What should the ideal 6 pack be?

[Jefe Waizen]

I'm looking at keeping a base of 6 beers on tap on my kegerator, for whenever the in-laws come...My six taps would be, in no particular preference: IPA, Stout or Porter, Lager, Hefeweizen, Sour and a rotational that could be anything from pilsner to barleywine or a Belgian quad. What, in your opinion, would be a six beer lineup representing the most significant styles, something you could lure your Budweiser friends to slowly lure into the bright side, or just to showcase the craft beer styles?

 

[Qhrumphf]

Ahh the old school cover all bases brewpub lineup...

1. Something pale and crispy. Either a Pilsner or a Helles. Your BMC beer.
2. IPA of some form. Either dank bitter west coast or NEIPA. Your hop-head beer.
3. Strong Bitter. Super balanced and super crushable. Best of all worlds. Your general session beer.
4. Hefe or Saison. Your fruit and spice beer.
5. Moderate ABV porter or stout. Your dark beer.
6. Sour/wild of some form. With or without fruit. I'd go with proper barrel aged brett and bugs true funky sour beer.

Of course these days the kids would rather have six different hazy IPAs.

 

[Immocles]

I keep a pretty basic menu on the beer fridge. Usually between 4-6 different types, but they stay somewhat similar with its next replacement. This is just my personal inventory rule of thumb. I agree with above, but I haven't gotten into fruits, barrels, or sours.

1. IPA or Pale Ale. "Something hoppy"
2. Cream ale/Blonde ale/light Lager. "Something normal" (Also usually my 3.5%-4% beer and most widely enjoyed)
3. Stout/porter. (generally only drank/enjoyed by me)
4. Amber or dark lager. (generally only drank/enjoyed by me)
5. Kolsch/German pils.
6. Experimental/niche. Hefe, Dunkelweizen are favorites of mine, but aren't enjoyed in my circles. Right now its a sort of bastardized Belgian blonde.

I have yet to see one of my BMC drinkers not enjoy anything from category 2. They also generally love the kolsch. I think folks either like hop flavors, or they don't. Those guys are tough to convert. Same seems to hold true for dark beers, but I think the color scares some folks. I did slowly convert one guy by slipping increasingly hoppier beers in front of him. "Oh, if you like this one, try this one..." Now he starts with an IPA.

 

[TheMadKing]

The ideal 6 pack is when it turns out to actually be a 12 pack

 

[Giggs]

1: Cream Ale
2: ESB
3: Dopplebock
4: Hoppy Amber
5: NEIPA
6: ? Wild Card ?

 

[mrdauber64]

I have 7 taps. I always keep this:
1. Session Stout/Porter or something dark
2. IPA
3. Specialty IPA(Black IPA, Red IPA, Milkshake IPA....)
4. Lager(Helles, Pilsner, Dunkel, cream ale)
5. Specialty Lager(cucumber, coffee blonde/lager, or other fruit beers....)
6. Barrel Aged Imperial Stout (from Imperial Stout Solera)
7. Barrel Aged Barleywine (From Barleywine Solera)

 

[Qhrumphf]

Now, if it were just me:

1. Czech Pils
2. Hefe
3. Best Bitter
4. Dark Mild
5. Hazy IPA
6. Gueuze-style sour

 

[Hayden123982]

1. Sour (quick sometimes, long-term when available)
2. IPA
3. Hazy IPA
4. Lager (pilsner, helles, IPL)
5. Saison or German Hefe
6. Something nitro (dark mild, irish stout, anything)

 

[corkybstewart]

Bottomless.

Back when I was able to drink all the beer I wanted and bbrewed almost all the beer I drank here's what my kegerator lineup usually looked like.
Far right tap was always a sour or brett beer. Then a porter/stout. An IPA(maybe 2 different ones) A light, easy drinking Kolsch or low hopped pale ale. A Belgian dark/quad. A hefeweizen or rye. Obviously these were not constant-sometimes there was a rauchbier, an imperial stout, or something really different, but the normal lineup was designed for everybody to find something.

 

[bwible]

This is one of those questions you ask 10 different people and get 12 different answers. It really boils down to what you like.

I like your logic - something light, something hoppy, something dark, something seasonal. Thats the logic I would use if I was having people over for a party. Or look at the lineup at a good local bar.

I have a 2 tap kegerator and a handpump. Don’t use the handpump often so I usually have 2 on tap and one waiting. My 2 are usually blonde ale and stout. Right now I have blonde ale and American Wheat beer for the summer. My one waiting is usually something English like Bitter or ESB which I’ll switch out after one of the other 2 kicks and then brew again.

So you get more choices than I do. I get 2 taps and the rest goes in bottles.

I find I tend to go in cycles. This month I realize how good American beer is. Next month I’ll realize how good German beer is. The month after that I’ll realize how good English beer is....

 

[dawn_kiebawls]

I'm currently planning a 5 tap keezer build that I imagine will be finished about late August so I am doing my best to fill my fermentors so everything will be done at the same time. There's nothing worse than an empty keezer! Since it will be finished pretty close to the beginning of Fall and (hopefully) football season I'm going to have:

1) Dark Lager of some variety
2) NEIPA
3) Caramel Amber
4) Experimental Brett/Fruit (apple)/Sour Saison
5) Cider

My aged sours will get the bottle treatment so they can develop, but also if I have them on tap I'll drink a years worth of work in a week. I will always have a Saison of some variety on tap because its such a versatile style. Dark, light, fruited, patio-pounder, imperial, funky, clean, etc. Caramel Ambers are my favorite 'seasonal' beer that I can enjoy by a campfire. NEIPA for the hopheads, Dark Lager for the roasted malt fans, the experimental tap will always be something weird I dreamed up for adventurous drinkers and I'm struggling to think of a time that a good tart cider isn't damn refreshing.

 

[bracconiere]

i second the inclusion of a cider.....

 

[camonick]

This is one of those questions you ask 10 different people and get 12 different answers. It really boils down to what you like.

I second this thought ^^
I’d have to ask first, if the list in your OP are beers that you actually like to drink? The lager category can range from the lightest of lights to beers that are quite dark and flavorful.
I only brew what I like to drink or the occasional experiment. I only have 4 taps and one of them is a dedicated stout faucet. Sometimes all 4 are active and sometimes only 1 or 2 of them are functional. There are times when they could all be dark or light or a nice mixture. I don’t see any reason to keep beer on tap that I don’t like just to stay “trendy”. As far a an introductory style, you can’t go wrong with a well crafted Pilsner, or a cream or blonde ale. I once gave one of my Dunkels to a coworker who is a BMC drinker and he was pleasantly surprised. It mostly depends on the individual. Some BMC drinkers wouldn’t walk across the street for a craft beer if they were giving it away.
Sláinte

 

[corkybstewart]

i second the inclusion of a cider.....

I always have bottles of mead and cider but the last time I put a mead on tap it was finished in a weekend. It's way too much effort to have friends swill it all in one weekend. I do have a keg of cider I could tap-I planned on bottling it but nev

 

[SouthBounds]

1. IPA
2. Pale Ale
3. Stout/Porter/Imperials
4. Saison
5. Hefe
6. Root Beer/Cream Soda

 

[bracconiere]

I always have bottles of mead and cider but the last time I put a mead on tap it was finished in a weekend. It's way too much effort to have friends swill it all in one weekend. I do have a keg of cider I could tap-I planned on bottling it but nev

make it a sour mead!

6. Root Beer/Cream Soda

damn, that would be tricky....have to buy a lot of o-rings for rebuilding your kegs all the time.....plus a really fancy distribution gas system......

 

[SouthBounds]

damn, that would be tricky....have to buy a lot of o-rings for rebuilding your kegs all the time.....plus a really fancy distribution gas system......

I have a separate regulator for sodas/ force carbing. I also have a dedicated soda keg. That way the kiddos get to have something cool to brew.