Everyone loves drinking games right?! Well, maybe that’s not entirely true, but with us and our group of friends it is! Years ago, a friend introduced Joffrey and I to the Beer Olympics and we have been hosting ever since!
So, you may be wondering what the Beer Olympics is… in the Beer Olympics, teams participate in multiple drinking games to compete for the Bronze, Silver and Gold trophies. In our version of the Beer Olympics, we switch up the games depending on the season. This makes things a bit more interesting, as our guests never know what to expect. We also allow players to choose the beverage of their choice. One reason for this is I’m not a fan of beer (I know blasphemy!), but I love cocktails. However, for some games, beer is the only option, but we will get to that a little later.
Why did we start hosting the Beer Olympics?
The Beer Olympics combines everything that we love, so why not host a party?! For our first party, I had to do lots of research to find out what kind of games we could play and how to keep score, but the second and third time were much easier to plan. It can be a little intimidating, but thankfully there are lots of online resources.
How can you host the Beer Olympics?
If you enjoy hosting parties and your friends are into playing games and drinking, you will love this party! But, there are a few things you need to know….
Planning
- Determine how many players you want on each team
- Take a poll to make sure you’ll have enough players for at least four teams
- Create a schedule that includes a group photo, opening ceremony, intermission and closing ceremony
- Pick your events
- Buy supplies
- Have team shirts made
- Make a scoreboard
- Make/Buy trophies or medals for the winning teams
Group Photo
This one is important, as you can get wrapped up in hosting and forget to take a group picture. And that’s exactly what happened for our first Beer Olympics party in 2016 (we did however have a photobooth, so there are lots of pictures). We suggest taking it at the very beginning before everyone gets dirty, tired or the sun goes down.
Opening Ceremony
We like to kick-off our party by thanking everyone for coming, lighting a torch and sometimes doing a shot of liquor. We’ve changed it every year and expect this to continue because we think it’s more fun that way (and we never remember what we did the year before in the moment). Whatever you choose to do, you can never go wrong with theme music, a torch and alcohol!
Events
Beer Pong is the only game we play no matter what the season is. We’ve talked about switching it up, maybe Chesties will make its debut at our next party! Flip Cup is another game we play, but the version varies because in the summer (or I should say HOT months) we play it with a slip-n-slide. We like to mix up the events by having some where three or four teams (at random) join forces to dominate the other “super” team.
Spring
- Beer Pong
- Beer Duel
- Slip Cup
- Shoot Out
- Dizzy Bat
- Anchorman
Summer
- Beer Pong
- Slip Cup
- Shoot Out
- The Hula (Hoop)
- Dodgeball (water balloon edition)
Winter
- Beer Pong
- Ice Tray Canoe Race
- Anchorman
- Flip Cup
- Beer Soup
- Civil War
Closing Ceremony
When all of the events have been played, we tally up the final scores and determine if there is a tie. Things quickly get really interesting when there is a tie and we have a sudden death faceoff to break it. Once all the winners are finalized we give out the trophies to the winning teams.
The Shirts
The idea to have team shirts made came with the very first Beer Olympics we went to and it’s been a tradition ever since! A local printing company (Off the Wall Prints) creates the artwork and the shirts for us and they do a great job! Everyone loves having team shirts made and it adds something to the experience.
Our Scoreboard
I own lots of crafting supplies, so once I knew we were going to host more than one Beer Olympics I invested time into making a nicer scoreboard. If you are crafty, make a scoreboard that can be reused year after year. If not, pick up some cheap foam boards from the Dollar Tree and toss them at the end of the night.
The Prestigious Trophies and the Winners Circle
The down and dirty of it all…
- We have teams of two RSVP a month prior to the party (a minimum of four teams are needed, this has never been an issue).
- Each team brings the beverage of choice.
- If you have enough people it might be worth having everyone pitch in for a keg
- Shop at the Dollar Tree for supplies
- Start with opening ceremonies
- Plan 5-6 competitions
- HYDRATE, HYDRATE, HYDRATE
- End the night with the closing ceremonies
- Plan to have a place for people to crash for the night or call them an Uber or Lyft to make sure everyone arrives home safely
What are you waiting for?! Start planning now, we all need something to look forward to after social distancing/quarantine ends.
For behind the scenes footage from our Beer Olympics parties, be sure to check out our Instagram account @pdadventure!
Game Rules and Scoring
For the more popular games (that most likely everyone has played before) we play using standard rules. All other games have instructions listed below as they might not be known or we may have made them up.
Anchorman
Standard rules
- Partner teams together to make teams of 4
- Team size may vary depending on how many teams you have
- Fill pitcher with beer
Points:
1st place: 10
2nd place: 8
3rd place: 6
4th place: 4
Beer Duel
Rules: Stand back to back with an opposing team player. Take two giant steps forward and chug drink. As soon as finished, turn and throw the ball at the opposing player. First to HIT the other player wins. If you miss, you must chug another cup of beer to get another ball.
- 2 player team versus another 2 player team, bracket style
- Chugging and tossing can continue until a player is HIT.
- You can hold the first ball in your hand at the start of the duel.
- You can NOT dodge the balloon by moving your feet once your 2 steps have been taken.
- You can NOT turn around to face your opponent until your beer is finished
- If you do not wish to drink beer your teammate can be your designated beer drinker
- Each teammate must go once
Points:
2 points for each hit
Beer Pong
Standard rules
- 2 player team versus another 2 player team, bracket style
- We don’t play with redemption because it makes the games last too long.
Points:
1st place: 12
2nd place: 10
3rd place: 8
4th place: 6
Loser Bracket:
Top 2 losers: 4
All others: 2
Beer Soup
Rules: Each team must choose who is going to “eat” the beer soup. Once decided, the chosen member from each team gets in position behind a bowl of beer soup. At go, players start “eating” the soup with their spoon. Once a team member finishes they step back from the table and place their hands behind their back.
- All teams compete against each other at the same time and drink beer
Points:
1st place: 10
2nd place: 8
3rd place: 5
4th place: 3
All others: 1
Civil War
Standard rules
- We did this just for fun at the end of the night
- We split all of the 2 player teams up into 2 “super” teams.
Dizzy Bat
Rules: For this relay race, each person must chug their drink, then lean over a bat and spin around four times (team counts aloud). Once the spinning is complete the team member must run up to and around the relay post. The next team member begins chugging after a high five from the prior team member.
- Team based, relay race
- We split all of the 2 player teams up into 2 “super” teams
- No holding
- No intentional tackling
Points:
1st place: 10
2nd place: 7
Dodgeball (water balloon edition)
Standard dodgeball rules
- Team based, relay race
- We split all of the 2 player teams up into 2 “super” teams
- We fill up two 5 gallon paint buckets with water and water balloons and play until we run out of water balloons or all members of a team are taken out. Losing team does a shot of their choice or chugs a beer
Points:
1st place: 5
2nd place: 3
Flip Cup
Standard rules
- Team based, relay race
- We split all of the 2 player teams up into 2 “super” teams
- Same rules apply to Slip Cup except:
- Sliding position (on butt, back, stomach, etc) is player’s decision
- No holding or forcing opponent off of slip & slide
Points:
1st place: 10
2nd place: 5
The Hula (Hoop)
Rules: Each team must choose who is going to hula hoop and who is going to chug beer. At go, players start hula hooping while their teammate chugs. Players must raise their beer cans once empty and yell Hula.
- All teams compete against each other at the same time and must drink beer
- Chugging can only be done while the hula hooping is being done and the hula hoop is not on the ground.
Points:
1st place: 10
2nd place: 8
3rd place: 5
4th place: 3
All others: 1
Ice Tray Canoe Race
Rules: All team members stand at the table in front of an ice cube tray filled with beer. On go, all teams suck up beer from their team tray through provided straws. Once a team member finishes their tray they step back from the table and place their hands behind their back.
- All teams compete against each other at the same time
Points:
1st place: 10
2nd place: 8
3rd place: 5
4th place: 3
All others: 1
Shoot Out
Rules: The first member of the team chugs their drink and then uses a squirt gun to shoot ping pong balls off of the top of three beer bottles. Once all three ping pong balls have been knocked off, the first team member resets them for the second team member. Once the first team member gets back to the “squirting line”, the second player chugs a beer and squirts the three balls off the beer bottles.
- 2 player team versus another 2 player team, bracket style
Points:
1st place: 10
2nd place: 8
3rd place: 5
4th place: 3
All others: 1
Sample supply list:
Tables
Tent (if you need shade)
Ping pong balls
Solo cups
Coolers
Ice
Medals/Trophies
Water
Scoreboard
Snacks
Food
Where will your next adventure take you?
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