Brewing for Special Occasions
Toasting a special occasion with an adult beverage of your
choice is a time-honored tradition. Homebrewers, of course, have the advantage
of toasting their special events with really special beverages — homemade ones.
But some homebrewers take it to the next level, creating
special versions of their favorite homebrews expressly for an important
celebration. What better way to breathe life into a party? If the brew tastes
good, your skeptical guests will be amazed. It gives everyone something to talk
about and something to smile about.
And if you really want to impress your guests, take the time
to make a commemorative label. That’s the icing on the cake and provides an
instant memento of the occasion.
Tips For A Successful Celebration Brew
1. Pick an approachable recipe: This may rankle the sense of
adventuresome beer selection that you have finely honed during your years as a
homebrewer. But with that caveat, consider your audience.
If you’re brewing for any party attended by a complement of
regular folk, consider making them regular beer. That does not mean American
light pilsner. Sure, make it tasty, malty, and even a bit hoppy. But if your
favorite homebrew is orange-coriander-raspberry-banana-oregano-hemp-chocolate
weizen, you might want to consider an alternate recipe.
Consider the ramifications of serving a beer that’s above
and beyond the crude tastebuds of those mere mortals who do not practice the brewer’s
art. At best they will really love it and praise you as a god — that’s actually
happened on at least one occasion. But if you brew them a concoction that makes
them flee at top speed from fear, you have not done your guests of honor,
yourself, or your hobby any favors. So remember the KISS rule. Keep It Simple!
2. Consider kegging: If you are planning to supply the beer
for the party — not just brew souvenirs, it’s easier to deal with double- and
triple-size batches if you have made the jump to kegging your own. However, if
your aim is to enhance the existing commercial selection of beers on hand, then
bottling is appropriate. Of course bottling is de rigueur if you plan to make a
commemorative label.
3. Make a commemorative label: Labeling your homebrew is
great fun. It’s especially fun for special occasions, when you can decorate a brew with photos
and dates appropriate to the occasion.
Beer labels are made in nearly every computer platform
available. But do not be discouraged if you are not a
computer head. Make one nice label by hand, pasting in photos and other
graphics, then have photocopies made for the commemorative brew.
You can use milk for a label adhesive if your bottles are
going to stay dry at the party. Just dip the label in some milk, position it on
a dry, room-temperature bottle, and smooth it down. After a few hours it will
be stuck fast. However, if you plan to immerse your bottles in ice at the
celebration, the water will remove the milk-glue labels. For wet environments
you should use rubber cement, mounting spray, or some other glue that’s not
water soluble.
Also consider the type of printer and inks you use for
labels if you plan to ice the bottles down.
You don’t have to stop at labels. Beer mats are also easy to
make with a simple computer program or by hand. You can also create small cards
that describe the beer in terms of style and flavor as a fun way to educate your
guests about what they will be drinking.
4. Plan the Presentation: Don’t put bottles of beer in front
of people unless you expect them to drink it. Read on.
Hot Wort
Walt Lewis of Huntington, W. Va., made a batch of beer for
Father’s Day. It almost never made it to the bottle because while it was
fermenting, his house caught fire!
“It was 4th of July and I had taken the kids to an
arts-and-crafts fair about three hours from home. During the fair, I heard my
name called on the PA system. When I went to investigate, the front office told
me to call my neighbor, John Van Horn. I asked if there was a pay phone nearby.
They said ‘call from here,’ not caring that it was long distance. I figured
someone was dead!
“I got John’s wife, Cathy, on the line. She told me not to
panic, but my house was on fire. I remember her saying, ‘The firemen are here.
It’s under control, so don’t drive home like a maniac!’
“Some wiring had shorted out in the kitchen ceiling. The
fire started there and crept across the kitchen, unsoldering pipes along the
way. That contributed to the water
damage. By the time I got home, the firemen had come and gone and neighbor John
had been working like a dog getting the water out of my house and cleaning up.
The damage was bad, but the good news is that nobody was hurt and we did not
lose a single important or sentimental possession. Not one!”
Including the fermenting beer. Lewis was able to finish the
ferment. “It started out Father’s Day Pale Ale. After the fire we started
calling it House Fire, Fire Brewed, True Smoked Beer — lots of puns, but we
weren’t really serious about naming it.” Drinking it was higher on the agenda.
But now they have a jump on naming the beer brewed for the fire’s anniversary.
Fathers Day Pale Ale
(5 gallons, extract and grains)
Ingredients
• 8 lbs. Alexander’s extra light liquid extract
• 1 lb. extra light dry extract
• 1.5 lbs. crystal malt
• 1 oz. Fuggle hops, for 60 min.
• 4 oz. Cascade hops, 0.75 oz. for 30 min., 1.25 oz. for 15
min., 1 oz. during cooling, 1 oz. for dry hop
• Ale yeast (such as Wyeast 1056 or 1272)
• 3/4 cup corn sugar for priming
Step by Step:
Wrap grains in a straining bag and steep in 160° F water for
20 min. Remove grain, add extract, and bring to a boil. Add 1 oz. Fuggles and boil 30 min. Add 0.75 oz. Cascades and boil 15 min. more. Add 1.25 oz. Cascades and boil 15 min. more. Total boil is 60 min. Strain wort over 1 oz. Cascades as a “hopback.” Chill and pitch yeast. Dry
hop in the fermenter with 1 oz. Cascades. Bottle with corn sugar or keg.
Do You Want a Beer? I Do.
A wedding and a special homebrew is a match made in heaven
(even if the bride and groom are not). Sure, you’ll be under some pressure to
perform, but hey, no one will expect your beer to last nearly as long as the
marriage.
If by some stroke of bad luck it turns out to be the worst
beer ever made in the history of the world, you can always scrap the plans at
the last minute and roll in some barrels of commercial stuff.
And if it’s good, prepare to really wow ’em.
“You made this beer? You’re a god,” was the comment from one
guest, a college pal of the bride and groom at the wedding of Kate McDougall
and Trevor Jones. Kate is the daughter of homebrewer John McDougall of
Rochester, Minn. “That was the best quote I recall,” says John, who was
inspired to brew for Kate’s special day by his other daughter.
“She went to a wedding where they served bad mead and
challenged me to make some decent brew for Kate. I considered mead, since I
also keep bees and they make lots of honey. But in the end I decided to do a
‘Caledonian Lager’ in honor of our heritage. The groom wore a kilt, by the way,
and a piper from MacAlister College played for the ceremony,” he says.
Kate’s day was a beautiful sunny one in June. McDougall made
10 gallons of beer, enhancing a selection including commercial beer, private
label cabernet sauvignon, and California chardonnay. “My beer was gone long
before the other stuff. I wish I had made more. Even the wine drinkers were
repeat samplers. It was an unqualified success and it sure made old Dad feel
good,” McDougall recalls.
“The groom, too, loved the beer. We approve mightily of
him!” he says.
Caledonian Lager
(10 gallons, all-grain)
McDougall admits his beer is Caledonian only in name. It’s
more of a German-style lager.
Ingredients
• 16 lbs. Durst pilsner malt
• 2 lbs. American Vienna malt
• 5 oz. Hallertauer Hersbrucker (3.2% alpha acid), 1.5 oz.
for 60 min., 1.5 oz. for 30 min., 1.5 oz. for 15 min., 0.5 oz. for 3 min.
• 6 oz. Saaz hops (3.1% alpha acid), 2.5 oz. for 60 min., 2
oz. for 15 min., 1.5 oz. for 3 min.
• Wyeast 1007
Step by Step
Mash at 130° F for 30 min., then raise to 156° F via
decoction. Sparge to collect 12 gal. and bring to a boil. Add 1.5 oz.
Hallertauer Hersbrucker and 2.5 oz. Saaz hops. Boil for 30 min. Add 1.5 oz.
Hersbrucker and boil another 15 min. Add 1.5 oz. Hersbrucker and 2 oz. Saaz
hops and boil for 12 min. Add another 0.5 oz. Hersbrucker and 1.5 oz. Saaz and
boil 3 min. more. Total boil is 60 min. Cool and pitch yeast. Ferment at 55° F. Gradually lower temperature in secondary
to 34° F over five weeks. Prime and bottle or keg according to your usual
technique.
Wedding Wheat
Ron Wrucke of Middletown, N.J., brewed up a batch of wheat
beer for the wedding of his youngest daughter, Stacy.
“The wedding was, from my perspective, a monster. Big, lots
of invitations, young partying crowd. Of course we invited some old people, but
the partying adjective still applied,” says Wrucke.
He made a batch of American Wheat. “I wanted something
fairly light — dark brews seem to intimidate the ‘Silver Bullet’ crowd — yet a
little different than the norm. I used regular ale yeast for a regular beer
taste without cloves or bananas. I also kept the bittering level pretty low, in
the mid-20s. To me it was a little bland, but it was a good choice considering
the target audience.”
To ensure it was well conditioned in time for the wedding,
Wrucke allowed eight weeks in the bottle. “It was pretty clear, for a wheat,
and poured up with a nice head. In retrospect it was an excellent brew,” he
says.
Wrucke learned an important lesson in special-event brewing:
Don’t put beer in front of people unless you want them to drink it. Afraid the
beer would be less than a hit, he envisioned having stacks of it left over
after the wedding. He tried
to give away the first round as party favors at the Friday
night groom’s dinner. His plan was for folks to take it home, chill it, and
enjoy it at their convenience.
“I stood up to tell them about homebrew, how to pour it to
avoid sediment, use a glass, don’t pour it all.
“Next thing I know, someone pulled out a Swiss army knife,
popped the top, and took a big swig from the bottle. He pronounced ‘Hey, this
is great stuff,’” Wrucke laughs. With that went his well-laid party-favor
plans. “I don’t think any of those bottles left the restaurant with their tops
on. And the brew wasn’t even cold!”
Wrucke served the rest of the beer — properly chilled — at
the post-reception party, held in a hotel room. “They must have liked it
because by the end of the night, it was all gone,” he says.
On Sunday Wrucke and his wife got their first chance to
relax. “There was one beer left, in my kitchen fridge. I made motions toward it
and my wife said, ‘Don’t you dare drink that. I’m saving it.’ It’s still
sitting in the fridge. One of these days I’m going to drink it, fill the bottle
with water, and recap it!” Wrucke says.
Wedding Wheat
(5 gallons, extract and wheat)
Ingredients
• 9 oz. crushed malted wheat
• 6.6 lbs. Muntons Wheat Extract
• 2 oz. Hallertauer hop pellets (3.1% alpha acid), for 60 min.
• 1 oz. Tettnanger hop pellets (3.1% alpha acid), for 15
min.
• 1 oz. Fuggle hop pellets, for 1 min.
• 1 Tbsp. Irish moss, for 15 min.
• 2 packages Muntons dry yeast
• 7/8 cup corn sugar for priming
Step by Step
Wrap the crushed wheat and steep in 2.5 gals. water at 160°
F for 30 min. Remove grains, add extract, and bring to a boil. Add Hallertauer
hops and boil 45 min. Add Tettnanger hops and Irish moss and boil 14 min. Add
Fuggle hops and boil 1 min. more. Total boil is 60 min. Chill and pitch yeast.
Bottle with corn sugar.
Beer College
Father and son brewers Bill and Bryan Raughley of Fairfax
County, Va., brewed a batch of ale when Bill’s second son, Chris, graduated
from Virginia Tech.
“It was actually Dad’s idea, but I agreed immediately and we
went to work,” Bryan says. They made a batch of their ESB but toned down the
hops a bit. “We did this for Chris’ sake. He does not like hoppy beer. He’s
more of a raspberry wheat kind of guy, so we tweaked our recipe to his liking.
“The cool thing about making beer for a special event is
that it introduces the idea of homebrewing to people who may not have ever
heard about it otherwise. Some of the people who tried Chris’ beer were amazed
that beer could be made at home. People who never gave it any thought never
realized how much effort goes in to even the average can of beer. And they
liked it!”
Bryan says his brother enjoyed the whole experience. “Chris
really appreciated that Dad and I took the time and effort to make him a batch
of brew. A custom beer — sporting Chris’ mugshot on the bottles — really let
him know that he was the center of attention for the day.”
Professor Raughley’s Brain Beer
(5 gallons, extract and grains)
Ingredients
• 3.3 lbs. Muntons light malt extract
• 3.3 lbs. Muntons amber malt extract
• 8 oz. crushed crystal malt
• 1 oz. chocolate malt, cracked and roasted until aromatic
• 0.5 oz. Fuggle hop pellets, for 60 min.
• 1 oz. Northern brewer pellets, 0.5 oz. for 60 min., 0.5
oz. for 15 min.
• 1 tsp. Irish moss, for 15 min.
• Muntons Dry Ale Yeast
• 3/4 cup corn sugar for priming
Step by Step
Tie grains in a straining bag and steep in your brewpot in
160° F water for 20 min. Remove grains, add extracts, and bring to a boil. Add
the Fuggles and 0.5 oz. Northern Brewer. Boil 45 min. Add another 0.5 oz.
Northern Brewer and Irish moss. Boil 15 min. more. Total boil is 60 min. Chill
to 50° to 60° F, pitch, and ferment. Bottle after fermentation is complete,
using corn sugar to prime.
Fish Tales
Bill Vannerson of McHenry, Ill., is not just a homebrewer
but a lover of tropical fish.This past Memorial Day, Vannerson went to a
tropical fish convention in St. Louis hosted by the AKA, the American Killifish
Association.
“Killifish are colorful little fish that are rarely seen in
pet stores. They are distributed among hobbyists by people who collect them in
the wild, sometimes in remote jungles and savannas.
“Most collectors trade fish for fish. But when I wanted to
get started with killifish, I had none to trade, so I made a deal to trade some
fish for some homebrew, Bombay Billy’s India Pale Ale,” says Vannerson.
“The person with whom I had arranged the trade is from
Syracuse. He ended up sharing my beer with other members of his local killifish
club, the Upper New York Killifish Association (UNYKA). They were ecstatic!
