Weddingbee Blog

Mr. Cannon has been very excited about the opportunity to brew beer for our wedding. He got into brewing three or four years ago when I bought him a fancy starter kit from Homebrewers Outpost and a few books on the subject for Valentine’s Day. We have brewed together ever since, and I dare say I believe we’ve gotten better at it over the years. I will say Mr. Cannon is way more into brewing than I am, although for some strange reason it always seems like the beers I brew turn out better. Maybe I just add more love or it needs a woman’s touch or something. That’s obviously total crap, but my beers do tend to be the best for whatever reason. (Yes, I’m totally bragging here!)

Most brewing supply stores offer all-grain, partial mash, and malt extract beer kits in addition to a variety of individualized grains, hops, and yeasts so you have the option to design your own beer or follow an already proven design.

Mr. Cannon and are wusses (although he is branching out more) and usually use kits. Malt extract beer kits are kind of the training wheels of the beer making community. They are the easiest and least time consuming to do because the malts have already been extracted. Mr. Cannon has done partial mashes and dreams of doing all-grain now that we finally have a home with enough room to house the necessary equipment. Unfortunately, we haven’t dropped the cash on the all-grain equipment yet since all of our money is currently being thrown into the inferno that we affectionately refer to as The Wedding, so we decided to do a malt extract kit for our wedding brews.

We each decided to brew a different beer. Mr. Cannon picked a Pale Ale kit, and I picked a kit that is near and dear to my heart—the Dark Cherry Stout Extract kit with Specialty Grains from Northern Brewer. I made this same beer when I was pregnant with Cherry Bomb so that it could be a celebration beer when she was born. It was the first alcohol I consumed after the long drought that is pregnancy, and I have a lot of happy memories associated with it. Making it for our wedding will only increase my affection for it, and I imagine I will brew it many more times in the future.

Mr. Cannon tasting the beer I made when I was pregnant with Cherry Bomb

Brewing beer is pretty easy. The biggest, most important thing is to make sure everything is super clean and sanitized because bacteria and germs will ruin your beer. I am terrible at this part and hate it, because it’s boring. It’s just scrubbing and sanitizing. Luckily, Mr. Cannon usually does the sanitation stuff I hate, so I don’t have to worry about it. (Yay, teamwork!) Then you heat up your grains, add your malt, boil your wort with your hops and cool it all down. Once it’s cool enough, you add your water and yeast and let it all ferment for a few weeks. After that, just bottle it, give it time to carbonate and tah-dah! You have yourself a tasty brew.

Honestly, anyone can do it. It takes a bit of an initial investment, but it’s fun and not too complicated. Of course, you’re never quite sure of how it’s going to turn out until you taste it, so if you’re brewing for your wedding you want to give yourself time in case it doesn’t go well. (If your brew gets contaminated it can create some funky tastes or even exploding bottles!) Also, I would recommend doing a few practice batches before you do one for a special event just so you kind of know what you’re doing.

So easy, I can do it with one hand while looking super dorky!

Most major cities have a brewing supply store of some sort. You can find one near you on beermapping.com (where I also search for brewpubs to visit when I’m traveling!). Most brewing supply stores have a knowledgeable staff who absolutely love talking about home brewing and can give you tons of advice. Don’t be afraid to admit you’re a beginner—everyone starts somewhere and most brewers just love beer and are more than happy to help you with any questions you have or issues you might be facing. I still consider myself a novice and enjoy learning new things from experienced brewers.

So hive, are there any super brewers out there who can throw out some better advice? Or is there anyone out there brewing something special for their wedding?