Give your favorite brew its due by hosting a beer bash focusing on regional craft beers.
Celebrate brews by throwing a casual beer bash and explore the wide world of craft beers, relish beer-and-food pairings and compare notes on your favorite flavors.
We created a laid-back atmosphere with a liberal use of wood, galvanized steel, old-style tins, colorful beer signs, and whimsical beer-bottle decor. Since our craft beer bash was held in an old Missouri horse barn, we chose regional brews from Kansas City, St. James, and Springfield.
Party guests sit at vintage-style biergarten-style tables and benches made from lightweight fir—inexpensive yet surprisingly sturdy—sampling suds and taking notes on beer-tasting placemats. Cedar shavings on the floor soaked up spills and (bonus!) kept flies at bay for hours.
Vintage-style party decor is highlighted with candelabra made from beer bottles tied together with twine. Bistro-style lights twinkled from the beams overhead.
Stacks of vintage beer coasters from the U.S. and Europe collected over the years protect tables and entertain guests.
Draw attention to the food table by decorating the walls with new and vintage beer signs. Some of ours are neon; others are fluorescent-lit. Get a similar effect in the backyard by hanging beer signs on a privacy fence.
Gingham-check paper napkins and plates, and galvanized-steel serving pieces create a countrified atmosphere.
Make brew-tiful spears for cheesy bites and fruit slices by adhering toothpicks to bottle caps with clear-drying silicone.
To make the picks, collect bottle caps with little or no bend (another reason to love twist-off caps). You’ll also need a tube of clear silicone and a container of toothpicks. One tube of silicone will make dozens of picks.
Wash and dry the caps. Squeeze a generous amount of silicone in the underside of a bottle cap from the center to the edge.
Insert one end of a toothpick in the silicone (we used picks with a blunt end that grabs more of the adhesive), ensuring that the end is completely covered with silicone. Push the tip of the pick to the edge of the cap. Let silicone dry completely before moving the cap.
A selection of caps from a variety of beer brands makes a lively, and in some cases nostalgic, display of picks.
Place the finished picks in shot glasses near cheeses and fruits. Pop a few into cheese cubes on a serving platter.
Don’t miss our next post! We’ll show you how to make more of the goodies in our Beer fest spread!
© Caruth Studio