Homebrewing Beer for Your Events: Preparatory Tips

I recently got married and, of course, I wanted to brew all of the beer for the event. As it tuned out, Goddard College - my alma mater and the site we rented for the wedding - doesn't allow big groups to bring in and provide alcohol. Alcohol being served must be provided by a licensed caterer. In the end, though I was disappointed with the beer service provided by our caterer, and would not recommend them to others, I had enough on my mind before and during the wedding, and I'm glad I didn't have to think about the beer. Also, while I was personally disappointed for various reasons, the wedding guests had plenty to drink, and it was pretty much all local beer, so it worked out.

Brewing for events as a homebrewer is a huge undertaking, and not one to be taken lightly. When you brew for yourself, you don't necessarily have to worry about consistency between batches, and you certainly don't need to worry about volume. I've voluntarily stepped up as head-brewer for several large events in the past, and while it was a lot of fun, I wouldn't want to do it for an event with meaning. Screwing up someone's wedding or graduation party with sub-par beer or serving issues is a great way to ensure that you'll be miserable. That said, someone who is known as a committed homebrewer will eventually be asked to brew for an event, and be unable to refuse. I know I'll end up doing another event or two, and you likely will, as well. Here's some wisdom, such as it is.

Consult - I was recently asked to get involved in the brewing for the wedding of a couple of my good friends. Both are excellent brewers, and are a bit less experienced than me. Having just gone through all of this myself, I really want to help, and I'm absolutely flattered that they'd ask me to help. On the other hand, your wedding is a pretty important day, and in the course of planning mine, I saw both my relationships with and my opinion of the vendor's that I worked with PLUNGE as they didn't meet my expectations, or follow through on their commitments. Being a friend in that position would be no fun at all. Instead of offering to brew the beer for the event, I've offered to be "brewing consultant." I'll go hang out with them and lend a hand/experienced eye while they brew. To be honest, these guys don't need the help - they make excellent beer. What they do need is an infusion of equipment, which I can offer. In the end, I think this is the very best arrangement, as it's an additional excuse for me to buy some new gear, and make the big brews we'll need to do much easier on all of us. New toys are GREAT, so everyone wins.

Volume - If you'll be brewing for an event, you need to know how much to brew. The answer is different depending on a whole lot of factors. How many people will be attending? Are they big drinkers? Will there be wine? A full bar? For my wedding, we covered the beer and wine, but had a cash bar. The option of free beer versus paying for liquor meant that our numbers were not much different than they would have been if there hadn't been a bar. Know your guests, and plan accordingly. There are a couple of really neat calculators that can get you in the ballpark. For beer only, check out The kegulator, which looks at the question with some humor, but gives you the answers you need. For a more comprehensive look, including non-beer beverages, try the calculator over at evite. A standard five gallon batch of homebrew makes about 2 cases of beer, or 48-50 twelve-ounce servings.

Serving - This is a sticky wicket in terms of big events. Folks like to drink at parties, and it's important to think about traffic flow. You want to get folks into and out of the bar area as quickly as possible, drink in hand, and avoid lines. Nothing is worse than waiting ten minutes to get to the beer. Bottling seems like a no-brainer for speed, but it's a poor choice, as bottled homebrew needs to be decanted into glasses in order to avoid yeast sediment and flavors. You could brew exclusively hefeweizen, which is supposed to have the yeasties, but that's really limiting. Kegging is really the way to go with events. Either get a friend to play "bartender" to keep full glasses waiting for guests, or set up enough taps that folks can get what they want quickly. Keep an eye on the kegs, and make sure they don't run out. You'll also want to keep an extra air cylinder handy, in case you run out. There's no need to buy a whole new one, as the big commercial-sized ones can be rented for the weekend at a reasonable rate from nearly any rental company, and they're fully compatible with your regulators.

Temperature - Cold beer is the name of the game. Don't worry too much about getting the temperature just right for the style at events - no one but you cares too much. The easiest way to keep your kegs cold if you don't have a humungous keggerator to commit to the event is to fill up a big plastic tub with ice, and set the kegs in there. I used this approach in my house for the first year that I kegged - I just kept pulling snow in from outside to keep my kegs cold. If you're worried about presentation, place the whole works under a covered table, and pull just the taps up through.

Macro-lovers - Almost any event that you'll be inviting family and friends to will include some macro-brew drinkers. You may want to keep some canned piss available for these folks. I chose not to do so at my wedding, forcing folks to grow a little. There was a pretty good selection of craft beers, and no one complained. This is my recommendation - don't cater to the lowest common denominator - you're in charge, and should serve beer that you like. Anyone who drinks Bud can get through a nice brown ale, English mild, or American pale ale quite happily, so don't feel that you need to cater to their bad taste.

Brew Extra - If you run out of beer, that's a really, really bad thing. If you have an extra keg or four after the event - you have more beer to drink. There's no excuse for not planning ahead here. If you're going to do it, do it right.

Style - No matter how much you might want to show off your recipe for triple-smoked chipotle milk-stout or Double Imperial lambic IPA, an event like a wedding is not the place. Sure, bring along a couple of bombers to share with the real beer-lovers, but your style choices should have a broad appeal. Stout, ESB, Pale Ale, IPA, or a nice, crisp wheat are all nice choices.

These are my thoughts on brewing for events, and for once, I'm actually going to follow all of my own advice for the upcoming wedding this spring. Remember, as much as you might like to share a bit of the spotlight with your homebrew, the event isn't about you. Contribute what you can, then step back and raise a glass to the event itself. Na Zdravi!