Serving at a wedding

[Ultryx]

Hello HBT!

I'm getting married in a few months. My fiancé really wants me to supply the majority of beer for our wedding guests. I'm planning on brewing 3 different 5-gallon batches. I'm planning on going with 1 light, 1 hoppy-ish, and 1 maltier and darker beer.

1. Cream ale or rice lager
2. Pale ale or IPA
3. Dark mild

I will have to transport the kegs and CO2 canister approximately 10 hours to our location. I will have time to reconnect the CO2 lines and let the kegs settle in some ice before the day.

- Prior to travel, should I get the kegs carbed up to the levels I'm looking for?
- Will placing the kegs in a trash can filled with ice work?
- Do I keep the 10' of beer line I have setup for the kegerator to work in this situation with picnic taps?
- Will 48 hours be enough time for the kegs being moved around to settle?

 

[McMullan]

Congratulations! Whenever I travel with kegs of home brew I transfer bright beer off any sediment to a fresh 'secondary' keg before travelling. Regardless of the journey you'll arrive with bright beer. I'd fully carb before setting off, too.

 

[Ultryx]

Congratulations! Whenever I travel with kegs of home brew I transfer bright beer off any sediment to a fresh 'secondary' keg before travelling. Regardless of the journey you'll arrive with bright beer. I'd fully carb before setting off, too.

That's probably a good idea to do, but probably not necessary if I use floating dip tubes or am really careful pulling the beer off the trub and into a keg I would think.

 

[tracer bullet]

Good questions. I think you'd want to start with carbed kegs ready to go, so you know they are indeed ready to go. I'd caution to travel with those kegs upright! So you don't have a beer soaked car if a PRV lets loose. Consider the proper psi for where you are going, line length, etc.

A trash can with ice should work. Consider how to get the water out and more ice in, especially if it sits a couple days. Could be as easy as some tubing and a siphon? In my experience yes 48 hours is enough to settle out any little bit of yeast again. It doesn't really go back into the beer like it was just after fermenting, it tends to stick together and re-drop pretty fast.

I won't say the idea of transferring is at all bad or unnecessary, but - if you just don't have time I think you'll be OK. In my experience travelling with a keg to have lots of beer for camping anyhow.

 

[BrewZer]

So you might want to check the laws of the states you're going to drive thru. Biggest issues would be with Utah and Pennsylvania.

 

[Ultryx]

Good questions. I think you'd want to start with carbed kegs ready to go, so you know they are indeed ready to go. I'd caution to travel with those kegs upright! So you don't have a beer soaked car if a PRV lets loose. Consider the proper psi for where you are going, line length, etc.

A trash can with ice should work. Consider how to get the water out and more ice in, especially if it sits a couple days. Could be as easy as some tubing and a siphon? In my experience yes 48 hours is enough to settle out any little bit of yeast again. It doesn't really go back into the beer like it was just after fermenting, it tends to stick together and re-drop pretty fast.

I won't say the idea of transferring is at all bad or unnecessary, but - if you just don't have time I think you'll be OK. In my experience travelling with a keg to have lots of beer for camping anyhow.

My plan is to get the kegs carbed up before traveling. Do they need to be purged at all when you arrive somewhere? From sloshing around? Then I'll hook them up to gas again and chill for 48 hours. I guess I didn't consider I only have room for 2 kegs in my kegerator before we travel. Not sure I want to leave a beer at room temperature for too long. I could leave it outside until we leave. That would keep it cooler.

And it's a camping wedding - so perfect!

So you might want to check the laws of the states you're going to drive thru. Biggest issues would be with Utah and Pennsylvania.

We'll be staying in our home state so no worries there! That is a good point though.

 

[bleme]

I think the Dark Mild would handle room temperature storage the best. If you brew it 3 weeks ahead of time, you can just add sugar to the keg and let it carb up naturally.

Don't purge anything when you get there - I wouldn't even hook back up to gas immediately. Shaking like that can build a little pressure in the headspace but as you chill it will reabsorb.

 

[Madspeed]

So you might want to check the laws of the states you're going to drive thru. Biggest issues would be with Utah and Pennsylvania.

Never heard of anything like this.

 

[monkeymath]

Are you sure about the Dark Mild? I think it's going to have hard time with [read in snobby voice] "regular beer drinkers". If I was going for something dark & malty - and I'm not entirely sure I would - I'd rather make a Munich Dunkel or something along those lines.

 

[VikeMan]

So you might want to check the laws of the states you're going to drive thru. Biggest issues would be with Utah and Pennsylvania.

Imagine the field day the PLCB and PA State Police are going to have at the Pittsburgh homebrew con in a few days, arresting all the illegal homebrew transporters.

I live in PA. I have never heard of any laws concerning transportation of homebrew. Please provide a link if you have one.

 

[BrewZer]

Title 40, Chapter 9.11 details permit requirements for transporting alcohol within the Commonwealth. Note 9.11(b)(3) which exempts transport for "personal use."

9.11. Transportation for hire.​

(a) Except as exempted in subsection (b), a person who transports liquor, malt or brewed beverages or alcohol for hire within this commonwealth shall obtain a Transporter-for-Hire License, Class A, a Transporter-for-Hire License, Class B or a Transporter-for-Hire License, Class C, from the Board.

(b) Liquor, malt or brewed beverages or alcohol, may be transported for hire without a Transporter-for-Hire License under the following conditions:

(1) If the alcohol in question is ‘‘denatured,’’ as specified in the Liquor Code.

(2) If transportation is accomplished by scheduled common air carriers of mail and passengers; or by common carriers by railroad, subject to regulation by the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission; or by transporters-for-hire who transport liquor, malt or brewed beverages or alcohol, under contract with, and as agents of, common carriers by railroad, under railroad tariffs, railroad bills of lading, railroad regulations and railroad responsibility and direction, provided the main transportation of the liquor, malt or brewed beverages or alcohol, is by rail and the agents perform only a collection and delivery service as part of the rail transportation, and further provided that certified copies of the contracts of the agents are filed with the Board.

(3) If the liquor, malt or brewed beverages, or alcohol in question are for the personal use of, and not for resale by, the transporter.

(4) If transportation is by licensees of the Board whose licenses or permits authorize the transportation of liquor, malt or brewed beverages or alcohol in the regular operation of their licensed business.

(5) If transportation is by persons who transport liquor, malt or brewed beverages or alcohol, through this Commonwealth commercially and not for delivery therein:

(i) The operator of the vehicle shall have in his possession at all times while in this Commonwealth, an invoice and a bill of lading or waybill (showing the brand name, size and number of containers of liquor, malt or brewed beverages or alcohol so transported), which shall be produced for inspection upon the request of an authorized police or enforcement officer of this Commonwealth.

(ii) The cargo must remain intact and upon the same vehicle or conveyance while in this Commonwealth, unless prevented by an accident or other similarly uncontrollable circumstance.


I'm not a lawyer, but in my reading the wording is vague enough that a zealous LEO and/or county prosecutor might want to test the limits of the Legislature's intent as to whether or not distribution of homebrew at a wedding constitutes "personal use."

It would seem, however, that Title 47 gives the homebrewer a reasonable exemption for weddings in the wording that authorizes them to brew for personal use:

Pa. Stat. tit. 47, §4-492
It shall be unlawful–
(1) Manufacturing Without License. Except as provided herein, for any person, to manufacture malt or brewed beverages, unless such person holds a valid manufacturer’s license for such purpose issued by the board. Malt or brewed beverages may be produced by any person without a license if such malt or brewed beverages are produced not for sale and total production does not exceed 200 gallons per calendar year. Malt or brewed beverages produced in accordance with this paragraph may be used at organized affairs, exhibitions, competitions, contests, tastings or judging provided it is not sold or offered for sale.

Clearly, HomebrewCon distribution is allowed, and so as long as the wedding is an "organized affair" I guess it'd be OK, but like I said, I'm not a lawyer.

 

[hottpeper13]

If you know you're going to transport the keg ,one thing would be to pick a yeast for each one that is highly floculant. I would use Notty on the IPA, 1469 on the mild and 833 on the cream ale (I'm pounding down a rice lager 833 currently).
Gelatin fine, then chill,that will help compact the sediment.

 

[belgabrewing]

Hello HBT!

I'm getting married in a few months. My fiancé really wants me to supply the majority of beer for our wedding guests. I'm planning on brewing 3 different 5-gallon batches. I'm planning on going with 1 light, 1 hoppy-ish, and 1 maltier and darker beer.

1. Cream ale or rice lager
2. Pale ale or IPA
3. Dark mild

I will have to transport the kegs and CO2 canister approximately 10 hours to our location. I will have time to reconnect the CO2 lines and let the kegs settle in some ice before the day.

- Prior to travel, should I get the kegs carbed up to the levels I'm looking for?
- Will placing the kegs in a trash can filled with ice work?
- Do I keep the 10' of beer line I have setup for the kegerator to work in this situation with picnic taps?
- Will 48 hours be enough time for the kegs being moved around to settle?

Use floating dip tubes and get or make three singe tap jockey boxes. The floating dip tubes will make sediment a non issue and the jockey boxes have enough internal tubing length to cool and de-foam your beer.

 

[VikeMan]

Clearly, HomebrewCon distribution is allowed, and so as long as the wedding is an "organized affair" I guess it'd be OK, but like I said, I'm not a lawyer.

I kind of figured that. Homebrewers in PA have been serving serve their beers at weddings and brewfests for years. Some of those brewfests make a point to advertise the fact, and have it covered by TV news, etc. If it were an issue, I suspect we'd have heard by now.

 

[McMullan]

A floating dip tube needs time for beer to clear. They don't actually clear beer as such. Kegged beer clears slowly from the top generally, not just after transporting on sediment. I regularly take kegged homebrew on a very bumpy road trip (Norway has the worst roads in Europe, more like beaten tracks) to a cabin in the mountains. Ask me how I know It's surprising how much sediment drops out of 'clear' beer. When It does, transfer to a fresh keg. The main problem is the sediment, yeast, etc., going back in suspension make the beer taste like ****. I don't know, it's your big day, not mine. It would be such a shame if the first few pints pulled were the best and the rest were ****. I wouldn't wish that on anyone.

 

[Ultryx]

A floating dip tube needs time for beer to clear. They don't actually clear beer as such. Kegged beer clears slowly from the top generally, not just after transporting on sediment. I regularly take kegged homebrew on a very bumpy road trip (Norway has the worst roads in Europe, more like beaten tracks) to a cabin in the mountains. Ask me how I know It's surprising how much sediment drops out of 'clear' beer. When It does, transfer to a fresh keg. The main problem is the sediment, yeast, etc., going back in suspension make the beer taste like ****. I don't know, it's your big day, not mine. It would be such a shame if the first few pints pulled were the best and the rest were ****. I wouldn't wish that on anyone.

I am still considering bottling all 3 beers and serving them that way. It would take away a lot of the stress getting things done at certain times and what not. My only concern was that I need to create a nice "homebrew" sign showing how to pour the bottle properly to minimize getting yeast in a cup. I could always design a few labels and have them placed on the bottles to keep things fancier.

 

[McMullan]

I am still considering bottling all 3 beers and serving them that way. It would take away a lot of the stress getting things done at certain times and what not. My only concern was that I need to create a nice "homebrew" sign showing how to pour the bottle properly to minimize getting yeast in a cup. I could always design a few labels and have them placed on the bottles to keep things fancier.

Beer gun bright beer into the bottles? A little more effort to begin with, but a lot easier in the end.

 

[hopjuice_71]

Why not keg it, let it clear in the keg, then bottle clear beer off the keg? I did this with beer I had to transport to an engagement party. Worked well and no special home brewed beer pouring skills were required. Otherwise, I agree with the keg it, let it clear in the keg, then transfer clear beer to another keg idea.

Edit: well that was weird, same ideas arrived at the same time. Must be a sign.

 

[Nick_G]

Carbonate before you travel - if you're getting married on a mountain top then beware the altitude change and under-carbonate at home. Vice versa if you live on a mountain and are getting hitched on the beach. Pour off a couple of pints before you go and any other sediment should have settled by then. If you can, borrow a jockey box for dispensing. Good luck!

 

[jerrylotto]

If you hou have a big igloo cooler you can put the kegs on ice for the whole trip. I have a 150 quart and it works perfectly for that, I often bring kegs with me when I go places

 

[Beermeister32]

This wedding-beer thing comes up periodically.

I think you are going to have a lot more important things to do that day than to be screwing around with a bunch of homebrew. Then there’s all the half drank cups sitting around from people not into it.

If it were me, I’d buy a huge selection of different styles of bottled and canned commercial beer and put them in ice chests. Also add a whole bunch of canned flavored seltzers, that will probably be more drank than beer. Let them have at it.

You need to focus on the wedding, the ceremony and your bride that day. This day is about your marriage, not beer.

 

[McMullan]

^^^He's right^^^ I'd bottle some home-brewed beer, too.

 

[jambop]

This wedding-beer thing comes up periodically.

I think you are going to have a lot more important things to do that day than to be screwing around with a bunch of homebrew. Then there’s all the half drank cups sitting around from people not into it.

If it were me, I’d buy a huge selection of different styles of bottled and canned commercial beer and put them in ice chests. Also add a whole bunch of canned flavored seltzers, that will probably be more drank than beer. Let them have at it.

You need to focus on the wedding, the ceremony and your bride that day. This day is about your marriage, not beer.

Apart from anything else what volume are you talking here? I took a 5L mini keg to a a friends one evening there were only three of us drinking it and it lasted just over an hour so the next question is how many guests? I agree with the above life is too short to be pissing about with home brew at your wedding