October 2010 Wedding - What to brew?

The Pub
1

My daughter is getting married October 16th, 2010, with a reception for about 170 (still a bit of a guess at this point)
I know she has some ideas, and I do too.  In general I need to keep the alcohol down :( 
Here is what I know now.
One beer will be a monster a 15-20% Barleywine or Strong Scotch Ale (Hey I’m brewing, I need something like this on the menu)
Porter, likely a vanilla porter (not Denny’s BVIP, a great beer but no Bourbon beers) Any good Vanilla Porter recipes out there?
Amarillo Pale Ale, an awesome under 5% showcase of Amarillo hops.

What are your thoughts?

aTdHvAaNnKcSe
Fred

2

are lagers not on the table?

how about a nice Dortmunder or BoPils?

And, hey the wedding is in October - Oktoberfest/Maerzen style!!

3

+1 to the O-Fest

4

Nothing against lagers, and we are moving into the season to brew lagers,  I’ll have to repurpose my 6 tap kegerator fridge for that.

Fred

5

How about a nice American Wheat for the masses? It’s easy to make and I’ll bet it goes first.

6

That’s what I did for our Daughter’s rehearsal BBQ this year & it went over well.  Had a little Mead on the side for some hardcores as well… ;D

7

Fill in the Hop Blonde ale is a crowd favorite for the American light lager crowd,
Standard Dry Mead for the historical reference and the wine crowd, just enough time to get it done by then.

8

I agree with Oktoberfest as well!  American wheat and Cream ale are always crowd pleasers as well.

9

+1 on a cream or blonde ale.  I try to keep one on hand for the BMCers.

10

All good thoughts keep em coming.

11

I’d be interested in a Amarillo Pale Ale recipe myself.

12

http://beerdujour.com/Recipes/AmarilloPaleAle.htm
This one is really good.

13

wow fred - is that your recipe?  I don’t think I’ve ever seen you post about ANYTHING under 8% abv…

looks good!

14

Thanks.  I have everything to make that, except for maybe the yeast.  I’ll try it soon.

15

Since you like Amarillo already and American Wheat was mentioned…
How about a Gumballhead Clone?

16

Any clean yeast will work.

17

I’m not familiar with that beer at all.  How about a brief description.

Fred

18

I don’t brew that as a beer,  I make that as a starter!!!

My starters are all 5 gallons, I may as well make them drinkable.

I took that beer to “Teach a Future Son-in-Law To Brew Day”  and out of 20 kegs it was the first full keg to blow.  (A 3/4 keg of Pliny the Elder clone blew just before it.  It opened with an apricot aroma  and finished like a bowl of grapefruit, Very Nice!!!

19

(Trying to describe this - I’ve come to the conclusion that I suck at reviewing beers. It’s just REALLY good!)
The beer comes from Three Floyd’s brewery in Munster, IN.
Gumballhead is fairly clear like other American Wheats,  far from cloudy, with the color leaning toward orange/copper.
Has a fruity smell to it, but the citrusy aroma definitely tells you that there’s hops coming.
The taste starts off sweet(due to the wheat malt) and is medium mouthfeel - but finishes hoppy/citrusy. The hops seem to cleanse your pallette after a swallow, leaving you wanting another sip. I can’t say I was paying enough attention to note carbonation or head - I wasn’t really in review mode when I went there. Dry Hopping this Wheat is what makes it so great.

You can probably get better reviews on BA or other such sites.

-OCD

20

I knew there was a catch!

You may not want to mess with perfection, but you might try splitting the same hop schedule 50:50 with Simcoe and Amarillo - another divine combination  ;D