Looking to host a Beer Olympics for a bachelor, a friend or just for the heck of it? We laid out the perfect guide so to make sure everyone involved will have a great time. But before we get too deep into it, let’s figure out exactly what we’re trying to achieve.
What Is a Beer Olympics?
A Beer Olympics is like a big party where everyone plays for a specific team. It usually involves a series of drinking or party games that are team-based and points are awarded to the winning team. Typically this is an all-day event, but sometimes it can take place over an entire weekend.
What’s Needed To Host?
It’s important to gather all the necessary supplies before the party so that everything can run smoothly. This includes Solo Cups, Booze, Team Shirts/Outfits, Sharpies (for writing on cups), Drinking Game Supplies, and other party supplies. Decide what you’ll need and make sure everything is ready when people arrive.
Party Supplies
These are crucial. Booze and cups to put it in are essential. Red Solo Cups have been the party standard, and bringing sharpies for players to write on the cups or write their team names on their shirts are also helpful. Go with multiple colors so each team can match their team color.
Team Swag
To really rally the guests, it’s important to get as much team colors as possible. Shirts, hats, cups, whatever you can think of.
Other Fun Ideas
Want your Olympics to be an unforgettable weekend? There’s plenty of things you could buy to make your party stand out like chugging apparatuses or fun adult party games.
Beer Olympics Game Ideas
They key to hosting a beer Olympics is picking out the funnest games for people to play. Stick to team-based games that as many people can play as possible. Here’s some of our favorites.
Beer Pong
This classic drinking game has been a staple at colleges and house parties everywhere. And for good reason; Beer Pong is a great team game that really brings out the competitive spirit. It can be played either one on one, or two vs two. If you want to get every team involved you could always run a full tournament bracket.
The goal of Beer Pong is to sink a ping pong ball into the opponents cups before they can do the same to yours. It’s a simple task that gets harder and harder after every beer.
Full Rules Here
Flunky Ball
Flunky Ball is a very active drinking game that gets everyone moving. It’s a chug race with an interesting twist. It’s played by having both teams stand on opposite sides of the room with a beer can in the middle. Each team takes turns throwing a ball at the central beer can, and if they hit it their team gets to chug their beers until their opponents stand the can back up. It’s game of both speed and accuracy.
Full Rules Here
Louisville Chugger
Louisville Chugger is a combination of baseball, running, spinning and drinking. It makes everyone look like a fool and have a blast doing it. It requires one of those hollow plastic toy bats, some booze and a plastic baseball.
What you do is cut off the end of the bat (make sure it’s not sharp), then clean it thoroughly on the inside. Fill the bat with beer and hand it to the first batter. Teams take turns at bat, going once each. Each team picks a batter and they take turns chugging what’s in the bat, then spinning for a number of seconds equal to how long it took to drink, then they must try and hit a baseball that their team mate lobs over. The team who did this the quickest and still hit the ball wins.
Full Rules Here
Bierkastenrunnen
From the German phrase meaning “Beer Crate Running”, this is a game for the true athletes. This game is best played outdoors in a field or track. Each team has two people and one case of beer (6 pack, 12 pack, or whatever everyone decides). Then a 3 to 5 kilometer stretch is used for the race.
The goal of the game is to run, walk or jog the entire course of the race while each player holds on to one side of the case. The kicker is that they must finish every beer in the case before the race is finished, so they can run and drink later, or walk and jog while trying to space their beers out. First team to cross the finish line with an empty case wins.
Full Rules Here
Flip Cup
Flip Cup is another popular drinking game among college bros and house parties. It’s a team-based chugging race where each person must chug and flip their cup before the next player in line can start to drink.
Flip Cup is a game i’d suggest playing earlier in the night, especially if you plan on playing multiple rounds. As it usually turns into a lot of drinking.
Full Rules Here
The Hidden Ball Game
This game isn’t really a team game but is always fun to play over a weekend. The way it works is there’s one ping pong ball in the house with a special marking on it to tell which one it is. If anyone ever finds that ball in their own cup they must chug it. Now they get the ball to try and sneak into someone else’s cup. It’s a good way to keep people on their toes all night.
Other Drinking Games
If you wanted to look around at some more creative drinking games, we have a list of every drinking game imaginable. Take your time, and pick the games you think your guest list will enjoy the most.
Preparing for the Event
Making sure you have all the bases covered ensure all you’re guests will have to do is show up and have a good time. There’s a number of things that should be considered and planned for before the date arrives.
Organizing the Teams
It’s a good idea to set up teams before hand so you can have a loose idea of where people will be and how many players you have for the games. At the very least you can assign Team Captains to choose their team when people arrive or do it by a lottery system. Then have everyone grab their team colors and write their name on the cups.
Setting Up the Games
It’s better to do this before hand so you don’t find yourself half-drunk fumbling around with rules and solo cups at 2 in the morning while everyone waits. Get your beer pong tables up, lay out some playing cards, and just make sure everything is good to go.
Prepare an Opening and Closing Ceremony
Although not essential, this step can really help with the immersion. Plus it’s just plain old fun.
Opening Ceremony
In order to really start your weekend off strong, you need a good opening ceremony. You could have people sing their national anthems, or have a torch relay with beers that results with the beer being poured into a funnel and drank by the host. Whatever you choose to do, make sure it’s something people will remember.
Closing Ceremony
This is where you can tally up all the points or medals and determine the winning team. Then everyone can drink a beer in their honor to close out a night nobody will soon forget.
At the end of the day, there’s many ways to host a Beer Olympics, so ask around and see what your guest list would enjoy. Don’t be afraid to go overboard, having too many games and too many fun ideas is better than not enough. Above all else, always make sure your guests are drinking safely and that nobody is driving drunk.
