| Let me start out by saying that nobody should host | | | | all goes as it should, the cheap beers should end up |
| a bear tasting party unless all the participants are | | | | at the bottom with the premium beers coming in |
| over age and there is a designated driver for each | | | | first. |
| person. That way you are assured of nobody getting | | | | Because this is a tasting party, you don't need a lot |
| arrested for underage drinking or driving under the | | | | of beer. Probably a six pack of each beer will be |
| influence. Having said that, what exactly is a beer | | | | more than enough and you'll still have plenty left over |
| tasting party and how do they work? | | | | after you're done. If you're on a tight budget and |
| A beer tasting party is just that. You bring a number | | | | don't want to buy whole six packs, then figure one |
| of people over to your place and have them sample | | | | bottle of beer for every three people at the party. |
| a variety of beers. At the end of the evening the | | | | This way you can pull off your party without going |
| beers are ranked from best to worst. There are | | | | broke. |
| many variations you can do on this such as having | | | | Because you don't want your guests to get rip |
| friendly wagers on what beer you think will come in | | | | roaring drunk, it is a good idea to have food at this |
| first. Of course gambling for money is illegal so the | | | | party. What kind of food? You want foods that will |
| wagers would have to be for something other than. | | | | go well with the beers, like cheese and bread. These |
| It's best, when having a beer tasting party, to have | | | | things won't interfere with the tasting process itself. |
| a small group. The reason for this is simple. With a | | | | And if you want, you can even turn this into a |
| small group, the tasting party is just that, a tasting | | | | combination cheese and beer tasting party. They |
| party. With a larger group, it tends to become a | | | | make great fund raisers. |
| party, period. And parties with large groups can | | | | Finally, there should be a certain order to the tasting |
| become quite rowdy. So if you want a serious | | | | itself. You want to taste your beers from the lightest |
| tasting party, keep it small. | | | | beers to the heaviest, making sure that you take a |
| The next thing is the selection of the beers | | | | bite of cheese or bread in between each beer so |
| themselves. How do you go about doing this? A | | | | that the taste of the previous beer is gone. |
| good tasting party will have about eight to ten | | | | Your guests should rank each beer on a scale of 1 to |
| different kinds of beers, all very distinct in taste. You | | | | 5, with 5 being the highest. All scores for each beer |
| should probably select a beer by its brewing style | | | | should be added together and then divided by the |
| rather than by its country of origin. You should mix | | | | number of tasters. This will give you an average |
| up your beers between beers that are expensive | | | | score for each beer. |
| and beers that are cheap. You don't want to have | | | | By following these simple steps, your beer tasting |
| two beers that are very similar. This way you are | | | | party should go off without a hitch. |
| sure to get a more accurate ranking of the beers. If | | | | |
