How long will 5 gallons of HB last at a party?

I'm interested in some feedback on how long a keg of homebrew will last at a party. Please post from experience.

The first time I served homebrew at a party I had only a 3 gal. keg. That lasted about 45 min. At the last Oktoberfest, the O'fest keg was kicked within 2 hrs and we did some pretty serious damage on two other kegs before the night was out.

At last year's pig roast I had 3 kegs and a friend brought another. I had less than two gallons left at the end. I've got 4 ready to go for this years (in two weeks ). I think these will all get kicked this year (Bitters, Alt, Koelsch, and Bav. Wheat).

About 2 hours. Set your watch.

i finished my first keg with 4 people in 3-4 hours

My only experience taking HB to parties is HBC meetings, so that's a bit of a cheat.

Last month we threw a party that killed two kegs. I'm guessing the party lasted 6 hours, so I voted for 3 hours. But we also drank a bunch of bottles and likely would have put a good dent into a third keg if we had made it available. The number of people at the party, and how much they like to drink are pretty big variables.

I made 15 gallons for a wedding a couple months back and they were killed in about an hour and a half. It depends on size of crowd and having good drinkers.

Depends on a lot of things, how many people, for one thing?

Ryanh1801 said:

Depends on a lot of things, how many people, for one thing?

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Good question. At least a dozen. I mean, how many times have you taken 5 gallons to a party with only 4 people. I would, if they were all beer drinkers like me and that was the only drink, but for general purposes, think of a real party with at least 12+ people.

2-3 hours with 12-13 people. I've had five gallons go as quick as an hour though on a hot day.

EdWort said:

Good question. At least a dozen. I mean, how many times have you taken 5 gallons to a party with only 4 people. I would, if they were all beer drinkers like me and that was the only drink, but for general purposes, think of a real party with at least 12+ people.

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Well in that case my friends about an 1 hour.

With general non-beer drinkers, I always take the keg home with a decent amount left. With a homebrew club party you're lucky if the thing isn't floating in a half hour.

I think it depends on the kind of beer. Haus Pale? 1-2 hrs. Porter? Maybe not at all. Most people don't wanna guzzle the dark stuff. Heck, tho, your friends might!

I took a keg to Jersey a couple of weeks back and no one showed up......brought back 1/2 keg.

My friend Dan came out to IL to visit last summer...we killed 4 kegs in 5 days just the two of us...:rockin:

The first time I served home brew at a BBQ, I had two seperate batches, all bottled (I don't keg ... yet), for a party of about 15 people, all of the men construction workers. I was making a beer run within an hour.
Now, I make sure I have at LEAST three different styles to serve at every party we host. The store bought beers, brought by well-meaning guests, all go last.

about 2.5 hours per keg. they never last long enough. Bring at least one spare for a 6 hour party. By then they wont even notice if its warm.

Depending on the size of the crowd two 5gal batches tends to float within 2 hours. I have noticed that bud light drinkers really don't go for stouts at hot beach party. (More for me and the other beer snobs).

Yay beer snobs!!

I took a Cascade-dry-hopped IPA to a bachelor party about 2 months ago. The keg sat beside tubs full of about 7 varieties of Bell's and Southern Tier. ~12-15 guys at the party, and the keg went in 2:15 (I voted 2 above). I couldn't believe it, with the nice selection of bottles beside it.

The groom threw me $50 to make the keg, and was really proud of it. He was telling people about it as soon as they walked in, pimping it hard. I got a lot of really nice comments about it through the night, so I think people were actually choosing it and there was a collective groan when it kicked.

homebrewer_99 said:

I took a keg to Jersey a couple of weeks back and no one showed up......brought back 1/2 keg.

My friend Dan came out to IL to visit last summer...we killed 4 kegs in 5 days just the two of us...:rockin:

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My bad Bill. I really wanted to try some of your brew. My parents picked the wrong week to re-roof their house.

hard to tell as i usually have a couple on tap and some bottles

If the word is out that HB is coming to the party it will go fast

Apologies for the thread-jack (and resurrection of an old thread) but how to you guys deal with keg sediment when moving kegs? I always find that when I move my kegs around it takes quite a while for the sediment to settle out again. Its cloudy beer until then. Do you all have the same experience? I usually primary for 1 month then transfer to keg and cold crash.

12 people 2 beers an hour average 24 beers an hour 5 gallons about 2 hours more or less.

12-18 people at my neighbors backyard and it will take roughly 3-4 hours. I solve the sediment and foaming issue by taking it over several hours ahead. My neighbor keeps it iced down on hot days.

Bopper359 said:

Apologies for the thread-jack (and resurrection of an old thread) but how to you guys deal with keg sediment when moving kegs? I always find that when I move my kegs around it takes quite a while for the sediment to settle out again. Its cloudy beer until then. Do you all have the same experience? I usually primary for 1 month then transfer to keg and cold crash.

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Keg to keg transfer

Use a LONG beer hose (mine is 8 feet) and rack from the out to the out.
A long beer hose so you can disconnect it before you pull any sediment.
You'll want to start by pouring off the first pint so any sediment is in the glass.

Clean beer that you can put in the back of a pick-up and drive 150 miles.
Park the truck and pull the handle, Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm beer

Well, drinking a gallon in an hour is more of a chore than it is rewarding, so I would say 1/2 gallon per person, per hour on average. That would give you a strong average between different types of consumers.

nomadjanet said:

12 people 2 beers an hour average 24 beers an hour 5 gallons about 2 hours more or less.

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.....maybe if there is some eating involved, then 2hrs! But for just sitting around drinking and shootin' it with other beer drinkers, 4-5 beers/hr/person = 4.5beers*12people*1hr = 54 beers.

Best bring some more. I've seen some go in ~30min. at a few of our college parties a couple years ago.

later,

Forced to pick "took some home" after a disappointing experience at a reunion of friends where I brought a sixer of oatmeal stout and a sixer of cider and brought one stout and one cider home with me. About 8-10 people through the afternoon and into the night and they (we) destroyed all the Labatt Blue, Budweiser, and Leinenkugel in the house. Later on I found out that 3 or 4 people thought they would get the ****s from homebrew and the other ones "didn't want to fill up too quick."

5 gallons + 12 people is a usual occurance for me and 2 to 3 hours is the norm before it's gone.

I'll revisit this and post the number on Sunday. We're having a party Saturday night and I brewed up 15 gallons for it. I have 5 gallons of Irish Red, 5 of Stout, and 5 of Blonde. I also have a few friends who can put them back. If we stay off the whiskey for a while, we should be able to make a dent in the beer.

With my neighbors (Only 6 of us in total).... well I had 2 on tap.... I figure 6+ was gone in just over 3 hrs (brew party and Pizza). It goes fast when they know they can walk/crawl or sleep on my couch or spare bedroom rather than driving home.

I think it's more the circumstances with driving that contributes to the amount of drinking.

We had a Maibock vs. Maibock competition between myself and a buddy at my brother's a few years ago. The two of us each brought two cases of bottles, and it was all gone in two hours between ten people.

I don't think anybody won, by the way.

I had 3.5 kegs kicked at a house party a month ago. Probably 100 peeps and 3 hours.

Normal parties, I'll have 10 or 12 people and 4 kegs on tap. Usually there's some left in every one. Once in a while a cider or a pale will get kicked.

B

carnevoodoo said:

I made 15 gallons for a wedding a couple months back and they were killed in about an hour and a half. It depends on size of crowd and having good drinkers.

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Im making 4 kegs for my buddies wedding and I am curious to see how long they last.