Wedding Season: 5 Beers Every Open Bar Wedding Should Have

​It’s getting warmer in Indiana and summer is quickly approaching. That signals the start of two things: craft beer festivals and wedding season. 

I’ve already been to one of each this spring. As much as I’d love a wedding with a craft beer festival as a reception, I would happily settle for a few options that are not a macro light beer. 

As a state, and really as a nation, we’ve grown out of Macro beer of the last five years. We have over 100 breweries in Indiana, and you can find people from all generations at your local breweries and festivals, enjoying craft beer. So, if we can’t have a craft beer festival as a wedding reception, let’s at least appease everyone, including the craft beer lover, and serve these five beers:

Plus, it was my gateway to craft beer. And you can have the bartenders add an orange slice, and the macro drinkers will find it’s similar to Blue Moon.

2. Sun King Brewing - Sunlight Cream Ale 
You can find this beer almost everywhere in Indiana that sells beer. It’s available at Lucas Oil Stadium for Colts games and Banker’s Life Fieldhouse for Pacers games. It’s quickly becoming one of the most approachable beers for anyone that is slowly working their way into craft beer. If you are typically a macro beer drinker, then you can probably get by with this and be happy.

3. Three Floyds Brewing - Zombie Dust
Every party needs a good pale ale, and this one will catch the attention of most craft beer drinkers. It is a great beer and will surely satisfy the hop heads at your party. It’s difficult to find unless you go to the brewery, so your guests will appreciate the effort you put in to make the day memorable for them as well.
 
Let’s pause for a second to reflect on the three beers above. You have a solid selection of beer, with a ton of name recognition, and beers that should satisfy a majority of your reception guests. So, with the last two beers, you can offer beers that are a little more unique and cover the remainder of your guest’s desires.

4. Taxman Brewing - Deduction 
An excellent Belgian Dubbel made in Bargersville, Indiana. I’m being a little selfish with this one since I love Belgian beers and pretty much everything Taxman brews. However, Belgian beers are typically very approachable—they are dry, somewhat hoppy, a little fruity, and finish sweet. They basically cover everything you could want in a beer.

5. Quaff ON! Brewing - Common Necessity on Nitro 
Enough with the “light” beers. It isn’t a party unless we have a rich, thick, creamy stout. And Common Necessity, a milk stout with hints of coffee, fits perfectly, especially on nitro.

Ok, that’s the open bar portion. There will inevitably be a series of speeches and toasts. And for that, I recommend we place one bomber of Bier Brewery Sanitarium on each table. It recently won a gold medal at the Great American Beer Festival AND The Brewers Association 2016 World Beer Cup!

So, that’s the five beers I’d like to see at the open bar weddings I attend. Did I miss one? Do you disagree? Let me know in the comments.