Beer Olympics
The Revelry official, patent pending, drinking approved, build-a-beer-olympics
It is known by many names: beer olympics, beer-lympics, the red white and booze…but they all have one thing in common, a game of games to determine who will hold the glory as the greatest drinkers and drink gamers.
General:
While setting up your beer olympics, we recommend:
Teams of 2 or 4. If you have that many friends, by all means, shoot for teams of 4. In our experience, teams of 2 are much easier to manage and get firm commitments.
Plan for a case per team. If you really want to impress, provide all the drinks., otherwise, inform each team to bring their own case of their drink of choice.
Give about one (1) month notice. This will give people enough time to commit and prepare, but not too much time to “forget” or “have plans”.
Setting up the Games:
Step [1] - Choose a Location:
Select a location with backyard space or a large open room with floors that can get dirty (it’s guaranteed they will).
Step [2] - Select a Theme:
While not required, a theme usually gets people more excited and more involved. Sticking with the theme of Olympics, it usually makes sense to have teams pick and represent a country, but hey, it’s your beer olympics, do what makes you happy.
Step [3] - Choose the Games & Scoring:
Below are links to our favorite games for beer olympics. Setup an official games itinerary of what games will be played. We recommend around 4-5 games. Believe us, that will be plenty as games are usually played tournament style and many drinks will be had.
It also helps to setup a scoring system ahead of time. A simple way to start is assigning 5 points to the winner of each game, 3 points to second place, 1 point to third place, and 0 to all other losers.
Step [4] - Send the Invitation:
Send the invite to everyone you know. Using Facebook events makes it easier to post the rules, date, location, and use the comments to have people pick their team members. It is helpful to share the itinerary at least a few weeks ahead of time so people know you mean business.
Preparing for the Games:
Step [5] - Getting Supplies:
Get the supplies a few days ahead of time. The basic supplies are usually:
American Flag: This shouldn’t need an explanation
folding tables: about 2-4
disposable cups: at least 100
ping pong balls
speakers for music
water: to avoid inevitable catastrophes
snacks: just makes for a good host
extra cases: usually there’s one team that are “those guys” and don’t bring drinks or you run out, so it’s good to have an extra case or 2
poster board and markers: to draw out and keep track of tournament style games and points
garbage bags: you’ll have lots of trash
paper towels: people will cause messes
additional decorations to bring your theme to life
Hosting The Games:
Step [6] - Select a Commissioner:
It helps to have one or 2 people selected before the games to act as the official score keepers and referees. They can be contestants, but make it known so others know who to go to for settling drunken arguments
Step [7] - Opening Ceremonies:
There are always people who decide to arrive late. Set a hard time for official start of the games. Mark this time by playing the national anthem. Not only does this formalize the beer Olympics as an official American sport, but also no one wants to be the one to miss the national anthem.
To really bring the Revelry feel, do a power hour before the games even begin…or at least have one playing to help set the mood.
Step [8] - Play the Games:
Follow your itinerary and keep score to keep people interested. If you’re looking for a good starting point, we recommend a team chug or anchorman. Some people are slow to start, so it helps to give everyone the push to get started and really get on board.
Step [9] - Crown the Winners:
You put all this effort into hosting the games, make sure there’s a way to recognize the winners. Get a cheap trophy and a label maker and create your own Stanley Cup of Beer Olympics. Immortalize the winners and make the losers remember forever that they’re not winners…it’ll make them try harder next year.
Step [10] - Share the Fun:
If you didn’t post about it, did it even happen? Tag us in your olympic games and DM us your photos so we can share the fun with everyone!
Recommended Games:
The Pre-games Pregame:
People have a tendency to not show up on time. Plan for this by hosting a pre-games pregame. No rules, no points, no structure. Just allow people to get the first drink down to warm the stomach and mingle with the other players before things get heated. This also helps to get the drinking started so everyone’s ready to go.
Team Chug / Anchorman:
A fantastic choice for a first game. Buy a small bucket for each team. Each team must fill the bucket with 1 drink per team member. This is a great way to get everyone really committed to the games from the beginning. If doing teams of 2, sometimes it helps to do 3 drinks.
Beerio Kart:
If your beer olympics are more indoor, this is a great option. However, it does require someone to bring a Wii, Mario Kart, and enough controllers for 4 people. Have 2-4 people (all from different teams) play an entire circuit. At the end of the circuit, record each person’s score. Total the numbers after everyone has played and the highest total score wins. Each player should have 1 full drink every 2 games.
Power Hour:
Call us biased, but we love these. While power hours don’t work great as an official event, they work fantastic as pregames co-mingling. Play one to get people in the mood and ready for the games to begin as other arrive. If you haven’t noticed, we have plenty to choose from, so find one that fits your games.
Beer Pong Tournament:
It’s most normal people’s favorite or at least go-to game. No one likes being out during the first game, so setup a bracket for double elimination to give everyone that fighting chance. Winning the beer-olympics beer pong tournament earns bragging rights in and of itself.
Civil War:
This game works great when you have teams of 4. However, with teams of 2, you can pair up 2 teams and the winning combined teams both get 1st place points. This should be single elimination and each player should have 1 full drink per game.
Drinking Relay:
There’s no structure to this and can be as simple or complex as you desire. Create some sort of drinking relay that promotes some form of physical activity (lap around the house, quick game of quarters, etc.) to help get the drinks running through the veins faster and add a level of difficulty. Usually judged by total team time.
Flip Cup / Slip ‘n Flip:
Another classic and favorite at all Beer Olympics. Setup a flip cup tournament. We usually set it up as a single elimination, but best 2 out of 3. Throughout the course of the 3 games, every team member should have at least 1 full drink. Add a slip n slide to really spice it up.
Dizzy Bat:
This is a great game closer. Each player gets to chug a drink, and attempt to hit the ball. Simple bonus points can be applied to anyone who hits the ball. At the end of a Beer Olympics, this can prove to be quite challenging. For safety reasons, it’s best to play on grass.
