Brewing Beer For My Wedding

I'm getting married in 6 days. It was maybe a week after I proposed, and that might be a stretch, before the thought popped into my head that I could make the beer for my wedding. Once I had the epiphany there was no turning back.

As soon as I had decided to brew for the wedding I started brewing a lot of "pilot" batches...... "Yes honey, Its for the wedding".  I also purchased a keg system and four Cornie Kegs and upgraded my brew pot so that I can accommodate 10 gallon batches ("Yeah, I know, its for the wedding" ~My Fiance) 

I decided that I would brew 10 gallons of 2 different beers.  What am I going to brew? I had brewed a bunch of different styles (Pale Ale, Brown Ale, Porter, Oktoberfest etc.) My future wife really liked my Oktoberfest, so that was an easy choice. ("Oh and honey, I'm going to need to get a chest freezer to ferment your Oktoberfest in")  The other beer was up for debate. A lot of people I spoke with thought that I should brew something more approachable, like a blonde or cream ale.  Others thought that the Oktoberfest should be the approachable beer and I should brew an IPA.  After a lot of deliberation I decided  to brew a pale ale.

 Oktoberfest:

10lbs Pilsner Malt 

8lbs Munich Malt

6lbs Vienna Malt 

2lbs Caramunich Malt

85g Hallertauer [4%AA] 60 Min

28g Hallertauer [4%AA] 20 Min

Wyeast 2124 Boheian Lager Yeast 

Mash at 151

Ferment at 50F(10C) for 2 weeks, Lager at 30.2(-1C) for 8 weeks.

OG: 1.060

FG: 1.016

ABV: 5.8

IBU: 27.2 

*This recipe is straight out of Brewing Classic Styles. 

Pale Ale:

18lbs 2-Row 

2lbs White Wheat

1.5lbs Munich 

1.5lbs Victory 

20g CTZ [15.2AA] 60min

28g Amarillo [9.2AA]5min

28g Cascade [6.2AA]5min

14g Citra [11.4AA]5min

28g Amarillo [9.2AA]0min

28g Cascade [6.2AA]0min

14g Citra [11.4AA]0min

28g Amarillo Dry Hop for 6 Days 

28g Citra Dry Hop for 6 Days

28g Cascade Dry Hop for 6 Days.

White Labs 001 

Mash at 150 

I went pretty light on the bitterness in this beer.  I realize that most people that are going to be at my wedding are not beer fanatics as I am. I also took a fairly light approach with the dry hop for this beer, again to make it more approachable.  Its on the low side for IBU's at 29. It has an OG of 1.059 and a FG of 1.009.  6.6% abv. 

Cheers, 

~Ben