National Homebrew Club Ireland

I've been asked to brew for a family event, a which will consist of 95% non craft beer drinkers. Just wondering if anyone has opinions on what style would suit best for that sort of crowd?  I have about 5 weeks to brew and will be kegging. Initial thoughts are Vienna Lager or something similar.

I'd probably stick with a pale ale.
It'll mature in time and no stressing about lagering etc.

Done loads of these now
How many at event?
Blonde ale 5% you want it medium body, dry hop a second batch
Appeals to lager and ale drinkers
Can you serve out of kegs, most don't know what bottle conditioning is.
Add a stout if you want to go mad

Nice simple wheat beer is an easy one to turn around and most people have tried them before.

Oatmeal stout gives that silkiness and lasting head that the Guinness drinkers would be looking for if your doing a stout too.

Not sure how many will be there but only have time/capacity for one keg. It's a kids birthday party so won't be a huge session anyway  :)

Blonde ale might be a good shout. I find some people don't like pale ales, even with only low/moderate bitterness. Any go-to recipes for a blonde? Just had a look on homebrewtalk and the centennial blonde seems to have some good reviews.

I'd love to do a stout or oatmeal stout but I think it might scare some people off, especially since I can only do one keg. Would love to have 2 on the go, cos then I'd do the stout.

Wheat is definitely another option and crowd pleaser but I find them boring enough myself.

Here's a nice simple one mash 66, numbers are for double batch, you can use Nottingham either at 17-18 for a clean finish

(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170116/0d40a5e04cc427d72067323b9cd7bbf2.jpg)

I'd go with a Kolsch.

Quote from: Qs on January 16, 2017, 11:09:51 PM
I'd go with a Kolsch.

5 weeks is too short to do a proper clean Kolsch.

Realistically I'm only going to have 3-4 weeks depending on when I get a chance to brew. So something with a quick turnaround is best. I reckon I'm going to go with that blonde ale, cheers for the recipe CH

I had to do this over the summer. I was asked to produce a lager in 5 weeks. Yeh obviously that's tricky. I used a hybrid yeast at ale temps with a known lager recipe I had. I went with the quick lagering method and force carbed. It turned out surprisingly well. I wouldn't enter it into a competition but it was also an acceptable drop!

I'd do an American Blonde/wheat. Use some Vienna or Munich for some extra flavour to keep things interesting. For hops, a little hint of Citra or Amarillo for some fruitiness. Just keep the bitterness low.

The Vienna lager I had in mind was going to be done with 34/70 at ale temps too.

Looks like blonde ale is the winner though. Have some Mosaic and Azacca in the freezer and I know my previous Mosaic beers were well received by family. Could swap out the late cascade for those in the recipe above maybe?

Be very careful guys about putting in hops the hop qtys above are for 50l batch
You really only want a trace for heino or carlsberg drinkers, think watered down HH13, the smallest presence will have people running a mile

Quote from: nigel_c on January 17, 2017, 09:36:12 AM

Quote from: Qs on January 16, 2017, 11:09:51 PM
I'd go with a Kolsch.

5 weeks is too short to do a proper clean Kolsch.

You could knock out a good Kolsch in 3 weeks handy enough unless you had to bottle. It'll settle in no time with a bit of gelatin.

Quote from: Qs on January 17, 2017, 12:15:40 PM

You could knock out a good Kolsch in 3 weeks handy enough

:P ;)

WLP 029 kolsch yeast actually tastes pretty nasty. It really needs to drop completely clear and 4-5 weeks as cold as you can get it to get rid of it. Beautiful beer and would be a perfect one for the occasion if more time was available.
Notty at a lower temp will also give and near lager final product.

Would a NEIPA be outrageous?  :P

I have all the ingredients here and need to use them soon, it'd be killing two birds with one stone. Only problem is that I've never tasted one so don't know how suitable it'd be. If consensus is that's a bad call then I'm gonna buy ingredients for the blonde tomorrow and brew the NEIPA the end of next month.

No different to serving sheeps eyeballs, you might love em but not everybody does
Think of it more as a test to show those closest to you that you brew good beer, bad news is its gotta be bland in homebrew terms but focus on the quality and do it well, do a second or dry hop a portion for yourself and those adventurous enough to try it.

If you are to serve non believers I'd avoid the Sunnny D looking beers and try to make something that resembles something they'd recognise. Keep the mad hop bombs ones for yourself.  ;)

I had to make a Guinness clone before my friends suddenly thought I could brew. Then they started trying my other stuff and going "hey, this is kinda good!"

People like what they know a lot of the time.

I think a lot of people will actually like citrusy hop flavour given the chance but it usually comes with a lot of bitterness. I make a beer for my wife that uses loads of late citra but only has 25ish IBUs. Very light grist too just pale malt, 3/4% wheat, 2-4% 10-20L crystal depending on what I have handy.

I find any beer with a bit of colour or bitterness puts off the non-craft drinker.

Centennial Blonde is a great one for family events like this.  I brewed it last year for a party and it went down well with all. Very easy to make too

Quote from: Qs on January 18, 2017, 11:26:28 AM
I think a lot of people will actually like citrusy hop flavour given the chance but it usually comes with a lot of bitterness. I make a beer for my wife that uses loads of late citra but only has 25ish IBUs. Very light grist too just pale malt, 3/4% wheat, 2-4% 10-20L crystal depending on what I have handy.

I find any beer with a bit of colour or bitterness puts off the non-craft drinker.

There is a really weird thing that I keep hearing from non craft beer drinkers that they associate bitterness with Abv, I think it's to do with the bodies natural pre-disposition to reject anything bitter as being bad and they associate the bitterness to alcohol content aka spirits.
In any case another reason for serving piss water I'm afraid, do have a second beer to stretch or educate them though, they'll be gagging for hops at next years event

I wonder if a NEIPA with very little in the 60 min addition would be a hit. Obviously the look of it will be offputting but the fruity taste I'd imagine would be quite popular. Not that I'd waste all those hops on some no-nothing Heino drinkers.

Cream ale.. 4 week turn around.. All beer drinkers will find something they like about it