A beer tasting with one hundred bottles might be a tad extreme, yes. But a handful? If each person brought a six pack to share? Now that's the makings of a good time. All in the name of beer-education, of course. What favorite beer would you like everyone to try?
A beer party is fantastic for introducing beer aficionados to new brews and bringing new beer lovers into the fold. It's also a fairly inexpensive and low-key way to sample a whole heck of a lot of beers! Tell people to bring their favorite beer or one they've been itching to try, and the variety of beers that show up in the fridge is just astounding.
Start off the evening by opening one bottle of each beer and handing out little tasting samples to each guest. I'd recommend starting with the lightest and moving to the heaviest, but hey, it's a party! No need to stand on ceremony here.
Once the beers have all been sampled, discussed, and appreciated, let guests snag a bottle of their favorite and turn on the music. I also like to open a second bottle of each beer in case people want another tasting or don't want to commit to a whole bottle.
I love watching people discover a beer they love almost as much as I love finding them myself. Beer is definitely a beverage to be appreciated in good company.
Have a new favorite you think we should try?
Related: Beer with Dinner: The Basics of Pairing Food and Beer
(Image: Emma Christensen)
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Shiner Ruby Redbird - grapefruit and ginger make this a really great alternative to other more typical summer ales.
I picked up a few bottles of Boulevard Brewing's Saison - Brett from an online retailer. Champagne like appearance with a thick sturdy head and effervescent carbonation, massive brettanomyces aromas with some good citrus and floral hops, and very delicious. Glad I was able to try it.
About 10 of us did this last summer--it was a blast. Everyone picked their beer a few days beforehand and let the others know so there weren't any duplicates. We all brought tasting glasses from beer festivals, and some of the more serious people took notes. Followed up with some grilled food. It was cheap and awesome!
I have a few friends that do something similar to this every time we get together. Basically we love beer and are always trying to find new and delicious beers. It's mostly hoppy IPAs and DIPAs and really big stouts.
Brew Dog Tokyo(18%), The 100 barrel Harpoon oyster stout(smooth and delicious) and the Stone belgo anise imperial russian stout(black licorice) are all great stouts.
Lagunitas Hop Stoopid, 21st amendment Hop Crisis and Stone Ruination are good go to hoppy IPAs.
I also like trying to find something rare or completely different. The Mikeller Funky star is different, and might taste similar to the way band aides smell. Try it. Brewer Art Green Peppercorn Trippel is also fantastic and different enough to get people interested in trying it. It's a belgian trippel with a hint of green peppercorns.
Stillwater is making some fantastic Farmhouse Ales. If you can get any of them, I highly recommend all of them. They are kind of dry and have a touch of sweetness.
Nothing makes me happier than logging in to my favorite website to read up on great entertaining ideas - and what a plus that I'm a total beer geek and you have this perfect party plan all written up.
Every Christmas Eve, my family does a Fondue and Beer Tasting. Last year we tasted all German beers. We always have a lot of fun, and it's easy and casual during a time of year when parties are unecessarily complicated and sometimes stressful.
Cheers!
I too am a big fan of the 'slightly' more mainstream Shiner Ruby Redbird... Also the lemon notes in Kansas City Boulevard Wheat is delicious on a hot day.
Lost Coast Hop Juice is amazing, hints of grapefruit and pineapple with just the right amount of hops and maltiness.
Left Coast*
I'm a Boulevard girl all the way. KC knows how to make beer.
I've done this :) In my challenge to try 100 new beers: http://amusinglist.wordpress.com/2011/06/10/beers-4-5-6-7-8-and-9/
My friends and I do a variety of blind-taste-test parties each year. Since I live in the PNW, we are surrounded by great beer 24/7, so around the holidays, we do the holiday beer fest to taste all the holiday ales that are available in the stores, so that we don't have to waste our time with them at the Holiday Ale Fest the following weekend.
This year was the first (possibly annual) Sh*tty Beer Fest, where we blind tasted cheap beer and discovered that we all preferred Rainier. It was great fun, and hilarious.
Alaska Brewing Company Smoked Porter
- smoked hops and balanced flavors, delicious and unique
Bell's Hopslam Ale
- more than 6 kinds of hops in this surprisingly drinkable IPA
I'm from St. Louis, where we've had a significant boom in our craft beer industry. We had a party a few months ago, and, in addition to some local favorites, the Bourbon Barrel Ale (from Kentucky) came out as one of the top favorites.
Our favorite "anytime" beers come from Schlafly (St. Louis) and Boulevard (Kansas City). If you like beer, St. Louis is a great place to be right now!
So many good beers have made it into our house and restaurant in the last couple months...
The whole Jolly Pumpkin line is so delicious! Favorite is 'Oro de Calabaza.'
Pretty Things - St. Botolph's Town and Jack d'Or
The Bruery - Rugbrod and Saison de Lente
from Italy....
Panil - Bariquée Sour
Almond 22 - Pink
Birrificio Italiano - La Fleurette
Fantome Saisons
Our homebrews!