Beer Tasting Party: mini sample size tastings of beer or root beer, complete with scoring cards for a fun party for drinkers and non-drinkers of all ages.
![Beer and root beer tasting party.](http://www.lifeisaparty.ca/wp-uploads/2012/04/beer-and-root-beer-tasting-party-2.jpg)
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This weekend we celebrated by husband's birthday. Since I'm always planning parties for other people, I wanted to make his celebration special too. It was a really small get together with mostly family, so we decided to do a beer tasting party, and for the non-drinkers among us, a root beer tasting. It was so much fun!
Rootbeer
I went root beer shopping early and was able to find 8 varieties at my local grocery store, a few were from the health food section. I was really surprised at how many there were.
Beer
For the beer we had 12 varieties, including some light lager, dark lager and ale.
For both tasting we bought a couple of each type, and served the tastes in 3 oz disposable shot glasses. This was enough for everyone to try everything, and return to their favourites.
Scoring
While we tasted, we gave each drink a score from 1 to 5, ranging from a number 1 being "I'd almost choose water over this, but at least it's still beer" to number 5 being "I'd give up watching F1 (by guy's fav.) or golfing, or riding my motorbike...(choose the appropriate answer), to have this beer again. My husband made up these great score cards, using the logo from each beer or root beer, so everyone could remember their favs.
Beer Tasting Party Table
I used simple white tubs filled with ice for the beers, and added chalkboard labels. In addition I also embellished with "cheers" which became our party theme!
I used this great old wash tub with ice for the root beer.
The simple centre piece was some spring flowers, and a menu board.
Cheers Sign
The "cheers" sign was put together from various letters from different collections. I really love the different sizes and finishes together. Top Tip: I used a little blue tac to help hold them all up on the table.
Easy Beer Tasting Party Munchies
We started off the party with some really easy munches. I made veggies and dip, and then had a great time at the bulk store and West Indian grocery finding all kinds of fun nuts, chips and snack mixes. These were a real hit with everyone, who seemed to enjoy all the different varieties and they were the perfect accompaniment to beer and root beer.
Lunch
For lunch my father-in-law made curry (thanks Bob!) we also had fried rice, chow mein with roasted chicken and roti -a favourite menu of my Guyanese family and super easy for me, since it was mostly take-out!
Rustic Table Setting
For the table I went with my new fav. brown kraft paper. I used white dishes, and bundled up cutlery and napkins in mini paper bags tied with twine. We stamped "Cheers" on to wooden veneer business cards, punched a hole and tied them on to the bags.
I love the rustic feel of all the brown paper, and twine, and felt like it went with the beer theme really well.
Dessert
Next it was dessert time!
For dessert I made cupcakes. Keeping with our beer theme, I made Guinness Cupcakes with cream cheese frosting.
I made these sweet "cheers" cupcake picks from brown paper, rubber stamps and twine. Love how rustic they turned out. There were also vanilla cupcakes, cookies and a fruit platter.
It was such a lovely afternoon. We started the party at noon, and enjoyed eating and drinking the day way together.
Happy Birthday Roland, we love you even more than Beer!
You might also like our Favourite Things 50th Birthday Party here.
Also check out our Board Game Party here.
You might also like our Game of Thrones Party here.
Leslie's Garden says
This beer tasting party is such a fabulous idea! I would love to try it for my husband's birthday this year. Thanks for the great information and pictures. Your party is a great inspiration.
Maria says
What a fun party! Your presentation is perfect! Love all the special guy-friendly touches.
connie says
I'm not sure how many of my comments include that I wish I was there but seriously.... I miss you and your amazing parties.
I noticed you had Tusker in there. That's an East African beer. How did it score?
dnr says
Tusker scored very highly with our crowd. Wish you where here too Connie!