Whitmore BrewBash: Beer Tasting Party
Beer Tasting Party
This summer, I designed a beer tasting party! My boyfriend is quite the “beer connoisseur” so I knew I wanted his birthday party to be a beer tasting celebration.  It was even more fun than I imagined to get creative and design a non-girly party. Don’t get me wrong, I love the pink and sparkle, but I loved finding unique and creative centerpieces, decor, etc. It was a lot of fun! If you were on twitter the day of this party, you probably read that it was pouring rain in Nashville. The lights were strung and the beer posters were hung when the sky opened up. Luckily, I was able to get everything inside quickly with time to spare for resetting up inside due to the weather.
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Starting with my FAVORITE element of the party – the cake! I could not have imagined such a creation as this, it was beyond perfect. Jay Qualls of Maples Wedding Cakes and his talented team designed and made this amazing beer mug cake. It defies gravity! It was the hit of the party, by FAR! If you don’t know Jay or Maples yet, let me introduce you to his talent. This amazing cake graced the pages of Martha Stewart Wedding’s 15th anniversary issue. Martha Stewart Weddings said, “Long ago, the heart was thought to be the origin of all human emotions. Though modern science proves otherwise, the phrase “giving your heart” is still the best way to express that you’d sacrifice anything for the one you love. Jay Qualls of the Tennessee-based Maples Wedding Cakes printed our designs on paper, covered them in parchment, traced them with royal icing, then transferred them onto fondant.”
In addition to the cake, we had Guinness chocolate cupcakes and the birthday boy’s favorite, sandwich cookies! There was no shortage of sugar. Sprinkled on the cake table were Riesens, his favorite candy! For food, I served chipotle macaroni and cheese shooters, pretzels, mixed nuts, and boneless wings (mango habenero, garlic parmesan, sweet barbeque, and carribean jerk). And of course, there was quite an assortment of fun beers! And score cards for guests to pick their favorite. I decorated with glass vases filled with beer caps as well as vases filled with millet and wheat. I painted a wooden “W” green to go along with the hunter green color scheme. I also changed out my wall decor with old beer posters. I love how the party came together, and I LOVE all the pictures. Kristen Steele did a fabulous job – especially with the pouring shots – aren’t those such fun? I love them.
NOTE: Unfortunately, I do not have these printables available to email out anymore (they were on an old hard drive that bit the dust).
And a little picture of the happy party designer and the birthday boy. That would be me posing with that beer – not a beer drinker. I had wine out for the rest of us.
Photography: Kristen Steele Photography
Cake: Maples Wedding Cakes
Cupcakes: The Sweet Stash
Courtney
LOVE it! You are simply AMAZING! :)
Thank you, LaVonne! Your comment put the biggest smile on my face!
Fantastic and super inspiring! Food choices look amazing-the cake!-and I need to try those cupcakes! Woohoo! Great party, great post!
This is outstanding Courtney! Love all of the little touches.
The cake is Bananas! Love it! Your photographer really did a great job, the beer shots are amazing! I wasn’t following your site in the planning stage. But it seems like the rain didn’t put a damper on your design. The party turned out great!
This is FANTASTIC! This is acutally one party my husband would enjoy!
Ditto! My husband and his buddies would love this party theme. I think I will plan on a version of this for our neighborhood dinner party group.
If you need the signs I made let me know! I can email them to you.
Courtney — Love the way everything came together! :) My husband and I decided to use your party as a springboard for an Oktoberfest party that we are planning!!! Can you please provide the template for the “Boneless Wings” sign and the Beer Scoring Cards? Thank you so much!!
So many great ideas! I would love to use these signs for my boyfriend’s 30th Surprise Party I’m planning in October! Would you mind emailing them to me?
Would love the templates for the signs you made! They are perfect for an event I am throwing!
I know this was awhile ago, but I’d LOVE to get the signs too! This would be a great superbowl party theme!!! Please if you get this share with my details and signs…. This is AMAZING! Your boyfriend is VERY lucky!
Hello Courtney!
Your beer party looks fabulous! I’m throwing a similar party for my Hubby’s 40th this May and have scoured the internet for similar signs to yours. Do you still have them available to email to me?
Thank You.
I would love the template for the beer tasting cards if you still have them. i know its really late. and you propably dont check this anymore but if you could email it to me that would be great. safregoso@yahoo.com
I want one.
Courtney, this has to be one of the best parties I have ever seen!! Genius! I have been planning my toddlers third Birthday in November that I forgot my husbands in October! Three stooges or ww2. Both are his passions…… Wish I had ur creative brain to pull either theme off!!
Mae – those are both neat ideas – 3 stooges would be a lot of fun! email me if you want design help! :)
Courtney! You are a gem! Yes! Any creative ideas throw my way! I have decided on 3 stooges…. All I know is I want to use houndstooth in the design process … Other than that… I am stumped! Thnks so much for your creative flair!
Courtney, amazing! I love love love the beer posters and bottle caps as decor. Great job!!
wow – that cake is amazing! and the party looks so much fun – fantastic job!
What a fabulous idea! and I LOVE how the whole party turned out. You are just amazing!
Thank you soo much Claire!
That was one amazing party!! I LOVE the cake! All the details were perfect and it looks like it was a blast!
Thanks Katie!
Oh. My. Heavens! I love this party. How did you get the font for those signs? I want it!
I just googled beer fonts! I think 1 is called Draft something and the other is BrewMaster American maybe? I can look them up if you want!
This is so great! I love the use of clear jars and beer bottle caps, you must have gotten those from a bar or something?! I love the beer steins and of course, the AMAZING cake. Love it!
WOW!!! AMAZING JOB, Courtney!!! What a fun party!!!
This turned out perfect! Love the bottlecaps and the buckets, oh and ofcourse, the beer score card! LOL! Great works cutie!
This is fantastic! The cake is amazing but all the other details you pulled together are what bring it over the top. Love!!
As someone who attended the party, I can say, it was even more amazing in person, although these photos are fantastic–I especially love the beer pouring ones, that’s a great touch! Courtney, you really are a party-planning-creative genius! We had a blast, thanks for all your hard work putting it all together! Everything was delicious!
This is stunning – Absolutely, jaw-dropping, holy goodness is that cake for real, stunning! Kristen’s photographs are fantastic, as always, and everything looked to die for delicious! Amidst wedding planning, all I want to do is plan parties that could be just an ounce as creative as this! haha I think the closest party planning I can attempt to try right now would be for my Bridesmaids Luncheon…So many ideas I just need to go for it! Thank you so much for sharing!
This party is gorgeous and SO masculine! I love it! I am throwing a beer themed party for my boyfriend’s 31st birthday and was wondering where you ordered the personalized beer mugs? I love the font you used on them!
Hi Christine! I ordered them from discountmugs.com!
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE IT!! I absolutely adore hosting theme parties, but like to make them as classy as possible…. this is exactly the inspiration I needed to pull together my beer tasting party! You offer your guiness cupcake and wing sign to someone – is it possible for me to also steal these fab pieces from you!? Thank you in advance!
Would be too much to ask to also get a copy of the cupcake and wing signs?!?!
Awesome job! Where did you purchase the Tasting Scorecards from? Any chance you could provide the definitions? Thank you!!
Courtney – do you sell any of the signage you used for the party? Would love the beer scoring cards, wings/guinness cupcakes signs, etc. CUTE, CUTE, CUTE!!
Hi Christine,
I know you posted this blog quite a few months ago but I was wondering if you still had any of the beer signs or any of the recipes for your boyfriend’s party? I am throwing a beer tasting party for my husband’s 28th birthday. I have almost everything planned out to the last detail. I want to really go over the top because he and I are both in the Army and just got back from Iraq. We seem to always be separated for his birthday or mine and I want to make him feel really special. I am so impressed by your thoughtfulness for your boyfriend and I hope to have the same effect with my party. Any and all help would be greatly appreciated.
Juls
Sorry Courtney! I just realized I called you Christine because I had been reading one of your posts and didn’t pay attention.
Courtney – this party is amazing! I love throwing parties like this and I’m actually planning one for myself in a few weeks! Do you sell the signs and scorecards that you made? I would love to use them for my party. Thanks! You are so creative :)
This party is awesome!!! You are the inspiration for my husband’s birthday party. I was going back and forth on whether to throw him a party or not and after coming across your party I had no choice but to DO IT! : ) I’m trying to throw everything together for next weekend (so not like me, I’m a planner). Can you tell me where you got your food signs and score cards please? Any tips would be greatly appreciated!!!
Hi Courtney,
I am planning a surprise party for my husband’s 30th birthday and I plan to host a brew bash as well. I love the ideas you had for the party, especially the beer scoring card. I’m looking for something simple and the card you created is perfect. Do you still have the card template or can you list the details found on the card?
Thanks,
Meagan
I was wondering if you see if I could get the templates for the wings, cupcakes, and scoring cards. This party is so cute. I am planning one for my husband for his 30th birthday!!
Courtney,
me and my girlfriend are throwing a housewarming party and wanted to center it around beer we feel in love with your beer scoring cards and was wondering if you still have the template. Or the infromation given in the small print of yours. Any infromation would be greatly appreciated.
Courtney I found your blog through pinterest and love everything about your beer tasting party. I want to do the same theme for my husbands 30th! Would you be willing to share? I’ve been looking everywhere for beer tasting cards!
Hi Courtney,
Where did you get the beer toothpicks for the cupcakes & cookie sandwiches? Also, would you be able to email me the signs? Thank you so much!
Thank you for your party ideas!! I am planning my husband’s 60th and there are great ideas here. Also, I will remember the “beer drinking pose”, as I don’t drink beer either :).
I loved your ideas and look forward to reading about more. “Hunta”.