beer tasting party

My husband’s birthday is on New Year’s Eve. (I kind of think it would be a fun birthday to have, since I love a fancy party!) But, he enjoys more low key events.

I’ve never ever had the opportunity to throw him an actual birthday party since we’ve been out of town for every New Year’s Eve since we’ve known each other! We go to his hometown to visit family and friends every year and it’s always fun and there is always a party…..but his birthday gets kind of lost in New Year’s Eve.

So this year – I finally got to throw him a proper birthday party. The only difference is that we stay up till midnight and say Happy New Year!! (My mom’s birthday is on New Year’s Day and my brother’s is on Christmas day, so we are used to that sort of thing – crazy right?!)

Anyway, I decided that it would be a beer tasting. He loves beer and loves trying different kinds and I thought it would just be perfect. IT WAS!! So, the first annual “New Year’s Eve Birthday Beer Tasting” was born!

To make it feel festive and New Years Eve-y…..I threw some glittery star garland all over the place, hung up disco balls and a banner. I broke out the noisemakers and hats. But other than that – it was a birthday party. Complete with a beer bottle shaped birthday cake. (Hindsight – I should have used chocolate icing – because I couldn’t get the color right and it looks more like a champagne bottle – but that works too!) 🙂

I researched how to throw a beer tasting for few weeks. I talked to friends and the guys at the beer store. I compiled all the best information that I found and made a manual for the guests – with Kevin’s face on the front in a Sam Adams label! (if you ever need a manual for your own beer tasting – let me know and I can e-mail it to ya!) I also made place mats for the glasses and so that people could jot thoughts down as they went….and a folder for everyone with a tasting evaluation form for every beer. (yeah – I can nerd up a party pretty fast)

There are several ways to do it – but I decided we would go with a blind tasting. So, the tasters didn’t know what they were drinking until the end and the big reveal. At the end I wrote a list of the 9 beers they tasted and showed it to them. Then they all wrote down which number they thought went with each beer. Kevin and Tom tied with 7 correct! It was really, really fun!

Everyone brought at least one kind of beer and Kevin and I bought a few too. We had more than 9 to try, but we saved some for people to just drink before and after the tasting. It was a good time.
Some of these were in the tasting and some were just for drinking, but they were all lined up and I thought it was a colorful picture. 🙂