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tulleyman

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I am getting married October 12th and want to brew some beer for the event. Does anyone have any good recipes for a wedding beer. I have never done a AG and would prefer an extract recipe. Open to any ideas, but would prefer a type of ale.
 
A cream ale is usually a good general crowd pleaser. Same with a Pale Ale.

I am partial to Belgians myself but also have Biermunchers Centennial Blonde on tap at the house for the BMC folks.
 
If your willing to do a lager I would brew and Oktoberfest. Strong, delicious, palatable to most non-craft beer drinkers, but still distinct, the Oktoberfest is in itself a celebration of the craziest wedding Germany has ever seen.

King Ludwig of Bavaria got married way back when and it was such a huge party they decided to do it every year and it still goes on today, so I think this is a great style to celebrate your tying the knot. Congrats man, hope it turns out ok!
 
I brewed a chocolate stout for my daughter's wedding. Folks are still talking about it.
 
I will have to go against the flow here and recommend NOT to do a spiced or pumpkin ale for the first time for something as critical as a wedding beer!

I have been brewing for 2.5 years now and last summer I was asked to brew 200 bottles of "homebrew" for my brother's wedding.

Well after much debate and asking homebrewers for advice I arrived at 2 recipes that would please everyone in a 130 person crowd!

1. Cream Ale: (this recipe: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f62/cream-three-crops-cream-ale-66503/)

2. American Pale Ale: (My own recipe was used but any good Pale Ale recipe will work. Alternately you could do a Wheat beer)

Lets just say that with maybe 60 people at the wedding drinking beer I received at least 7 comments from people I didn't even know that wanted to tell me how "amazing" my beer was. Before the cake was even cut 200 bottles of pale ale and cream ale were gone!

Specialty beers and stouts have their place but a wedding reception with a mixed crowd is not that place!

Good luck and congrats!
 
I like Jayhem's thoughts of a Cream Ale and an American Pale as two basics.
But I would also add at least some, more complex 'showcase' brews.
Last year I decided to provide beer for a major family 'clan' gathering. The Cream ale went 1st, and the Irish Red was a big hit(we're a mostly Irish clan), but the biggest, most positive comments were about my Rye IPA. And homebrewing was a big topic.
I know I was surprised how many people appreciated good beer. You might be surprised too!
 
I'm getting married in Nov. 11-15/13. I'm gonna try for a AG Stout. Being it's fall time. Brew some traditional dark something.
 
I kind of agree with Jayhem and Jim. How many beers to you want to have? If it was me I would look at doing three:
1) a basic ale that is not too imposing - a blonde or something
2) Something with a bit more going on but still restrained - a mellow Pale ale, Best bitter/ESB
3) Something you would expect most to not accept if they we offered it by itself - stout/porter, IPA/IIPA

This way you have something that most will like 1 & 2 (for the more adventurise) and then you have 3 for the craft drinkers / once the other kick and they guest are still looking for some homebrewed goodness :D
 
It really does depend on how much you want to brew--and give away! I have had great luck with cream ale, brown ale, dry Irish stout, pale ale, amber ale as the more restrained but diverse selections. But I always have a separate cooler stocked with big crazy stuff like my Cascadian, IIPA, Super Saison, brett brews, big Belgians, etc. that I will bust out for those I think will enjoy them.
 
It's your wedding brew what you want to brew. I'm sure you know what people will drink at weddings especially if it is free. I'd mix it up with 3 or 4 types of ales. No matter what you brew, you will not please everyone. That being said, I bet they drink you dry.
 
For my best friends wedding, I made 10g of BM's Cream of 3 Crops and 10g of Centennial Blonde. There was less that 20 bottles left before the pictures were done, we had to have the bartenders set some aside for the groom. Cream of 3 Crops was the crowd favorite, and Centennial Blonde was enough of a beer to please the beer nerds. I did keg the beers and bottle from the keg, I did not feel like giving pouring instructions or walking around slapping the hands of people drinking from the bottle.
 
Very strange my fiancee and i are brewing everything and getting married the same day! We have a blonde ale, irish red, dry irish stout (non-imperial), american pale ale (sierra nevada clone), and a spicey citrus wheat. Looking to brew 1-2 more, we wanted a nice variety for our 90 or so guests. Maybe do a pumpkin ale? It is October and if you're in the north it'd be nice.
 
To appeal to a crowd, I would suggest a Cream Ale, Wheat Beer, Blonde Ale, Irish Red, or maybe an APA. If you want a seasonal offering, a pumpkin ale would be perfect timing.

In experience from recently brewing for a wedding, make sure to have a few offerings as you will have a mix of beer drinkers. The cream, blonde, irish red, and maybe even the pumpkin ales would appeal to your non-craft drinking types while an APA or an IPA would appeal to the craft beer drinking crowd--though I would probably drink each one if I went to a wedding with a bunch of homebrew offerings.

I mean really its your wedding, so brew to your tastes and what you like as its your day and your event, so show your family and friends what you love to do. That being said, to appeal to all the types of beer drinkers, a cream ale and an APA would hit all marks and make everyone pretty happy.
 
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