BeerBorg

So, as I mentioned in another post, the fiance and I are getting married at a brewery to celebrate our love for beer as well as our love for each other. Mmmm... beeeeeer... *stares dreamily into distance*

We want to incorporate beer into our ceremony, and were planning on some sort of Unity Beer thing. A lot of couples do unity candles, where they each light a candle, and then use those two candles to light a larger "union" candle. Or unity sand, where they each pour a different color of sand into a jar, creating a mixture that cannot be separated. Blah blah blah....

So my thinking with the Unity Beer was that we could each pour a different beer into a single pint glass, to create a unique (better?) brew of which we would then each take a sip (gulp gulp gulp). Symbolic of two individuals becoming better once they are together. We may also have the officiant say something about how the ingredients of beer (water, barley, hops, and yeast) are simple on their own, but when carefully combined, they produce a wonderful beverage. And relationships are like that in many ways.

I have two questions for all of you...

(1) Do you have any suggestions for two different beers we could use for this ceremony that would taste really great mixed together? Of course there is the standard Black And Tan, but are there any others?
(2) Alternatively, do you have any ideas of other ways to incorporate beer into the ceremony?

I look forward to hearing your ideas and suggestions!

Well, first of all, the 'Unity Glass' needs to be big... Real big.

Like... Big...

Something like this...

That's a lot of beer!

Find a company that can etch something beautiful on it re: your union...

Of course, you will need to pour from 750ml bombers to fill it enough...

Maybe two IPA's or two different Wheat styles, or maybe two different Belgians...

If you go light and dark, my fear is it will come out more dark than not, whch would not invoke equality in the union... So stay with beers of similar SRM ratings...

And then perhaps a personalized beer glass for each of the bridal party... (or at least the groomsmen)...

Something like these...

Personalized 22oz Beer Glasses

Wow, you're asking a forum of guys about mushy stuff? When you said ideas about beer, 1/2 of them are going to suggest a his and her belching contest, with the winner the one's able to detect what kind of hops were in the beer that created the belch, and then recommend BeerRoma therapy... Or the best men could have a chugging contest, and then one of the bridesmaids (or in this case maybe the bride) beating the socks off of them...

Beyond Black and Tan I'm no help, but if you do Black and Tan you should have someone that knows how to make one, i.e. pouring the black over the spoon as they twirl it, creating the ribbon of black in the tan - showing that each of you is now throughout the other's soul...

You could get engraved glasses. One says Evily, one says "Bob", and then a third one says "Bevily" or Evilob".

When we got married (many moons ago), there was no craft beer (at least to us). We got married by a Justice of the Peace (because of many issues including in-laws wanting no alcohol, different religions, parents getting divorced...) with 15 people, then went to dinner at a nice restaurant. Three months later my in-laws threw us a reception, and there was in fact a bar. I went up and asked for a beer, and they said "are you the groom". I said yes, and they pulled a case of Heineken out from under the bar where it was packed in ice, with a note on it - "GROOM ONLY". Made my day.

LOVE the giant beer glass! That is perfect! Also, thanks for the beer mixing suggestions. We both love IPAs, so maybe we will mix two different IPAs. Equality and deliciousness!

His and her belching contest? I'm in! But maybe not during the ceremony. We'll save that for the reception. And I have no doubt a beer chugging contest will occur at some point during the evening.

We're a pretty nontraditional couple, so we are definitely open to new and different (and fun) ideas. We don't have bridesmaids or groomsmen (we hate the whole idea of having to choose favorites among our friends, and then making those so-called "favorite" people spend money on lame outfits they'll only be able to wear once). But if we did, we'd totally do the personalized beer glasses. How appropriate!

Great ideas, keep 'em coming!

DAS BOOTS for everyone.

Find out if your local brewery will brew up a special wedding batch of beer. My son-in-law had made arrangements to have a keg of 'hoppily ever after' ale from a local craft brewer at the reception, when he married my oldest daughter. It was very tasty!

That's a neat idea!

Here's my contribution, for what it's worth, along with my reasons.

I'd suggest a malty style and a lighter, but somewhat aggressively-hopped style. Say, a bock and a pale ale. You don't want to go to extremes with either one of these, lest one overshadow the other, or lest the blending doesn't actually ... well ... blend.

So you'd have the sweetness of the bock blending with the sharpness of the pale ale, creating a union that is both, as befits a marriage relationship. And it creates something new and unique, yet pleasing, and still retaining the best of both individuals.

Of course, you'd need to run some tests first to see if the result is going to be palatable, but I think something like this could work.

Okay resident female here so I have to offer a gushy, mushy suggestion but still on the beer theme.

As it is your wedding day and the Beginning of your new lives together I am thinking that you don't mix a finished beer at the ceremony but start a new one.

How about something like you present him with the wort and he pitches the yeast so you are joining together to complete an age old ritual as a symbol of mutual cooperation and understanding
which will with care and patience provide joy and sustenance to you both.

Think fancy fermenting vessel and a rare/old/historic yeast strain to brew an old/historically wedding oriented beer style; and you might have to explain all that in writing if you are going to have a wedding program.

Just a thought to throw out ala channeling my lovely mother.

But they won't be able to drink it until after the honeymoon!

FedoraDave wrote:But they won't be able to drink it until after the honeymoon!

JEEEZ GUYS

That was exactly the mushy point Dave they create as they join..... oh jeez I'm not even going to bother....

Doing a beer mixing is a cool idea. And poor you, you will have to try many different beers with other beers to find a good mix. Research in this area will certainly be tedious...

Thank you for the beer mixing suggestion, Dave! Great points on mixing flavors!

Brewbirds, I had actually considered mixing up a brew at the ceremony (the symbolism there is great), BUT I cannot figure out how to accomplish this, logistically speaking. With an outdoor ceremony in August, it is likely to be too warm for pitching yeast. And how and when to make the wort? Did I mention this wedding is 2.5 hours from where we live? I love this idea, but I just don't know how to implement it without ending up with a ruined batch of beer (either due to temps or having to wait too long to pitch yeast, or both).

I am open to suggestions!

Oh, and for sure, we will do many trials of beer mixing to optimize flavor!

fruit lambic (kriek or framboise) + Belgian strong ale (tripel or quad preferrably)! It'll be something different from a black n tan and get ya ready for the party after the "i do's"!

but i like BB1's idea a lot too!

Okay here's how I'm seeing this:

You ask for a large Yeti ice chest for a wedding present, and get it early, make the wort and put it in the stone crock and refrigerate it, when its time to leave you put it and the yeast starter in the ice chest with frozen water bottles, the crock should stay cool.
On wedding day Father of the bride walks down the aisle and places the barrel before you, Bridesmaid presents you with the crock of wort and Bridegroom presents hubby the yeast starter, you fill the barrel from the crock he pitches the yeast and seals the bung, the cask goes into the Yeti for the ride home and VIOLA.
I can't find a pretty amphora like vessel to put the yeast starter in so you'd have to do some shopping.


http://www.groomstand.com/products/spec ... key-barrel

http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products ... tion-crock

Oh and someone will have to be in charge of the thermometer and pitching temps.

BEER WEDDING!!!

Brewbirds wrote:he pitches the yeast and seals the bung

Never mind.