Putting out some feelers

[FedoraDave]

I mentioned that my daughter just got engaged. I may have mentioned that her fiance would like me to brew a special beer as a gift for his groomsmen. I have until late summer 2015 to do this, and I intend to talk to him about it Saturday, since we're going to be taking them out for dinner.

But I'm going to suggest a black IPA and see what he thinks. Originally, I was going to suggest an IIPA, but I've never made a beer that high before, so I'm a little reluctant. It's not out of the question, though. At any rate, I'll be relying on The Borg a lot throughout the R&D on this recipe.

Thinking of calling it "Groomsman's Pride".

[Beer-lord]

Just my thoughts but unless they are craft beer drinkers, they might not like either the black or the double IPA (though I would)

But, as you say, you have tons of time to perfect the recipe to your/their liking and that's where the real fun begins.

[FrozenInTime]

I'm thinking a nice, light, crisp amber or blonde ale myself. Something easy drinking non home-brewers could easily accept.

[russki]

I would personally recommend a nice Belgian Strong - Golden or Dark. They are complex beers that age well, and appeal to a broader audience than IPAs...

[BlackDuck]

If you do decide to do an IPA or an IIPA, don't fear that you've "never made a beer that high before". The process is exactly the same as brewing a "smaller" beer. It just has more grain and more hops, that's all. Everything else is the same. So, if you go with either one of these styles, don't fret, you can do it. Don't let the "size" of the beer scare you.

[Inkleg]

Talk to your Son-In-Law to be, and find out what beer he/they would like. We know that YOU are a accomplished brewer. We can help you with ANY style he would like.

If he makes your daughter happy, we want you to be happy with the beer you present to make him happy.

[FedoraDave]

They're pretty educated in craft beers, from what I understand. I know my future son-in-law is, and I have a vague recollection that IPAs were mentioned. I should be able to nail it down a little better this weekend.

[Inkleg]

Just let us know Dave, we're up for the challenge. Plus for the beers crap we're off the hook and you take all the blame.

With all kidding aside though, I know how important this is to you. Making beer for my daughters wedding was 20 gallons of the most stressful brewing moments of my life. In the end, I beat myself up over nothing. But as brewers that is what we do, we are our own worst critics.

[haerbob3]

I agree with Russki a nice Belgium. All a "big beer" needs is the right yeast (alcohol tolerance), excellent aeration (I prefer using O2) and a bit more time for the beasties to party. I would go AG on this with a low mash temp 148 - 150 & a sugar feeding.

[FedoraDave]

Everything depends on what The Mike (my daughter's name for him) recommends. And I do believe I have enough time to do a test batch. Even with some extended conditioning time, I'd be making the actual batch some time in March, 2015.

[Root Skier]

I have two good friends getting married soon (May and June) and I need to come up with something to make for them really quick. Both are fine craft beer drinkers. I asked one of them what he'd like and he had suggested I invent the "Quint" which I guess would be the next step above a Quad.

How difficult is making a Triple?

[mashani]

@Root: Tripels can be pretty straight forward and simple to make. You can find crazy recipies with all sorts of crap in them, but they are better (IMHO) as simpler beers. Same with Strong Goldens. (they are really just tripels with more sugar so they have an even lighter body). If you want help making one just ask, I can help, BigPapaG can, and so can haerbob3 as well as other folks here. The process is mostly just about making your yeast very happy. Because that's what makes those beers what they are.

@FedoraDave: It depends on the audience and how mixed they are from a "what they like" standpoint, but a lager or clean ale yeast fermented amber Biere de Garde might be good too. Not as strong as a tripel or quad, but strong enough to age well. Not going to be "too bitter" like an IIPA for non craft beer types. Will still be interesting enough to please craft beer types with a blend of malt flavors. Even if brewing up an IIPA, brewing something like that too would give a totally different yet interesting option, and one that would not be offensive to anyone due to strong yeast or hop flavors, yet still not quite like anything they've had before.

[FedoraDave]

Well, we met with the kids yesterday, and I talked to The Mike about what styles his groomsmen might like, and when I mentioned a black IPA, the light bulb went off, and he nodded and said, "Yeah, that sounds like something they'd like."

So, Groomsmen's Pride will be a black IPA.

In the interest of research, once we got back home, I ran out to Cable Beverage and bought a mixer-sixer, in which I included Clown Shoes Black IPA and Widmer Black IPA. The other four are not black IPAs, but I had to fill out the six-pack.

I'm less concerned with the hops bill, assuming I'll use Centennial throughout, with maybe some Northern Brewer thrown into the flavor boil. I'm mostly interested in the specialty malts, because I want some good but subtle roasted/coffee/caramel flavors to be lurking in the background to pop up and surprise the taster now and then with that "hello!" sensation you sometimes get from these types of dark beers. Biscuit is definitely called for, also.

Fortunately, I have time to make a test batch or even two. The wedding won't be until the end of summer 2015.

Stay tuned, Hat fans.

[BlackDuck]

As for the specialty malts...look into Midnight Wheat. Paul and I have both used it in Black IPA's and we both like it. it will give you that nice dark color without giving you the heavy roasted/chocolate flavor if you use it lightly in your malt bill. In fact, Paul is using some in his Ace of Spades he posted about yesterday.

Good luck Dave....whatever recipe you decide on, I'm sure it will be a great beer for a great celebration.

[FedoraDave]

Thanks, Duck. I'll be asking the guy at the LHBS, too. Maybe even bring him samples when I make test batches.