Alcohol at BBQ

[Anonymous]

we are having 20-25 adults and about 10 kids over for a bbq this weekend...we will have juice boxes for the kids, lemonade and iced tea and of course water. Should we also have alcohol? Neither my husband or I drink so I am not sure what the etiquette is. The menu is chicken kabobs, grilled fish, grilled veggies, falafel, three salads-black bean, greek, and chick pea...will have hummus/chips, nuts and goldfish and pretzels for kids...ice cream, fruit, and something else sweet...what do you all think? If so, what and please list brands. TIA

[Anonymous]

Yes, you need beer on ice. Get some basic domestic, light, and some foreign. Bud, Miller Lite, and maybe a Sam Adams, and some Heineken. You could chill a bottle of white wine, just in case as well.

And I'd recommend you get some 2 liters of soda. They're cheap. Get a Coke, Diet Coke, and a Sprite at a minimum.

We entertain a lot and I always make sure I have a wide variety of beverages.

[Anonymous]

Absolutely. You need beer and white wine.

[Anonymous]

Go with cans of soda instead of 2 liters. There is much less waste with cans and it holds up better with fizz. Look for sales at Giant or safeway. You can also ice the cans so no worries about needing to have extra ice for liter bottles.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Go with cans of soda instead of 2 liters. There is much less waste with cans and it holds up better with fizz. Look for sales at Giant or safeway. You can also ice the cans so no worries about needing to have extra ice for liter bottles.

I'm confused. I prefer the taste of canned soda better. But I do not see how there is less waste? I would think there is more packaging waste involved. Plus I would think that more of the soda gets wasted this way as well. People are forced to open a whole can even if they want a little, and a whole second can if they just want a little more. With 2-liters, people can take just what they want, right?

[Anonymous]

When our non-drinking friends have a BBQ or party, they simply tell guests to BYOB. They set up a cooler so there is somewhere to put the beer. It is more gracious to provide the beer, but not required, especially if they are good friends and you let people know ahead of time.

For a family-friendly BBQ with young kids and 20-25 adults, I would get:
1 case light beer (Miller Lite or Michelob Ultra)
1 case Samuel Adams Summer Ale or similar
1 case Dos Equis or similar

You will probably have beer left at the end of the evening, but I hate running out of anything. Note that once beer has been chilled, you need to keep it cold. It "skunks" if it warms up after having been chilled.

Get a cooler big enough for most of the beer (about 2/3?). About two hours before the party starts, put the beer in. Cover with ice (1-2 big bags?). Monitor the supply throughout the party. If it is getting low and you haven't even thought of serving dessert yet, put more on ice. You can delegate the monitoring to a friend who does drink, as they are more likely to notice if the beer needs refilling, and will know which beer variety to restock.

[Anonymous]

Where's the beef?

There is no beef on the menu

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When our non-drinking friends have a BBQ or party, they simply tell guests to BYOB. They set up a cooler so there is somewhere to put the beer. It is more gracious to provide the beer, but not required, especially if they are good friends and you let people know ahead of time.

For a family-friendly BBQ with young kids and 20-25 adults, I would get:
1 case light beer (Miller Lite or Michelob Ultra)
1 case Samuel Adams Summer Ale or similar
1 case Dos Equis or similar

You will probably have beer left at the end of the evening, but I hate running out of anything. Note that once beer has been chilled, you need to keep it cold. It "skunks" if it warms up after having been chilled.

Get a cooler big enough for most of the beer (about 2/3?). About two hours before the party starts, put the beer in. Cover with ice (1-2 big bags?). Monitor the supply throughout the party. If it is getting low and you haven't even thought of serving dessert yet, put more on ice. You can delegate the monitoring to a friend who does drink, as they are more likely to notice if the beer needs refilling, and will know which beer variety to restock.

I agree BYO is an easy thing to tell people-- esp. because I think most people will ask if they can bring something. Depending on how many people are bringing 1-2 cases should be enough (two cases is 2- 2 1/2 beer per person if no one brings). Often I will buy one case and still have lots of beer leftover. Personally I'd avoid the Dos Equis because it has a fairly strong taste that not everyone likes (Corona is a very mild beer from Mexico that some people like in the summer, esp. with a lime).

Also it's a myth that beer will "skunk" if it goes from being chilled to room temperature.

[Anonymous]

3 cases of beer for 20-25 adults at a family party is way overkill. We just had a similar bbq over Memorial Day with about 14 drinking adults (and a few pregnant ones) and didn't even go through a whole case. People aren't drinking more than 1 or 2 when they're watching their kids.

These days a lot of stores sell mixed 12-packs or cases of high quality beer, like a Sam Adams or Sierra Nevada sampler. a case and a half of that should do you fine, maybe 2 to be safe and leave 12 of them off ice.

agree that a bottle or 2 of white wine is a good addition - sauvignon blanc or pinot grigio.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Go with cans of soda instead of 2 liters. There is much less waste with cans and it holds up better with fizz. Look for sales at Giant or safeway. You can also ice the cans so no worries about needing to have extra ice for liter bottles.

I'm confused. I prefer the taste of canned soda better. But I do not see how there is less waste? I would think there is more packaging waste involved. Plus I would think that more of the soda gets wasted this way as well. People are forced to open a whole can even if they want a little, and a whole second can if they just want a little more. With 2-liters, people can take just what they want, right?

I think people are used to drinking soda in increments of one can. If they're thirsty, they'll drink one can. If they're really thirsty, they'll drink two cans. Either way they won't likely leave too much in the can.

I normally think of 2-liter bottles as being less wasteful, but we've recently had a few BBQs where a bottle gets opened because one person wants that flavor, then no one else drinks any. We end up with several mostly-full bottles to deal with, and since we're not big soda drinkers it's a bother.

[Anonymous]

I also think that BYO would be fine if these are people you know well. If you decide to provide the alcohol, I would skip the case of light beer and just go with the case of Sam Adams and a case of Corona (don't forget the limes) and two bottles of white wine. You're fine with the lemonade and iced tea and can skip the soda.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Where's the beef?

There is no beef on the menu

there are several vegetarians and none of us eat red meat.

[Anonymous]

One keg of rum.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where's the beef?

There is no beef on the menu

there are several vegetarians and none of us eat red meat.

Sorry-OP again-thanks so much for the suggestions! So if we were to get two kinds of beer-the consensus seems to be Corona and Sam Adams and we will have two bottles of white wine sound ok?