Serving Homebrew at parties

I'm organizing for an upcoming party, One oversight - drink wear - I've got close to 20 pint glasses, so I figured I'd make a move to plastic glasses to cover the 40+ people coming.

One question: 12oz or 16oz? Pros/cons?

$1 pint glasses at the dollar store

Other.

Offer 12oz plastic. And encourage guests to bring their own glass. Those who care will bring glass because it is superior. Those who don't care, won't care.

12oz, so dont want people getting super messed up super quick. With smaller glasses they can pace themselves easier

Boerderij_Kabouter said:

Other.

encourage guests to bring their own glass. Those who care will bring glass because it is superior. Those who don't care, won't care.

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+1 ...thats how it rolls at my pub...I offer my glasses but suggest friends to bring their own if they chose to do so

coypoo said:

12oz, so dont want people getting super messed up super quick. With smaller glasses they can pace themselves easier

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This may be backwards. 12oz equals faster finishing faster trips to the keg equals faster boob exposure. Or that could be my people I dunno..?

Depends on what kind of party. If you have wild friends, hide the glassware. If it's pretty laid back. Bring out the glassware and encourage guests to bring their favorite glass. 6 pack to the winner with the nicest gl(ass).

CoalCracker said:

Depends on what kind of party. If you have wild friends, hide the glassware. If it's pretty laid back. Bring out the glassware and encourage guests to bring their favorite glass. 6 pack to the winner with the nicest gl(ass).

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+1 to the award! The party is a big brewday - 40+ coming, and probably 20 have experience in brewing. We'll have 7 rigs/set ups brewing any number of batches. It's a laid back day of food and beer with the hope that a few more brewers are born.

plastic= no washing all those friggn glasses.

Glass. Because using the dishwasher is so difficult.

16 oz Plastic, because with 40+ folks stuff is going to get dropped & misplaced.

Let's be honest, this isn't a judges table event. It's a PARTY!

Go with a higher quality plastic cup like Solo, 12 oz is plenty. Smaller amounts encourage movement and more tasting (if you're offering varieties), IMO.

Good luck with the party!

I like many others collect pint glasses, but I very, very rarely bring them out when I have friends over. However, I did buy a case of American Pint glasses and keep those on top of my kegerator for when friends come over. They still give you the bar feel, but if one breaks it's no big deal b/c they only cost $1. I get mine from Dollar Tree. Here is what they look like http://www.dollartree.com/kitchen-t...ware/Pub-Glasses/213c264c377p305262/index.pro

Definitely glass. I have amassed quite a beer glass collection over the past few years and it would be a shame not to use to its fullest every once in a while.

I voted for the glass, but if there is going to be a bunch of drunk people you might want to hide the glass

buzzkill said:

plastic= no washing all those friggn glasses.

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Plastic = bad for the environment. Don't be lazy. Just wash the damn things.

I had a party with glass pint glasses last October. Not a single glass was broken and as far as I can tell, none are missing.

I would go with the 16oz if there are a lot of people who don't know how to properly dispense keg beers. If they get a lot of foam, it's not big deal.

If you use plastic, get the hard clear plastic ones like homebrew competitions use. Party stores sell them in a format similar to a double old fashioned glass. I prefer a taller thinner format and you can special order them through the party store or get them a bit cheaper after shipping from the link below (this is for the 7 oz that competitions use, there are other sizes).

http://www.webstaurantstore.com/7-oz-tall-clear-hard-plastic-tumbler-500-cs/619PI7.html

ETA: Other plastic glasses typically have a plastic odor or will ruin head retention or both. These have neither problem.

We throw one big party per year on Halloween with around 50 in attendance. There's no way glass would survive that party. That said, drinking excellent beer is not the theme for that party. That's why we buy a couple of kegs of Big River (Gordon Biersch) brews and supply stacks of 16 oz. solo cups. If we were having a barbecue/homebrew party, we'd definitely go all glass.

seabeejohn, Sorta torn. Plastic is cheaper, but glass is more classy. If was a "squid" party (some of the chiefs I know...) plastic would be a requirement. But, 40+ pint glasses is a PITA (washing, storage, breakage, etc.) I think what CoalCracker said is best, encourage people to bring their favorite glass. Then they can bring them back home when they're done.

Glass. Plastic is a waste of money, bad for the environment, etc.

I'd do a keg stand before I drank out of a plastic glass. Eww.

tell them your going to have a contest to see who has the classiest drink ware,so they bring one. then you dont have all the glasses to wash and they wont know your being lazy.

when my neighbor swings over for a drink he always brings a mug.(mostly so he can refill when he is leaving)

When I have just a few friends over we use glass. For our big parties like Halloween, it's plastic only. We have a hot tub in the back yard and the last thing that I want is shards of glass in or near it or me to step on.

I voted glass, good beer deserves to be served in good glasses. On a side note, find out if your state has social host liability, and if they do, well even if they don't make sure no one leaves even close to drunk. Last thing you want to do is go to jail because one of your guests didn't know their limit and hits something.

Wow, thanks for all the advice... I've been bouncing back and forth in my mind all afternoon. I'm going with glass... I used glass the last 3 years and my wife did a great job keeping up with the washing all day. I'm going to shelve my "personal collection" and head off in search of cheep glass ware that I can box up and store for other parties.

I hadn't even thought of the environmental argument... I'm no greenie weenie, but I don't see the sense in wasting... so good call.

Try thrift stores, Goodwill, Salvation Army, Senior center stores, etc...I found a ton of cool glasses for $.50 or less each. Pint glasses, heavy mugs, different sizes, snifters. I even got a German glass commemorating the reunification and the wall coming down!!! Have fun and Good Luck on your search

These are two of my buddies....the one on the right ALWAYS brings his own mug to any beertasting