A Pizza & Beer Party is one of our favorite party themes for fall. And we’re taking it up a notch with this beer shandy bar where guests can make their own. It’s a terrific interactive party idea that can be set up for game day or for a guys birthday celebration.
If you’re looking for a fun and unique party idea, look no further than my pizza & beer bar! As a creative party hostess I’m constantly looking for new ways to update old ideas so that they’re appealing to a modern audience. Some of my current favorites are this summer cocktail party, my donut bar with toppings, and this dinner party with iced tea bar. What makes these designs special is that they have a unique twist on an old idea.
Today I’m giving a fresh take on the old beer tasting party I created a few years ago with a football theme. This interactive beer bar is all about creating your own flavors or “shandies,” and serving them with the classic pairing of pizza and other salty snacks. What goes together better than pizza and beer?
This party is super simple to set up when you grab a few of your favorite flavors of Virtuoso Pizza by Dr. Oetker, at the grocery store. Virtuoso is carefully crafted and combines wholesome ingredients like a unique blend of cheeses, fresh-picked vegetables, and flavorful meats. Virtuoso has two types of crust, Thin + Crispy and Classic Crust. There are fourteen varieties including Mozzarella & Pesto, Pepperoni Pesto, Vegetable Medley and Kale & Bacon with Ricotta – YUM!
Want to Know How to host a Pizza & Beer Party? Follow these tips!
Set up a Custom Shandy Beer Bar and let guests mix their own flavors.
For this pizza & beer party let’s first discuss the beer bar shall we. While this IS a casual party idea perfect for game day viewing parties, your guys birthday celebration, or any informal get-together, it can also be incorporated into a more formal event as a way to DRESS UP a beer bar. The idea is to add some fruity flavorings to the beer for a custom shandy. Here’s how it works:
Custom Beer Shandy
- 1-2 ounces fruit juice
- 12 ounces Lager or Pale Ale beer
Then simply garnish with fruit if you like. Cheers!
You definitely want to use a Lager or Pale Ale for these drinks. You need a beer that can hold up to the additional flavorings, but not a dark beer as to overpower them.
I really played with a variety of flavors for this beer bar and each one was terrifically refreshing. From tomato juice to create a Red Eye, to dark cherry syrup to create a delicious “dessert” beer. Here are the flavorings I used:
- tomato juice
- lime juice (from the cocktail mixer section)
- lemonade (not lemon juice)
- orange juice
- ruby red grapefruit juice
- peach nectar
- dark cherry syrup (from a jar of Italian style cocktail or baking cherries)
Place a variety of beers on ice so your guests can easily grab one, and make sure to have bottle openers and glasses handy.
A rustic tray filled with fruits that represent the juices adds a decorative touch to the table, as well as garnishes for the drinks.
Set up a Pizza & Snack station that compliments the beer shandy bar.
Now on to the important stuff – you can’t have beer without refreshments. The best accompaniments are pizza and anything crunchy & salty!
I served three different varieties of Virtuoso Pizzas (Classic Crust Mediterranean Style Chicken, Thin & Crispy Crust Mozzarella & Pesto, and Classic Crust Pepperoni) and sprinkled a little fresh basil and herbs at the end for presentation.
TIP: If you don’t have enough large platters to serve pizza from, just lay down parchment paper as a base to serve it on. Give it some interesting texture by crinkling it up first and then straightening it back out. Write the type of pizza it is directly on the parchment.
To complete the snack table for this pizza & beer party we have popcorn, pretzels, and peanuts available for noshing. All the crunchy bites you’d find at a real bar.
I love the ease of this party buffet. Guests can help themselves and mingle with each other as they make their own flavored beer drink, and pizza is the perfect snack to pair with it since you can offer several varieties to please everyone. Let me know what you think in the comments. Cheers!
This is a sponsored post on behalf of Dr. Oetker USA LLC. I received compensation for this post, however all opinions stated are my own.