What is an all arround favorite style of beer?

[LordUlrich]

My brew club is having a brew competition and i am at a loss as to what to brew for it. The competition is internal only and judged by popular vote of the club members. The challenge for me is we have widely varying palates in the club, and far to many of the members drink BMC water crap! (i know but they are getting better). OR they brew to get as much alcohol as possible although the beers are improving.

Also the winning beer will be brewed at the local brewpub and served until all 10 barrels are gone (2.5 months is how long his most popular beers last) and well it needs to be palatable to the masses (it is South Dakota) and have some shelf stability.

I am limited to 3 entries and have 2 months to get it brewed. So what styles stand the best chance in an all out battle judged by those fairly new to craft beer?

Oh and I refuse to brew something similar to what the pub has already, he needs a bit more variety (ie Blonde, pale ale, stout(real light stout), this red light flavor lager, and a red ale), which rules out my favorite porter.

I was thinking a English mild, or this American hoped mild I have been playing with?, a IIPA?, Ideas, i am putting this to the army thanks for the help!

[Bugeater]

A nut brown ale pleases just about any palate. I've blindfolded folks who claim to hate dark beer and ask them to identify a number of beers as either dark or light. Most all of them thought the brown ale was light. I've also had the same results with a Scottish 60. Being from South Dakota, you should be able to get some Burning Skye from Empyrean Ales (a Nebraska brewery). That is a great example of a Scottish ale that pleases the masses.

Wayne

[BarefootLion]

Milds are awesome, I did one for our club comp in the early spring.
The problem I had when it came to judging was both judges said it lacked just a little of the english about it(base malt was Great Western 2row provided by the brew pub as part of the competition). Though you said your comp is tasters choice so that will help, mine was BJCP. I think the english character is really what makes this beer so damn good, refreshing etc.
Also take into account, you said you don't have the most sophisticated palates to please. If you hand them a 3%ish ABV beer they might pass it up for something bigger.

[Hoser]

Empyrean's Third Stone Brown is a way better beer IMHO. As Bug said, brew a good Northern English Brown Ale, wit, or an American Amber. Those are 3 good middle of the road beers. Milds do poorly with the masses and IIPA may burn off to many palates up north. 2 months is probably enough time to brew a pilsner, CAP, kolsch, vienna, or alt as well. The darker and less hoppy the beer the longer the shelf life.

[fulkrum78]

A standard bitter. Not and ESB, just a really good, tasty bitter. A local pub had one brewed just for them until recently and no matter what else I got there, I never left without buying at least two of them. Since they quit carrying it (supplier doubled the price), I haven't been back.

Smooth, flavorful, supremely drinkable in quantity.

My .02!

[BDawg]

Does it HAVE to be to style? If not, I'd go for something along the lines of a Deschutes' Twilight.
I really think it is one of the best tasting, easy drinking, beer around that appeals to a wide variety of folks.

The hopheads like it because it's got a buttload of hop flavor.
The BMC crowd likes it because it's light in color and the hop bitterness doesn't overwhelm like an IPA or APA.

If you never had it before, I think it is sort of a cross between an APA and a Blonde ale or Cream ale. Lighter on the color than an APA, (I figure they are using a smaller amount of crystal 20 or 30 - maybe a half lb in a 5 gallon batch), moderate bitterness, probably around 25 IBUs, then a nice hop burst effect with a shit load of Amarillo, Cascade and Citra late. All wrapped up in a 5% beer (figure 1.050 OG). 1056/001 for the yeast. Ferment cool for clean flavor with low esters. Aim for a medium low mash temp, I'd say 149 or 150 to lean slightly towards beta activity giving a drier finish.

My .02

[sexpanther]

I'd brew an American Amber like Dead Guy (CYBI has cloned it). It's got enough complexity to satisfy more advanced palates, has a higher ABV for the guys who like that, and well, c'mon...it's Dead Guy! Good luck with the competition.