Beers for reception - Help me choose!

We did all local wine and beer... I'm from Northern California, so lots of wine from Napa and Sonoma. We had Francis Coppola's director's cut Chardonnay and it was a big hit... we only had a few bottles leftover at the end of the night. It's a great Chardonnay! We got it because it was on the 5 cent wine sale at BevMo. You should also look into local wines in your area though.

Allagash white is a great beer, but it's brewed in Maine. Victory is in Pennsylvania. I agree with others that it would be nice to get a more local selection for your craft beers. Seattle has a whole bunch of breweries! The more mainstream light beer should help keep costs down too.

I'd go for the Allagash as the most well rounded beer, but I'm not familiar with that particular Victory. I don't think they have much distribution here on the west coast. My personal choice would be the IPA, but I lead a women's craft beer group and I'm the only one of the group that likes super hoppy beers (IPA). These beers are from the bigger craft breweries around (and Ballast Point is now owned by Constellation, who focuses on selling Corona) so you should go to a World Market near you and buy single bottles of each to help you decide.

ETA: I didn't realize you're in Whidbey. Go to Georgetown brewing and get some kegs of Mannys Pale Ale and whatever else suits your fancy. Mannys is super light. Other brewery suggestions are Fremont Brewing, Cloudburst, or Holy Mountain.

I would check to make sure the Victory Summer Love would be available for your date. I feel like that is a limited release and typically not available late September.

Would Manny's be a good substitute for a domestic light beer, or is it too snobby for people that might only ever drink something simple like coors light

Also being based in Seattle, maybe check out some of Elysian's selections. My absolute favorite is Space dust which is an IPA. It's $54 a case though (I'm in PA). Might be cheaper for you. Also consider a light domestic pilsner like Miller or bud.

My FH loves IPAs but I cannot stand them. I would definitely add a light beer on there as it will appeal to most people.

I agree with PP that a light beer like Miller Lite would be good to add for those that don't like craft beer. Or for those, like me, that love craft beer but switch to lite when I want to drink a lot aka at a wedding. How about instead of the summer beer you do an Oktoberfest? That would be more in season.

I would do a pilsner, a blonde or a wit ale, a lager & a session ipa (founders all day is great). Sessions are an ipa with lower alcohol content. Most ipas have an alcohol level of about 6.7% to aound 8.2% depending on which beer. Session ipas are are lower in alcohol compared to an ipa & also smoother. Pilsners, blondes, wits & lagers are usually between 4 & 5%.

Ipas are gaining popularity whereas stouts & porters are starting to lessen in popularity (its a shame because im a stout girl lol).

Keep in mind the higher the alcohol the quicker the buzz/drunk.

I'm from Texas so i haven't heard of any of those brands but we are going craft as well. We pick 2 lights and one that was a little darker but no stouts. Most of our friends who like stout like a lighter beer also so we didn't want to waste the money on a stout that only a few people would end up drinking. We did pick one that was considered mainstream for DFW but not necessarily for my family. My FH says it taste similar to a mainstream beer so I am hoping my family will drink it.

Mannys is a very good substitute for the budweiser/highlife type beer. It's the beer I drink at my local Seahawks watching bar.

Elysian is owned by A-B Inbev now. (Anheuser Busch)