How to Host a Beer Tasting at Home
By David Nilsen
Hosting a beer tasting for friends can be a fun way to hang out, discover some new favorite beers, and even learn a few things along the way. Here’s how to make your beer tasting party a success.
(If you want to host a beer and chocolate pairing party, check out my guide here.)
Photo by author
The Plan
Great parties require planning, even if you’re just planning to host a casual event. Here are some questions to ask as you’re thinking about the kind of beer tasting you want to host.
How many people should you invite?
While you can have fun tasting beer with just your partner or a friend, the ideal size for a beer tasting is generally 6-12 people. It can work with more, but be careful about inviting too many people. Space for everyone to be seated comfortably in the same room in your home can become an issue, but most importantly, too large of a group can discourage some attendees from speaking up during the tasting. Beer tastings are interactive, and they’re most enjoyable when everyone gets to share their thoughts and opinions. Even if everyone knows each other and gets along, a large group can limit some of that. 6-12 is a perfect balance of enough voices to get a good conversation and range of opinions (and palates) while still being intimate enough to encourage everyone to participate.
Do you want a more casual or formal tasting?
Photo by author, taken at Branch & Bone Artisan Ales in Dayton, OH.
You need to decide if you want a very casual hang-out where everyone sips and tastes different beers as they talk, or a more structured tasting in which the entire group walks through tasting each beer together.
A casual tasting is more of a normal hang-out loosely organized around the idea of tasting beer. Your friends will be relaxed and have fun, but might not get as much out of the beer tasting itself. This could frustrate any attendees who really want to understand and learn from the beer and the group, though it could be ideal for friends who are new to beer or intimidated by the idea of a formal tasting.
A more structured tasting allows the entire group to understand and discuss each beer. Your friends might take a few minutes to settle into the idea of the format, but they’ll quickly get the hang of it. This could frustrate members of the group who just want to cut loose, but it will be ideal for friends who want to dive into the sensory experience and learn about the beer.
You can think of the difference between these as being like hanging out with friends while listening to music versus hanging out with friends while watching a movie. Both can be fun, but one is more freeform while one is more focused. Both have merits, and you can always do something of a hybrid as well. Perhaps the ideal tasting party would involve a formal tasting portion followed by an extended casual hangout, satisfying both preferences.
How long will the tasting last?
Plan on the tasting itself lasting about an hour, though your group might favor a little shorter or longer. Much longer and everyone’s palates will begin getting fatigued and people might start getting antsy.
How many beers should you plan to taste?
This depends a little on whether you’re choosing a more casual or structured tasting, but plan on 4-6 different beers for the tasting itself. This provides a good range of flavor experiences without wearing out everyone’s palates (our senses, like our bodies, get tired after too much work!) If you’re planning a more casual hangout, you can always do a few more and let people decide how many they want to taste.
One more thing: Let your guests know what to expect
It’s likely some or most of your guests will never have been to a beer tasting before. You can send out printed invitations to make the evening feel more special (or, you know, just a text or email) and include some basic information about the plan for the evening to demystify the experience for them. If you’re planning a more formal tasting, let them know what that will involve so they don’t feel intimidated, and ask them not to wear any strong perfume, cologne, or other scented products that will interfere with the sensory experience (seriously, you’d be surprised). If your evening will involve a meal or pairing, you can let them know what to bring as well. Depending on the amount of alcohol that will be consumed, remind them to make appropriate transportation plans so they can make responsible decisions after the tasting.
One last idea: Hire me to plan and virtually host your beer tasting party!
I’m a professional beer writer and Advanced Cicerone®, and I host virtual beer tastings! Work with me to plan a perfect evening at your home for you and your friends. I’ll curate the beers and work with you on sourcing them, send you tasting sheets to print, then connect via Zoom the night of the event to walk your group through a fun and educational tasting. You can get in touch with me here to plan our virtual beer tasting event!
The Beer
Your party is organized around tasting great beer, so how do you choose which brews to purchase and where can you get them?
Do you want to go with a theme?
Variety is a big part of what makes craft beer so much fun. There are well over 100 recognized styles of beer, with over 9,000 U.S. breweries (and way more around the world) interpreting those styles and constantly creating hybrids between them. That variety can get a little overwhelming though, and coming up with a theme for your tasting party can help you narrow down your choices. You can choose a holiday or season, a national origin, or something else.
Need help with a theme? Listen to this quick bonus episode of Bean to Barstool for some great beer tasting party theme ideas!
Of course, your tasting doesn’t have to be themed to be a success, and you can simply choose an assortment of beers that sound interesting to you.
Where can you get the beers you need?
If you’re near a craft brewery, you can generally buy some bottles or cans directly from the source, which is the best way to support these creative small businesses. However, if you want to use beers from multiple breweries, your best bet is to visit a bottleshop or liquor store with a good craft beer selection. These stores will often have helpful staff who can recommend beers to you as well.
Another option in many states is to order beer online. That’s right, a large number of states allow beer to be shipped directly to consumers at home! Check out sites like Drizly, Tavour, Craft Beer Kings, or Belgian-Style Ales (there are a lot more too).
If you hire me to run your tasting, I’ll take care of finding these beers for you and work with you on sourcing, making this way easier for you! Get in touch here.
One fun option: Host a BYOB beer tasting
Have your guests bring the beer for the tasting! You can either let each person pick out beer to bring, or you can assign them a style or type of beer to fit your theme. This gives the guests some ownership over the experience, and they’ll be curious what others think of the beer they brought.
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Photo by author, taken at Rolling Mill Brewing in Middletown, OH.
One quick thing to make clear if you go this route: Make sure your guests know the beers don’t have to be rare or “impressive”. There are beers in six-packs at the grocery store that can be as fun to taste in a group as the rarest hyped-up bottle a beer fan stood in line for at a hyped brewery. This isn’t a competition and no one should feel pressure to pick a beer that’s cool enough or special enough to meet some non-existence social standard. Intimidation or anxiety about these choices are the last thing you want your friends to feel at your tasting
The Preparation
There are a few simple things you’ll want to have on hand for your tasting to make it an easy and fun experience for you and your guests.
Information about the beers you’ll be serving
The specifics of what you need here depend a bit on the type of tasting you’re hosting. Regardless of whether your tasting is structured or casual though, you’ll want to be able to tell your guests the name of the brewery and the beer, its ABV (alcohol by volume), the style of the beer (this isn’t always on the can or bottle, so you can look it up on Untappd or Beer Advocate), and any additional ingredients in the beer beyond the basics. This last point is especially important for people with allergies, as some specialty beers are made with lactose, peanuts, and other allergens.
If you’re hosting a more organized tasting, preparing a little bit of information to share about the background of the brewery, the history of the beer style, and even some simple tasting notes from the brewer can help your guests understand more about what they’re enjoying. This information will often be available online.
Tasting sheets and pens
This isn’t strictly necessary, but having your guests jot down some notes can be a fun way to help them keep track of their favorites and compare tasting impressions with each other. This can be as simple as a blank sheet of paper, or you can print special tasting sheets with beer information on them. You can even have them score the beers and tally them at the end to see which beer was the group’s favorite!
Snacks and plenty of water
It’s always important to hydrate when drinking alcohol, even though your guests won’t be getting drunk during the tasting. Water will also rinse and refresh the palate so guests can appreciate the full range of flavors in each beer.
Similarly, having some simple, low-intensity snacks like bread, pretzels, or crackers on hand can help with refreshing the palate as well.
Of course, you can always turn this into a full pairing with cheese, chocolate, or a complete meal. You can read my complete guide on how to host a beer and chocolate pairing here.
Tasting glassware
You’re going to need at least as many tasting glasses as the number of people attending, and some people elect to give each person more than one tasting glass so they can compare samples. Don’t use standard shaker pint glasses for this. You’ll only be sampling a few ounces of each beer, and this is best done in a wine glass, snifter, or tulip glass. If you don’t already have enough glasses, you can pick up suitable glasses used at a resale shop, purchase plastic versions at the store, or go all out and order appropriate glassware online.
In the end, the beer is what matters, so don’t stress out. You can use what you have, even if it’s not ideal. Better glassware will just elevate the experience.
Dump buckets
Not everyone will like every beer, and that’s fine. No one should need to feel like they need to finish a beer they are definitely not enjoying, so have a couple large bowls on the table for people to dump out samples.
Don’t forget to chill the beer before your tasting
Depending on how much beer you need to acquire for your group, you might not have room to store it all in your fridge for a week or two. Just put it in there to get cold about an hour before the event and pull it out a few minutes before the tasting starts.
The Experience
Once all the planning and preparation is done, it’s time for your beer tasting party! These steps will make it a memorable night.
Welcome beers and post-tasting hangout beers
Photo by author, taken at home
From leading countless beer events I can tell you: people are happiest when they get to drink beer right away. Have a low-alcohol, light-bodied beer such as a Pilsner, Witbier, or Blonde Ale on hand and give guests a 6-8 oz glass as soon as they arrive as a welcome beer. They’ll love the gesture and loosen up a bit. You can even have a toast once everyone has arrived!
You’ll also want some extra beer on hand for after the tasting if people just want to have a drink or two and relax. These can be extras of the beers you’ll sample during the tasting (so people can have more of their favorites!), or something completely different. If you’re selecting and purchasing the beers for the tasting, this could be a great way to involve your guests—have them bring the post-tasting hangout beers.
What order should you serve the beers?
If the tasting is more structured, it’s best to serve the beers in order of escalating intensity. This generally means serving the lowest alcohol beer first and scaling up to the strongest beer at the end. There are exceptions, especially if you’re serving beers that aren’t especially strong but have assertive flavors, like beers that are notably bitter, sour, or spicy. Don’t worry about this too much though—with small samples, it won’t matter that much.
The tasting process
Any kind of tasting—beer, wine, coffee, cheese, chocolate, or something else—is about way more than just our taste buds. All of our senses are engaged by the experience of tasting in a thoughtful way. Here are some ways to do that during your beer tasting party.
- Look at the beer’s appearance, noticing its color, clarity, and foam. Also take a moment to admire the label artwork on the can or bottle and pass it around so everyone can see it.
- Smell the beer’s aromas before tasting. Most of our perception of flavor is really from our sense of smell, so get your nose engaged from the beginning!
- Taste the beer to experience its flavor, which is actually made up of both taste and aroma, making note of the influence of malt, hops, yeast, and any additional ingredients.
- Feel the beer in your mouth. The beer’s “mouthfeel” includes how light or heavy it is, its carbonation level, and its texture.
- Hear the thoughts of the other people involved in the tasting, learning from their impressions and offering your own.
You can learn more about how the tasting process works and how our senses interact with beer (and chocolate!) in Episode 24 of Bean to Barstool below.
If you’re hosting a more structured tasting, you can tell the group the name of each beer before opening it, then either pass it around for everyone to pour themselves a few ounces, or pour all the samples and pass them around. You can guide them through the process of tasting each beer, and give them a minute or two on each step while they experience the beer and maybe take notes. Then you can ask them for their thoughts about it when they’re done.
With a more informal tasting, you can tell everyone what the beers are before the tasting begins and offer a few pointers on engaging all the senses (as explained above), then open the beers and let people relax and taste through them on their own, talking as you go.
Important things to remember to make this fun for everyone:
Everybody’s thoughts count
You’ll have people at your beer tasting with varying levels of beer knowledge. You might have some complete newbies, and you might have some seasoned experts. It’s important that no one feels intimidated about sharing their thoughts. There are no wrong answers when it comes to sharing your own tasting notes and impressions, and make sure everyone knows that before you start. Hopefully you don't invite any jerks, but it can be worth reminding everyone to be considerate and accepting of other people’s impressions.
You can all learn from each other
We all come from different backgrounds and have had different sensory experiences based on our cultural, racial, religious, ethnic, geographical, and even socioeconomic backgrounds. When we taste beer together with open minds, it can be an opportunity to learn from each other, to expand our sensory vocabularies, and to gain a better understanding of our friends and their cultures, as well as sharing our own. This is part of what makes tasting beer in a group like this so much fun!
You can listen to Episode 16 of Bean to Barstool below to learn more about this dynamic. Dr. J. Nikol Jackson Beckham shares how tasting beer can be used to bridge divides between people of different identities.
The Extras
Here are a few last details to keep in mind to put your party over the top!
Set the scene
You can host anywhere in your home where you have room, such as a dining room table or the living room, but wherever you decide on, setting the scene a bit can make the experience more relaxed. Put on some pleasant background music that won’t be too distracting, and use gentle but adequate lighting. Avoid scented candles or incense, as this will interfere with the tasting experience. If you have outdoor space, consider an al fresco beer tasting!
Take some photos
Be sure to snap a few pictures of the group (having everyone toast the camera can be a fun group shot), as well as some candid shots during the tasting, and encourage your guests to do the same (just make sure everyone is okay with being photographed). You can send these to your attendees after the event as a way to remember the evening. If you and your friends are on social media, you can even create a shared album or use a unique hashtag to keep them all in one place.
Arrange for transportation
Make sure people know before the event how much beer will be served during the tasting itself (generally the samples add up to about one drink), as well as additional drinking options before and after. That way people can make informed and responsible decisions about how to get home if the plan is to let loose a little afterward.
Turn it into a pairing
Beer pairs wonderfully with food of all types, so you can also plan your tasting as a pairing. With a little extra planning, you could pair beer and cheese, beer and desserts, or even beer and a full meal.
My personal favorite? Beer and chocolate. Check out my guide here on how to host a beer and chocolate pairing in your home, or get in touch to have me plan and lead the pairing for you!
Hire a guide
One last time—I love getting to guide people through the process of tasting and discovering great beer. Get in touch if you want me to ensure a great virtual beer tasting experience for you and your friends!
Above all, have fun!
Photo by Melinda Guerra, taken at Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales in Dexter, MI.