Only Beer

KristyIan11

My brother is head brewer at a micro-brewery and is willing to provide all the beer we could want for the reception. He would have a good variety of dark and light beers.
I really appreciate his offer, but neither my FI or I drink and my mom refuses to pay for any alcohol and we don't have the money to supply alcohol to the large guest list that my mom wants, so our options are to refuse my brother's offer and not have any alcohol at all or accept it and have just beer. No wine or anything else.
Seeing as this is an outdoor wedding/reception, I am afraid that having just beer at the reception will seem kind of redneck or trashy even though it will be good craft beer.
Opinions?

mgietler76

I think there should be other options besides beer, but if you are unable to pay for them I would personally rather go without alcohol all together. As a guest I would be more annoyed that beer was my only option (and I drink beer) than if there were no alcoholic options at all.

As long as you have a good selection of other beverages available I think it'll be fine.

HaylaC

i agree with PP.  It is better to provide a large variety of non alcoholic drinks than just one type of alcoholic drink and a small selection of non alcoholics drinks for the sake of having alcohol. 

kaesha

I don't know, I see where people are coming from with the all-or-nothing, but personally I'd love to have the opportunity to sample some micro-brews. If it's great beer, I totally wouldn't hesitate to serve it. You could do a tasting bar with notes and whatnot to classify it up.

frogurt814

I thought OP meant that the only alcohol they would serve would be beer. I think that is fine...especially if it is craft beer. 

I think OP should offer a variety of beverages to their guests....water, tea, lemonade, soda, but I see nothing wrong with then offering beer as the only alcohol.

I would personally be really excited to get to try all of the different beers.

tldh

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_food-cakes_only-beer?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special Topic Wedding BoardsForum:23Discussion:7fcd3cad-a025-45e4-97b6-b80b6a541863Post:62d83c0a-5b0a-411f-85b6-3cb96c60c07e">Re: Only Beer</a>:
[QUOTE]I don't know, I see where people are coming from with the all-or-nothing, but personally I'd love to have the opportunity to sample some micro-brews. If it's great beer, I totally wouldn't hesitate to serve it. You could do a tasting bar with notes and whatnot to classify it up.
Posted by kaesha[/QUOTE]

I'm on the other side.  I don't drink beer at all.  Never have because I don't like the taste.  OP, I'd have a couple bottles of wine on hand for people like me if you are going to serve beer.  It doesn't have to be expensive.

ashley1721

we are only providing beer and champagne for guests. With my family having hard liquour would be too out of control at our venue. plus BP can have their own stash in the locked BP designated rooms.  I think having different kinds of beer would be nice, I see no issue with only having beer.

kaesha

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_food-cakes_only-beer?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special%20Topic%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:23Discussion:7fcd3cad-a025-45e4-97b6-b80b6a541863Post:56f6d05a-9769-457b-9e7c-c402f7c00644">Re: Only Beer</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: Only Beer : I'm on the other side.  I don't drink beer at all.  Never have because I don't like the taste.  OP, I'd have a couple bottles of wine on hand for people like me if you are going to serve beer.  It doesn't have to be expensive.
Posted by tldh[/QUOTE]

Even if you don't like beer, I'm sure you're a good enough guest to show up at a party and not complain about it, you know?

If the choices are beer and non-alcholic beverages or NO alcoholic beverages, I think it's always better to offer more choice than less. Why should other people be denied the chance to experience something cool and local because there are a few people who may not like it?

I Want Cake

I also can't stand beer, even if it's microbrewed craft beer.  Would it be possible to have a case or two of wine on hand?  Some liquor stores even let you return unopened bottles.

Worst case scenario, serve the beer, but have plenty of other non-alcoholic options for your guests so non-beer-drinkers don't feel deprived. I'd be kind of pissed if the only liquor was beer, although I wouldn't say anything about it to your face if I were a guest.

NOLAbridealmost

Always always offer some sort of alcoholic beverage if you can.  It would be really nice if you could make room in the budget for a bit of vino too! 

tldh

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_food-cakes_only-beer?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special Topic Wedding BoardsForum:23Discussion:7fcd3cad-a025-45e4-97b6-b80b6a541863Post:311d35d6-6621-421b-8196-478b51553939">Re: Only Beer</a>:
[QUOTE]<strong>In Response to Re: Only Beer : Even if you don't like beer, I'm sure you're a good enough guest to show up at a party and not complain about it, you know?</strong> If the choices are beer and non-alcholic beverages or NO alcoholic beverages, I think it's always better to offer more choice than less. Why should other people be denied the chance to experience something cool and local because there are a few people who may not like it?
Posted by kaesha[/QUOTE]

Just because I wouldn't say anything doesn't mean I wouldn't be thinking it.  I'm not saying don't do it, I'm saying spare a couple bucks and have some wine behind the bar.

golden1215

Who would turn down free micro-brew beer?

Would you turn down free chicken just because half of your guests like beef?

Im not even a big beer drinker but I think having beer and then non-alcohol options is fine if thats your budget.  A lot of people drink beer, I'd say most people drink beer (light, dark, both etc) so most of your guests would be happy.  I would not disappoint the majority just to keep them equal with the minority.

kaesha

Of course, it would be ideal that she could do wine and beer or a full bar, but if it's not financially feasible, it's not financially feasible, you know? They weren't going to have booze, they got it as a gift. I don't think they should be required to shell out more money to satisfy picky palattes.

Bottom line, whatever you serve, there are going to be people who don't like it. And yes, absolutely, there are people who are going to judge you. Given that, the question becomes do really you care? I can guarantee that, inspite of what I thought was a great menu, an amazing chef and killer execution, there were people at my wedding who didn't like everything in front of them. And frankly, I did my best to offer variety and after that, their pickiness is their problem, not mine. Do your best, and then forget about the picky eaters.

doeie04

We will most likely only have beer for the alcoholic beverage. (Along with non.) If people don't want to drink it, then they can have some of the non-alcoholic drinks provided. If we were to pay for wine or other drinks, it would completely blow our budget. I don't see how buying a small amount of wine for some people will work. Do you tell them that you only bought that for certain people and they can't have any?! I know that if I had the choice of beer or wine, I would go with wine. But I am perfectly happy with beer. So you would have beer people drinking wine, and then there would be no wine left for the wine people. Just my opinion though.

AbbeyS2011

We are offering beer at our reception, along with a variety of non-alcoholic drinks.  We dont have the money to provide a bunch of different types of alcohol, and most of our guests are beer drinkers, so there ya go.  We are having an afternoon reception, from  3 pm - 6 pm. 

EDIT:  I am marrying into a family of self-proclaimed rednecks.

ewurgler

If you have the beer, definitely serve it.  Yes, when I go to weddings I get cocktails if they are available, but if not, I would love to drink great beer.  Definitely accept the gift and I guarantee many people will love to have beer than no alcohol.  

Juliet212

IMO, I would rather have some kind of alcohol there then non at all. I am a wine drinker but if you didn't have wine but had micro-brews, I'd drink it. I would rather that and non-alcoholic beverages then to a completely dry wedding.

I understand what otehr people are saying about try to get cheap stuff of different variety for other guests but if it's beer or nothing... def. beer!

Good Luck!

janicejab

  I think it's ok to only have beer as long as you offer several non-alcoholic choices. I liked one of the PP's idea of setting up a tasting bar. I love beer, so I may be biased, but I'd rather see only good craft beer at a wedding than a full bar with cheap booze and wine any day!

TurtlesAllTheWayDown

Do whatever you can afford. Of course, I love micro-brewed beer, so I might be biased. However, I feel like this is similar to the controversy that arises when someone ONLY wants to serve chicken, and a vegetarian option. People say, "well, what if people don't like chicken?" Well, then they eat pasta. If people don't like beer, they're not being forced to drink it. They can have water, soda, lemonade, tea, whatever you have. Maybe set up an Italian soda bar? I think you can find a way to display the beer in a classy manner, and it will be appreciated by the beer drinkers MORE than not having any alcohol at all would be appreciated by the non-beer drinkers. People who only drink wine or vodka might complain either way, right?

mica178

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_food-cakes_only-beer?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special Topic Wedding BoardsForum:23Discussion:7fcd3cad-a025-45e4-97b6-b80b6a541863Post:86418cee-8916-4473-9442-a6c6373f48c8">Re: Only Beer</a>:
[QUOTE]Do whatever you can afford. Of course, I love micro-brewed beer, so I might be biased. However, I feel like this is similar to the controversy that arises when someone ONLY wants to serve chicken, and a vegetarian option. People say, "well, what if people don't like chicken?" Well, then they eat pasta. If people don't like beer, they're not being forced to drink it. They can have water, soda, lemonade, tea, whatever you have. Maybe set up an Italian soda bar? I think you can find a way to display the beer in a classy manner, and it will be appreciated by the beer drinkers MORE than not having any alcohol at all would be appreciated by the non-beer drinkers. People who only drink wine or vodka might complain either way, right?
Posted by msmerymac[/QUOTE]

This 100%.

peanutty2

if it's a choice between no alchohol and beer definately take the beer!  especially as it's free