Kind of a weird question, but I'm getting married in May and was wondering if anyone from Mass. has been able to order specialty kegs for their big day. I spoke with the event planner and he said he could help me bring in whatever I wanted, but the list of readily available items was BMC and Sam Adams, so my idea of "whatever i want" might not be plausible. In short, did you get married in MA and bring in specialty kegs? If so, how and how much did it cost?
I'm sure you can do better than what you're hearing. Craft Beer Cellar in Belmont can do keg orders. I'm sure some of the other good beer stores people mention for MA in other towns could probably do something similar.
Is it tough to get kegs into the venue? For example, if the distributor for the venue is not Craft Brewers Guild, am I SOL? I've gotten kegs from Redstone before, and enjoy doing business with Kamal, I'm just wondering what obstacles exist with bringing in specialty kegs to the venue, and wondering if anyone has any experience with this.
Where are you getting married? Sounds sort of like the conversation I had with my planner for my wedding this fall. IN our case, they said they could get just about anything that comes to Massachusetts from their supplier. Besides the usual crap (plus Sam lager and Sam seasonal,) I'm having SN Tumbler and Wachusett IPA brought in.
In my experience, it varied according to the venue and and their stipulations about alcohol. In our research a lot of halls required you to use their waitstaff and order the alcohol through them. We went the non-traditional/DIY route for our venue and hired a licensed/insured bartending service, but were able to purchase all the alcohol ourselves. So in addition to a small variety of Smuttynose bottles, we did a couple of 1/6 barrels of Hoponious from Craft Beer Cellar. They actually offered to drive the kegs out to us at our venue in Sherborn (40 minute drive) after closing up shop the night before the wedding, which I could not believe. Made my life a hell of a lot easier.
I would speak with the venue. We had our reception at Kimball Farm in Westford, way back before they had a beer license. They had a local packie they recommended and who would deliver, but now they sell beer on site, so getting a keg from Redstone, for example, may be against policy.
The answer to this question is really going to be found best through your facility/vendor. Either they can or cannot get ahold of special order kegs for you, and if they can't, it's up to them if they will let you bring one in from outside. If you can bring one in from outside, then most decent stores can special order quite a bit for you.
Whenever I go to a wedding with a craft beer option I'm usually the only guest drinking it (along with the groom). I like and respect these threads about what kind of craft kegs to bring to weddings, but unless all of your guests are of a similar mind, chances are you're going to end up a lot of leftover craft beer.
If that's true then he should be able to get anything that's regularly distributed to MA. Here are some "special order" keg lists from some MA stores: http://www.juliosliquors.com/wp/index.php/keg-types/ http://www.colonialspirits.com/beer/beer-kegs/ I'd pick a few choices from these lists and see if he can get them. If he can't then order from the store and bring them to the venue yourself.
I wanted to do this for my wedding. The venue was willing to accommodate and work with their distributor, but holy shit was that expensive (~$90 for a sixtel of SNPA). So we skipped it. Congrats on the upcoming nuptials. Best of luck with the planning.
Totally off topic but I've considered renewing my vows (after 3 years) so I could have this: http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/28742/80584 instead of a champagne toast. Looks and smells like champagne, finishes like beer.
That isn't really too far off the mark. There is no real cost savings for a sixth. I have had it on tap in my kegerator twice along with two Ruthless Rye's and that is what it cost.
At such weddings I normally see about 25% drinking SA, 75% drinking BMC or wine. The latest wedding I'm thinking of had Berkshire Brewing Steel Rail... shouldn't have been a tough sell for most people in the crowd. Seriously, I had about 4 and never saw another person with one in his or her hands (except the groom).
Damn. Granted, there are differences (and a few years between), but when I was in college my buddies and I got a half barrel of Redhook ESB for around $85.
If they sell/serve beer in MA they should be able to order from any distributor. If they don't have an account with one - it's very easy to open, costs nothing. So he should be able to to bring whatever. And speaking of whatever, a few months ago Goose Island Sofie Paradisi was available from Busch in sixtels. The point is, some rare gems maybe available in kegs. Today I was helping a customer set up a beer line up for the wedding and looks like final choices will be: Brooklyn Lager, Cape Ann Fisherman's Brew, Sierra Nevada Pale, Smuttynose IPA and Angry Orchard cider as an additional option. Nothing else. The guests will have no choice but to enjoy craft stuff
I'm not familiar with the Cape Ann's Brew, but it's certainly a nice selection - and a great idea to add the cider. The Brooklyn especially was a good move. I hope the guests enjoy the fine spread!
