Hello!
So I am looking for advice for the beer for our wedding on July 5th. My future father-in-law and I are going to make 2 out of 3 types which works out to 6x 5 gallon batches of each (210 ppl, 3 pp of homebrew). We are both currently extract brewers and are leaning towards the chinook IPA and a lemon American wheat ale but are open for suggestions. What do you think! The third will be a good beer but nothing crazy, maybe a Sam Adams or redhook or something. (Massachusetts)
The next, more important question, is what size kettle should I buy? I want to get into all grain so it has to be something that makes sense for that. If I get a 15 gal., we will be able to make triple batches which would be nice, but a 10 gallon would give us doubles which also isn’t bad. The question is, will I ever find a situation where I need a 15 gallon kettle for all grain?
Also, is Blichmann worth the price? I have the burner which is great but the kettles are pretty spendy, if its worth it I can justify the price (happy wedding to me) but if it isn’t worth it I can buy something else maybe instead/too if it is better for the 10 gallon.
Congratulations on your wedding.
With that amount of people and the July humidity, a cream ale or kolsh might be nice. Something light, but still with flavor.
As for kettle size, you won’t be able to do triple batches unless you’re doing partial boils.
I use a keg for AG. It works great for 5 and 10 gal batches.
The Blichmanns sure look sweet, there are other kettles for much less.
I agree, a cream ale or kolsch would be an excellent choice. If you get to brewing it you will also have time to lager it.
As far as kettles, I would suggest getting the biggest you can afford. If you go big you always have the option of doing 5 gal or 10 gal batches which essentially takes the same amount of time. I woulg go with 15 gal kettle. I think blichmann is over priced and you can find some quality kettles at fair prices.
I would do a trial run on that lemon to see if you really want it. It could be great, but if no, i’s going o be a big disappointment and a lot of waste.
Thanks for the advice, I like the idea of the kolsch, I just haven’t made one yet and am a little hesitant because of that. We would be doing partial boils or the standard 2.5 gal recommended per batch so the 15 gal pot would get us there for a triple batch with space for boil over.
We have made a really good lemon wheat beer from beer and wine hobby but they don’t really offer any type of incentive for buying bulk like you get from NB (the 6x 6lb extracts are a better deal I think) I was thinking of making something pretty close to that recipe with NB ingredients and testing it out.
Has anyone “made” their own brewpot by buying a nicer one from a restuarant supply shop and drilling into it for the fitting? I am going to price this out I think…
Can you do a full boil 10 gallon batch in a 15 gallon brewpot without boiling over? Has anyone done this?
Congrats on the wedding. Small world: my best man got married a few years ago in Newburyport. Lovely town. We hung out at Michael’s. Great beer and food.
I prefer a 10G pot for 5G batches, 15G keggles for 10G batches. I brew 5G batches 98% of the time unless I get asked to brew for (you guessed it) weddings. I hate one trick pony tools but I find 5G/10G batches two different beasts and basically have 2 setups for each. I vote 10G kettle for 5G batch unless you are dead set on 10G batches all the time.
The beers have in mind sound good but would also advise against the lemon. Use a nice fruity C hop at flame out instead and maybe add a lemon slice in the glass.
I think Blich gear is nice but overkill. Whatever you decide make sure you get a chiller and do a FULL WORT BOIL if you are not already.
Has anyone “made” their own brewpot by buying a nicer one from a restuarant supply shop and drilling into it for the fitting? I am going to price this out I think… [/quote]
Do this. I bought a 10gal SS brewpot from a restaurant supply store 3 years ago and have gotten 30+ brews out of it. You can buy a step drill bit, punch a pilot hole in the kettle with a hammer and nail, and install a weldless ball valve (I would also recommend a blichmann brewmometer, so you can use the kettle as a mash tun or HLT if you want…just make sure to get a ‘shield’ to put under the kettle and shield the brewmometer from the heat). I would put the savings toward a blichmann floor burner (or better yet, a craigslist chest freezer for a ferm chamber and temp controller…your guests will thank you!). I turn around 5 gallon all-grain brew in a bag batches in under 4 hours, stuff put away, yeast pitched, and its largely because I can heat strike water quickly get from mash temp to boiling in about 10 minutes.
[quote=“althiels”]
Can you do a full boil 10 gallon batch in a 15 gallon brewpot without boiling over? Has anyone done this?[/quote]
It seems do-able. If you account for 2 gallons of boil off during a 60-minute boil you should be fine…just get some fermcap or keep a spray bottle handy.
If you do get a kettle, check out http://www.bagbrewer.com/. Such an easy way to move to all-grain, and I am getting efficiency in the low-mid 80’s with a single sparge. He will make you a bag with handles for about $30, shipped…great guy too.
As far as styles, at my wedding we had some Southern Tier Hopsun, which was great in the summer (Wheat Pale Ale).
This is all great advice, thank you! I think I am going to go with a 15 gallon and make my own, I found a good price/pot and it should still work fine for 5 gallon batches in addition to everything needed for this wedding. If it turns out to be too much of a pain with that large of a pot for 5 gallon batches, I will get a 10 gallon further down the road.
I like the idea of trying out the wheat beer w/ a C hop at the end prior to going all in, see how it works out. I’m thinking maybe Cascade? or would centennial work out better? maybe a little of both?
I was planning on doing triple batches of partial for the wedding but would eventually work towards full boils. I’ve heard the main benefits of full boils are the difference in the hops utilization and also it lessens the caramelizing of the malts which improves color. Does it noticeably affect taste as well? Maybe it would be better to do 3x doubles batches at full boil rather then 2x triple batches of partial?
I already have the nice Blich floor burner, which was awesome, and I built a son of a fermentation chamber awhile ago, which is amazing in the summer. I’m thinking the money saved will go towards the larger AG insulated cooler setup and some extra buckets. After that comes the kegerator! (I bargained with the future wife that she can pick out whatever dishes she wants as long as I can have a kegerator (keezer). Probably the smartest thing i’ve done in a long time. )
I would go with cascade but cents or blend wouldn’t be bad either.
I think a full wort boil is a huge improvement. You are correct about utilization/color but the taste improves considerably. I like the idea of 3 x double batches in your new 15G kettle. You are pushing it but totally doable.
Not sure if you got me but I meant a wort chiller to drop temp from boil to ferment temp.
Yeah, I meant to respond to that too, both the future father-in-law and I both have chillers, fortunately he made a really nice one with a lot of tubing before the price of copper went up so we will be using his for this.
[quote=“zwiller”]Congrats on the wedding. Small world: my best man got married a few years ago in Newburyport. Lovely town. We hung out at Michael’s. Great beer and food.
I prefer a 10G pot for 5G batches, 15G keggles for 10G batches. I brew 5G batches 98% of the time unless I get asked to brew for (you guessed it) weddings. I hate one trick pony tools but I find 5G/10G batches two different beasts and basically have 2 setups for each. I vote 10G kettle for 5G batch unless you are dead set on 10G batches all the time.
The beers have in mind sound good but would also advise against the lemon. Use a nice fruity C hop at flame out instead and maybe add a lemon slice in the glass.
I think Blich gear is nice but overkill. Whatever you decide make sure you get a chiller and do a FULL WORT BOIL if you are not already.[/quote]
