Beer too strong for the picnic?

I've made a few 4 - 5% brews lately and people gobble them up. They kind of have a hydrating effect, ya know?

Also, you gotta think about the size of the people drinking your beers at the picnic. Two 7.5s can topple some people.

 

Yep, back in the bad old days, 7 abv was the minimum and usually had lots of 8-9 and higher abv brews available to the crowd. Now, 7 is high and the norm is 5 abv. Seems to fit better for me and mine.

 

Everything you mentioned about the technical whatever of your sm@sh is not worth reading, because the reality is you brought a beer that is simply too much for the set and setting it was served in.
If that's what you like, and think you'll do it the same way all over again. You're obviously not going to take any advice to brew a lower gravity beer that doesn't wallop people over the head.
So, I'm really not sure what you are looking for here because you can easily make something crushable that will also be easy to have several of without the excessive shine of its clocking in at 7.5%. That is skip past a slight, and friendly buzz, and go right to getting drunk material where day drinking is concerned.

 

Courts have been known to hold bartenders liable for damages from a serious auto accident of a customer after being over-served. People can't be trusted to manage their own intake of alcoholic beverages. In a sense, that's what is happening here. I'd cut back on the alcohol level at future picnics if you can't trust folks to control themselves.

 

Beer too strong?! What kind of blasphemy is this...

 

I brew plenty of high-test beers. However, for those times I'll be serving to a lot of people, BBQ, picnic or whatever, I intentionally go low. I have a go-to pale ale that comes in around 4.5 or so, but is plenty tasty for hanging around in the sun for hours.

 

Little outside the apa style guidelines

 

Ironically, in a similar situation. Brewing a cider for a house party coming up. It’s going to finish around 8-9%. Asked the hosts what they were looking for and anonymously, low ABV. Fortunately I can cut/back sweeten and dilute to get my projected ABV. Maybe if your in a certain predicament again, cutting with juice is a possibility. Grapefruit, pineapple, cherry, etc.

 

Unanimously (as Homer Simpson would say “doh!”)

 

Firstly, good for you for brewing something that people enjoyed. That really is something I think you should be proud of. You do seem to recognize that the high ABV beer could have been problematic, so maybe consider dialing things back to sessionable ranges in the future. One of my prouder homebrew moments was when I brought a 4%-ish grisette to a party that, unbeknownst to me, was to feature several tastings of commercial dessert stouts. About midway through the tastings, the group discovered my growlers of grisette. They welcomed the drinkable respite from the world of coffee bourbon barrel pumpkin smores vanilla stouts that don't let you stand up.

 

Were having a party at a friends house next weekend. I think were doing a crawfish boil. I brewed a pale ale at 5.6 abv. There will be some craft drinkers and some bud light drinkers. It has been hot as hell out also. I think the 5.6 is a good spot I hope.

 

5.6% is about a 30% increase in the ABV over Bud Light's 4.2%. So for every 3 beers your Bud-dies have it’ll be the equivalent of 4 of what they’re accustomed to. Just curious….have you sourced the crawfish yet? This is about the time of year they start getting tough, and tough to come by.

 

Idk man. You're like everyone else.... make a style of beer that you like a lot.... and share it. Plus you put a disclaimer on the bottle, so all clear.

 

An over 7% and on a hot day and than downing 2 quickly would have me out on the picnic blanket. I bet it did go down well and taste really good, but for most and especially on those hot days I know I really have to pace myself and eat a lot or I am "shitfaced" quickly because I I am going to be honest this girl doesn't handle her beer before she gets really goofy.

 

RagingBitch: Great. When can we have a beer together?

 

Had that homebrewed pale ale the other day. It went over well. I used azacca hops which are a bit more approachable than some other hops. All the beer I took got drank and my buddies wife that drinks cider and truly drank two glasses and liked it. The crawfish were expensive now so he just grilled burgers and brats.