The question you ask the night before a party: how much beer to buy? My simple method so you don't run dry, without ending up with three packs left over.
How much beer to plan for a party is a question that can catch you out, often the night before. I've asked it myself plenty of times, so I ended up putting together a simple method. Nothing scientific: just enough to avoid running dry at 10pm, or being left with three packs for the rest of the month.
The starting point I use: count about one glass per adult per hour. For a five-hour party with twenty people, that's a hundred glasses. A glass is 25cl on tap, 33cl in a can. You've nothing to work out in detail, it's just an order of magnitude so you don't set off blind.
I always correct this rule for context, because twenty people never drink the same way. A festive birthday or a wedding, people keep the pace late: I go up a bit. A family lunch, a majority of drivers or light drinkers: I go down. And the start of the evening, when everyone arrives, always goes faster than the end: plan generously for that moment.
From around thirty people, the question comes up. A 30-litre keg is about 120 glasses of 25cl, with no mountain of cans to lug around or chill one by one. Below that, cans stay more flexible: you adjust to the pack and keep the surplus with no worry. If you go for a keg, our tap guide breaks down the quantities by number of guests.
A classic trap: trying to please everyone with ten different beers. In practice, two almost always do. An easy, thirst-quenching style everyone drinks without thinking, and a style with a bit more character for those who look for it. That covers the vast majority of tastes without ruining you.
I always plan a touch more than my calculation, say ten percent: a party that runs dry can't be fixed, whereas a spare can will drink very well another day. That's the upside of beer: unlike food, the surplus doesn't go to waste. Store it away from light and heat, it'll wait for you. If you're unsure about a specific quantity, write to us: helping you aim right is part of the job.
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