“Without question, the greatest invention in the history of mankind is beer. Oh, I grant you that the wheel was also a fine invention, but the wheel does not go nearly as well with pizza.” – Dave Barry.
Beer pairs well with almost everything. Be it pizzas and hotdogs, heartfelt conversations with your closest companion, stressful nights before an important submission, and crazy parties with your friends. Now, conjugate the latter with some fun drinking games and see how you take the entertainment several notches higher. Beer Olympics events, of course, make drinking more fun.
As their name says, Beer Olympics are all about getting together with your bunch of buddies, eating good food, playing good music, gulping down lots of beer, and competing in some fun challenges.
The best part is that you don’t need to spend a great deal of time, money, and energy in planning and preparing for the event. All you need is your backyard, some props, teams competing against each other, and lots of beer.
If you have no clue where to start, let us lend you a helping hand. Read further to know how to organize the best Beer Olympics event. Here we go:
Table of Contents
Where to start?
Select a venue
You certainly need not go hunting for a fancy banquet or party venue for your own Beer Olympics. Beer Olympics events can be organized anywhere; your backyard, garden, garage, or drawing room. You only need some empty space to organize your event.
Decorate the venue
Again, you do not need to go overboard with decoration. Just grab some flag banners, torches, and other easy-to-find party decorations. Do not forget to get Olympic rings to set up the gaming mood. Use your creativity to make Olympic rings, or look on Pinterest for inspiration.
Get your teams
To play the games, you will need teams. Of course, there are many individual games, but when teams come together on the battleground, the fun skyrockets.
Make sure every team has at least four to six players. The more, the merrier. Thinking about team themes? Don’t worry. We will get to it later in this article.
Hang a whiteboard
A whiteboard is necessary to keep track of scores. Of course, you can keep the tab on any piece of paper, but scores written in bold on a whiteboard for everyone to see gives an altogether different vibe.
Get food and drink
Do not plan for an extensive meal. Think finger food.
Shortbread pizza bites or rolls, mini burgers, taco bites, cheese balls, cheese rings, deviled eggs, chicken rolls, pastry bites, etc., are easy to grab while playing.
You can also place large snack boards. Ham and sandwich board, fruits and veggies board, pancake board. The list of ideas are many.
As far as drink is concerned let the beer do the talking. But do not forget your non-alcoholic friends. They should have mocktails to participate too.
Keep the medals ready
The winners would love to flaunt with a gold medal. Make sure you buy some medals and trophies for the winners. If not those, gifts works just as well.
Plan an opening ceremony
An opening ceremony will set the right tone for the event. It will pump enthusiasm in all the team members and make your event is more entertaining.
Make the teams select a foot-tapping anthem and present themselves with a group dance or introduce the teams with funny taglines.
The idea is to start your event with a bang.
Beer Olympics team themes
As multiple teams are going to play against each other, it is imperative for them to have a name. Here are some ideas you can go by:
Country
Just like the real Olympics, you can name the teams after different countries. Designate a color for each country and create their flags. You can also consider getting team jerseys.
Color
The easiest way to distinguish between different team members is through colors. Give each team a color and ask them to wear their team color.
To make it more interesting, you can bring the props for the game in the designated team colors.
Superheroes
We have always seen superheroes fighting villains. Create your parallel universe where superheroes fight superheroes.
Wouldn’t it be interesting watching Batman pitted against Spiderman or Wonder Woman fighting Captain America?
Let the teams decide their favorite superheroes, and let the battle begin.
Game of Thrones
From Targaryens to Starks, Baratheons to Tyrells, many houses have met and greeted each other on the battleground.
Make your Drinking Olympics event a Game of Thrones battleground and watch the Kingdoms of Westeros compete in your Beer Olympics event.
If Game of Thrones is not your thing, choose any fantasy or fictional theme like Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, etc.
Either stick to these interesting ideas or use your imagination to create a fun theme. But make sure you decide on the Beer Olympics team themes in advance because the teams will need some time to prepare their costumes.
10 best games for Beer Olympics events
Now that the decoration is in place, team themes have been decided, and you know what you will serve your guests, it is time to select the games for your Beer Olympics event.
When it comes to games for Beer Olympics events, you are spoilt for choices.
Here are a few options:
Thunderstruck
Beer Olympics is not just about playing games with beer. It is also about gulping down beer in copious amounts. Thunderstruck, one of the most popular beer games, allows players to drink until they drop.
If this name clicks a button in your mind, you are going in the right direction. A favorite among all the AC/DC fans, this game has everything to do with the band’s popular number, Thunderstruck.
All you need to do is make everyone stand in a circle, play “Thunderstruck” by AC/DC on your music player, and wait for the word “Thunder”. Whenever this word comes, a player has to drink beer until they hear it again in the song. When the word drops again, the first player should stop drinking, and the second (going clockwise or anti-clockwise) should follow suit.
It is a fun way to drink beer, get tipsy, and have a lot of giggles.
Beer Pong
No Beer Olympics event is complete without the classic “Beer Pong”. Two teams compete against each other in this game.
Take equal numbers of cups for both teams and fill them with beer.
Now, players have to throw ping-pong balls into the cups of their opponents. The team that loses its beer cups first loses the game.
Beer Ball
Beer Ball is another fun beer game that requires only beer cans and a ping-pong ball. The game is played between two teams comprising two players each.
Arrange beer cans on the ends of a long table and make the team players stand across the table. The team going first, say Team A, has to throw the ball to hit Team B’s cans.
If the player manages to hit the cans, they must grab a beer can and keep chugging until the player of Team B grabs the ball and touches it to the table. Once the ball reaches the table, the player who has been drinking beer must stop. It finishes the first round.
Next, Team B takes their turn and throws the ball to hit the beer cans of Team A.
The teams take alternate turns until any team finishes drinking their beer. The team that finishes first wins.
Beer Bottle Ring Toss
It is a simple but fun ring-tossing game. Place two beer bottles in front of two players. The players must throw the rings around the neck of the bottle.
The player who tosses the most number of rings on the bottle becomes the winner.
Shotgun Race
Any number of players can participate in a shotgun race. The aim here is to finish the beer as fast as possible.
Give a key to each player to crack open the can. Once the time starts, each player should open the can near the bottom and start gulping down the beer. The one who empties their can the fastest wins the game.
Make sure the winner flips the can to show that they have finished every drop of beer before you declare them a winner.
Beer Tasting Competition
Here comes a sophisticated twist to the wild Beer Olympics events.
Test the tasting skills of your players by organizing a beer-tasting competition. You would need different types of beer for this competition.
The players need to taste the beer and identify the type of beer.
Beer Barrel Roll Race
If you have beer barrels, a beer barrel roll race will be a perfect game for your beer Olympic event.
The teams have to roll the barrel down the racing track and get it back to the starting point. The team that touches the finish line first wins.
Beer Scavenger Hunt
This cross-over between a scavenger hunt and beer will be the most fun activity at your Beer Olympics event.
As the name says, it is a beer scavenger hunt where the teams have to find the beer cans hidden across the venue. The team that manages to find the most number of cans within the given time frame, walks away with the trophy.
Flip Cup
Flip Cup is like a fun relay race.
Make the two teams stand across each other. Line plastic cups in front of the players and fill one-third of the cups with beer.
The first player from each team will start the race by drinking the beer and flipping the cup. Once a member flips a cup, another one in the line has to do the same.
The team that flips all the cups first wins the game.
Sip or Strip
Any number of players can play this strip game. The game starts when a player flips a coin. If they get heads, they take a sip of beer from their can or mug. If they get tails, they have to remove a piece of their clothing. Now, if they do not want to remove their clothing, they can trade it with a shot.
Whoever is left with the most number of clothes wins.
Precautions to take when planning your Beer Olympics event
A fun beer-drinking event can turn into a nightmare if you don’t take precautions. Here are a few things to watch out for to make your event a success.
- Keep a tab on everyone’s drinking limit. If you think someone has reached their threshold. Make them stop.
- Do not entertain underage drinking.
- Do not allow drinking and driving.
- Confirm if anyone has any health issues before you start the drinking games.
- Do not force anyone to drink beer.
- Keep plenty of water at the venue.
Final thought
Beer Olympics events are a great way to socialize and have lots of fun. There are several other games you can try and even make your own drinking games. But see that everyone drinks responsibly.
So, what are you waiting for? Call your close buddies, make a Beer Olympics events list, and plan a Beer Olympics event.
Make sure you have plenty of beer because Napoleon once said- “One victory, you deserve beer, in defeat, you need it.”
