question for the beer drinkers on my flist...

[buddykat]

mrshirt and I are working on planning what we'll be serving at the wedding reception (to save money, we will be buying all the beverages ourselves, the caterer will be serving them).  Since neither one of us drinks beer, I need help with figuring out what kinds of beer to serve.  We'll most likely be going with bottles rather then kegs.  I know a lot of

Comments

[jbriggs]

You know, this request is pretty much guaranteed to get requests for everything under the sun. Pick two or three beers, a Red and a White wine. Have sparkling cider for non-alcohol drinkers and maybe some sodas (cola/lemon-lime) if kids are present. As your father likes the Amber Bock then make sure thats one of the three.

[buddykat]

I know I'll get responses for everything under the sun. That's why I asked. ;-) But there's likely to be *some* trends. I don't drink beer, but a lot of my friends do, and I know many of them won't drink the crap that my family usually buys for family gatherings. I have no idea what to get otherwise (other then the Amber Bock for my dad).

I don't drink enough wine to know enough good ones. My uncle is a wine snob and likes super dry wines; which I can't stand. Since I'm sure I'm not the only person who doesn't like dry wines, I'd like to know what other people like also.

We do also plan on serving some mixed drinks - not a full bar, but a decent selection. Which is why I want to know what people like; so we can get the most bang for our buck and buy larger quantities of a smaller variety of hard alcohol and mixers (tequila and vodka are definitely on the menu).

Sparkling cider and sodas are already part of the plan for those who don't want alcohol.

Re: bored at work, you get rambley comment

[buddykat]

Actually, it might be cool to pick beers from San Diego and Philadelphia.

We'd love to get some Yuengling from Pennsylvania (also the oldest brewery in America). Unfortunately, it's only available in 12 states. We've considered renting a big truck, filling it up, and driving west. ;-) Somehow, I don't think that will work - I'd rather not get arrested for trafficking alcohol across state lines.

[galtine1]

I'll agree about kegs regarding price...ONLY if you have enough beer drinkers AND you have a way to finish those kegs before returning them. Finding pony-kegs vs. full-kegs can be difficult (the mirco-breweries MAY carry them, but unlikely as they are more work for less return). Growlers, same issue. Might as well just go with bottles.

And personally, with a wedding of 100-150 attendees, if you just do a nice red/white/champ/non-A/and 2 beers...you've got a better spent budget, less leftovers to worry about moving afterwards/storing, and can get case discounts. If you feel you *must* do a hard-alcohol, pick one and do a specialty drink for the wedding. It's YOUR wedding, not your cousin Lucy's chance to get drunk on cheap margaritas.

Sam Adams?

[paradoox]

Personally I like Sam Adams as nice middle of the road beer if you are looking for one. But Fat Tire is certainly fine too.

[crookedfeet]

If you're looking for the most bang for the buck, consider rum, gin, and/or vodka. Those are the most commonly used things in mixed drinks. Maybe create a signature drink-a margarita maybe?

[buddykat]

I'm not fond of margaritas, and neither is mrshirt. And actually, we thought about doing the signature drink thing, but neither one of us particularly liked that at my cousin's wedding last year.