Brew Bash!

Over the life span of my drinking years...yikes, that sounds bad!

Let me try again.

Over the life span of the years in which I have been of the alcohol consumption age...

Better?  Hmmm...not really!

Anyway, I have always enjoyed having a beer or two.  Usually, I am a cheap beer drinker and am pretty content with a Bud Light or if I really want to be a big spender...a Corona.

Like I said, cheap...

But, I have started to get on this Craft Beer craze.  These beers come in different flavors and there are even festivals where you can go and sample lots that are out there.  I love the different seasonal flavors, especially the ones that you can find locally.  My neighbor's son even works for a brewery in a neighboring state.  Love it when he come home to visit!  We "suddenly" have outside chores to do so we can say hello!  It's the neighborly thing to do.  What do you know?  He then brings us lots of freshly bottled samples.  We aren't too transparent are we? :)

So when I saw the idea for a Brew Bash...I thought...how fun!

Here's how to have one of your own with your "of age" alcohol consumer friends.

Here is a simple idea for a Beer Bash set up.  You could have each guest/couple bring a pack of beer and you provide munchies to accompany the taste testing.  This Beer Bash party was set up by a blogger at hostess with the mostess.  They have great party ideas and can be found at blog.hwtm.com.  With guests bringing their favorite pack of beer, the hostess served munchies like salsa and chips, bruschetta and crostini, shrimp cocktails, burger sliders, chicken wings and pretzels and peanuts.

Or, you could do the reverse.  You provide a selection of beers and your guests bring their favorite munchie to share.

If you provide the different kinds of beer, you can do a blind taste testing.  To do a blind tasting, here's what you do...this is what I thought would be really cool to do.

For a blind tasting use a brown lunch bag to hide the beer’s identity, fold down the top a couple of turns for a finished look and tie it at the bottle neck with some twine. (I know what you are thinking, kind of looks like a whino? But you aren't on the street, so you're good!)

 You will need to keep track of which beer is which by handwriting a number on each bottle’s label and keeping a coordinating list to reveal after the tasting.

Here are some tips:

1.  Start with light and move to the darker beers

2.  Serve the beers at their appropriate temperatures.
3.  Between beers you can serve bread to 'cleanse the palette' or some other munchie (soft pretzels are a FABULOUS combination)
4.  If you are using the same glass, you should rinse it between samples.
5.  You can offer as many beer tastes as you like but I like between four and six different beers samples at a time. Remember, small glasses for taste testing otherwise after 4-6 beers, your guests will be spending the night!  After each beer has been tasted and noted, reveal the beer labels so your guests can fill in the beer name, brewery and style in their notes. They may want to purchase their favorites later! It’s a good idea to have some background knowledge about the breweries and the beers that you are serving, or not.

Beer Tasting Notes

Doesn't this look fun?  A printable for recording information about each individual craft beer.  Check out the guest blogger over at www.myownlabels.com/blog/beer-tasting-party/

They have some other great ideas and printables to host your own Brew Bash!

What a fun way to socialize with your friends and support some of the local microbreweries in your area.  Who knows?  You may find out that you are more than a Bud Light kind of girl/guy?

Celebrate the little things that make life sweet!

Christine