've served wit to masses of BMC drinkers in the past to rave reviews and quickly-drained kegs -- that's where the idea for wit as the light/sessionable (4.4%) beer came from. I second the notion of not wanting high gravity brew coming out my ears, but the wedding couple want what they want. I couldn't push a regular IPA on them, etc.

Thanks again for the good input, sir!

 

[thetmaxx]

My wedding was in May of last year. We had about 120 people. Quite a few BMC drinkers, but quite a few Craft drinkers as well. Brewed a Black IPA 5 gal(Black Tux) Witbier 10 gal(White Dress) and a Pinnaple Wheat 5 gal(Honeymoon, as we were going to Maui)
Had them all on tap in a jockey box (covered with white sheet to look classy, LOL)
Everyone loved the witbier, but even more people were raving about my pineapple wheat, the people who run the facility wanted to know if I would brew it exclusivly for them! Over the summer is actually won first place in the state fair too.

More suprising to me was the amount to black ipa people were drinking, it was really popular. I even had hard core BMC drinkers going for my beer and enjoying it!!

The only thing we had left was 1-2 gallons of witbier. We also had a bar availible for people who don't drink beer, and did 2 cases of red and 2 cases of white wine as well.

Hope this helps in some way.

 

[bigbeergeek]

I have a feeling that sessionable fruit beers go quickly at mixed festive events like weddings. Good advice/experience there, thetmaxx.

 

[LoloMT7]

I say +1 to the post that mentioned making a Kolsch your wit would work for the lighter beer like you were thinking for most folks However I would do a Kolsch also if it were me just to give one more option to people. I've made a Kolsch with a touch of Honey malt in it twice now that is a major hit when the BMC drinkers are around my kegs never last long! Oh and you should make lots of extra trippel and send it to me!!

5 -- Kolsch 4%
5 -- Wit 3.5-5%
5 -- Trippel 8-11%
5 -- Yoopers Oatmeal stout 4.5% (find the post it is awesome stuff!)
5 -- IPA 7%

 

[salvar]

I like the jocky box idea (we usually serve our guests using a portable True fridge). I definitely would avoid glass bottles if possible.

 

[bigbeergeek]

No bottles, no way. All draft. And a jockey box has quickly emerged as the most logical way to dispense 4 different brews to hundreds of people...

 

[FATC1TY]

I brewed two kinds to supplement some various craft offerings at my brothers wedding. He had atleast 6-7 different beers, some were fruit beers, some were bocks, Pales, Wheats, Lagers.. Not a drop of BMC in the place too. Wine and light liquors.

My beer was all gone just about at the happy hour before hand. I did a Blonde with orange peel, and a really piney juicy citrus IPA.

I figured the IPA would hold out the longest, and I was wrong. It was first to go, and FAST. I had people seeking me out at the reception asking if there was more somewhere. The blonde was there to let the bud light wieners have something to drink.. It kicked out fast, but the IPA really surprised me.

 

[bigbeergeek]

I brewed two kinds to supplement some various craft offerings at my brothers wedding. He had atleast 6-7 different beers, some were fruit beers, some were bocks, Pales, Wheats, Lagers.. Not a drop of BMC in the place too. Wine and light liquors.

My beer was all gone just about at the happy hour before hand. I did a Blonde with orange peel, and a really piney juicy citrus IPA.

I figured the IPA would hold out the longest, and I was wrong. It was first to go, and FAST. I had people seeking me out at the reception asking if there was more somewhere. The blonde was there to let the bud light wieners have something to drink.. It kicked out fast, but the IPA really surprised me.

Surprising. Sounds like "homemade" is a selling point that makes a lot of BMC drinkers adventurous... food for thought...

 

[thetmaxx]

I was able to rent a four tap jockey box from a local homebrew club, the frist club I contacted didn't have it available that day, second call got the jockey box for rent. So that seems to be a good resource if you need to rent one.

 

[thadius856]

FWIW, I have many friends that won't touch a wit. But they'll guzzle a blonde in a heartbeat. Hell, I get bored with a wit after one or two. BierMuncher's Centennial Blonde looks to be a winner in the recipe section.

Today a friend was telling me he wished he could find Shiner Bock in CA... for anybody that's had it, it's not exactly a spectacular beer. That tells me that for most people it's as much not about flavor as it is for us here, but about drinkability.

The fruit for the 4th is a great idea. I'm actually sitting here enjoying a Lost Coast Raspberry Brown, and I can't imagine it having a wide appeal. The last get-together I had, Kona's Wailua Wheat (American Wheat with Passion Fruit) went the quickest. Even I was taken aback by how good it was.

If this doesn't help any, feel free to ignore it...

 

[scottyg354]

How about a Hefeweizen instead of the wit. Switch it up a bit.

 

[bigbeergeek]

^^ Read my previous post...

Ah, more beer menu suggestions

I realize that designing the menu is the fun part, but it's taken care of friends. The bride and groom are beer enthusiasts and they know what they want -- IIPA, not regular IPA etc etc. As already stated the low alcohol/light beer will be a wit. Stronger and more flavorful beers will be available as well. The questions are: how many beers for 100 beer drinkers, and what ratio of brews?

Lineup:

Tripel
IIPA
Wit
Raspberry Brown (tentative)

The majority of the guests will be locals, I'm sure all guests will be lodging locally.

The suggestion of 2 beers per guest sounds light for confirmed beer drinkers. Assume all of those 100 guests will drink.

Thanks for all the replies so far! This is helpful stuff, guys and gals.