# Best way to price alcohol for party



## funnymunny (19 Feb 2008)

Apologies in advance if I have posted in the wrong forum. 

I have several questions.  I want to price alcohol for a party for 50 to 60 people in a marquee.  Firstly, can anyone tell me how to judge it? I don't have a clue about measures or anything like that.  We are getting kegs and I know the price of those and it will cover the majority of people, but I also want to price spirits.  Is there anywhere online that I can do this? 
Do cash and carrys sell drink and if so would it be cheaper than buying in an off license? What about sale or return, would this be a better option? I would really like to be able to budget for this, we are talking about maybe Eur1,000.00 but I don't know if this is realistic and would love to be able to do it for less.  

Thanks in advance for any advice.


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## cowdag (20 Feb 2008)

try homekegs.ie.  i think they are just in the west tho. Where are you getting your marquee?


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## funnymunny (21 Feb 2008)

Thanks cowdag.  I am getting the marquee from a friend of a friend of a friend of my brother, if you get the gist! Eur350 for a 20x20, can add an extra ten feet for Eur500 (in total).  Just want it as a kind of extension of the house in case the weather is bad.


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## Welfarite (21 Feb 2008)

AFAIK, a keg holds 80-90 pints, if this helps trying to jusge your quantity required


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## nai (21 Feb 2008)

what age group ? I think you'll find that most would prefer either bottled beer or wine for a house party - the keg experience is way ott (in my experience) and it's such a nuaisance unless you have a barman - similar for spirits - you probably only need a couple of bottles vodka/whiskey/baileys and loads of ice/soft drinks to keep all and sundry happy. 

unless you have a large gang of dedicated guiness drinkers (~15 - 20) - avoid the kegs and buy boxes of beer - €22 for either Miller / Bud or Heineken in most supermarkets and you sould be able to buy loads of wine for approx 8-9 euro a bottle ( I think I saw an ad last night for tesco - 3 bottles for proce of 2). The cooling equipment alone for a party is serious cash as well as needing tons of pint glasses.


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## funnymunny (21 Feb 2008)

Thanks Nai, will probably only have three or four dedicated guinness drinkers so that is something to take on board, however will have a lot of Heinekin drinkers so think it might be worth a keg or two of that.  A friend of mine is getting me taps although I didn't think about cooling equipment, must check that further.  

Judging by your post I may have been overestimating the amount of spirits required. I did have a look at that site housekegs.ie and it gave a good indication of prices so at least I will be able to price it up.  Can anyone tell me how many shots in a 700ml bottle, taking into account perhaps that people will be pouring their own and will probably be more generous than a pub measure? 

The age group will be 30 upwards.  Mainly beer drinkers with a few wine drinkers thrown in. Most would drink either or. 

Thanks to everyone, this is all very helpful.


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## Protocol (21 Feb 2008)

A shot measure is 1/16 of a pint, or 35.5ml.

There are rougly 20 shots in a 700ml bottle of spirits.


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## Welfarite (21 Feb 2008)

If getting kegs, you'll need gas and taps. As another poster says, I would seriously reconsider kegs. They ARE a lot of hassle ....and expensive. You need to be experienced in connecting the gas to the keg adn there will be wastage if you are not used to pulling pints. 

Spirits can be bought in a supermarket at around the same as a C and C ...maybe less! Same with bottled lagers. A bottle of spirits will yield about 20 shots, pub measures.

I'd go for 

1-2 kegs Heineken (if you decide to go that route)
4 cases of draught Guinness
12 bottles of wine (white/red  mixture)


Then figure out your spirit needs: Vodka? Whiskey? Brandy? Mixers?


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## gipimann (21 Feb 2008)

And don't forget soft drinks for the non-drinkers or designated drivers


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## sully (21 Feb 2008)

Most offlicences will allow you to bulk buy wine and will let you return the unopened bottles if there is any!!! I bought a good few crates of wines for a party and we were able to return the unopened leftover bottles to the offlicence. We allowed just over 1/2 a bottle of wine per person which was very genourous as a lot of people didn't drink the wine...


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## msmyth (21 Feb 2008)

Hi funnymunny, having a party myself soon too and went and bought my supply of alcohol last night. I went up to Sainsburys in the north and if you're in a position to do so I would recommend it. They have Lindemann's wine on special at the moment, if you buy a box of six bottles it's half price. I also picked up Sainsburys own brand spirits (if I can find empty branded bottles I'll just decant the sainsburys stuff into them, who'll ever notice the taste difference ).


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## funnymunny (22 Feb 2008)

Thanks MsSmyth!  If anyone else hears of special offers they might let me know. I don't buy alcohol a lot and don't even look at it in the supermarket so I'm not familiar with whats out there.  Must keep an eye out in Lidl for offers on Stella and those other little bottles of French beer, they are quite popular too. 

Hey gipimann, won't forget the non-drinkers, coke, fresh apple juice and coffee on the list.  My Dad and brother don't drink so must look after them first!


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## Welfarite (22 Feb 2008)

funnymunny said:


> ... I don't buy alcohol a lo ... Must keep an eye out in Lidl for offers on Stella and those other little bottles of French beer, they are quite popular to0.


 
Just be aware that people like to drink their usual tipple ... buying a load of cheap French beer will only mean you end up with a load of leftover cheap French beer. Same with Stella ....unless you know that guests normally drink Stella. Stick to the popular brands! Bottoms up!


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## msmyth (22 Feb 2008)

Sainsburys always have beer specials too, I got bottled Stella at some great reduced price, can't remember exactly how much it cost but according to my other half it was great value. They also had an offer on Carlsberg, think it was two boxes for £12, was informed that this is really good too. Have a look at their website- it lists all their current special offers.


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## babydays (22 Feb 2008)

*calculate drink needed for a party*

Can't find the thread but the other day there was a question about calculating the amount of drink needed for a party. Well here's a website that helps - in case the orginal poster happens to see this! 

http://www.evite.com/pages/party/drink-calculator.jsp


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## babydays (23 Feb 2008)

thanks clubman!


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## funnymunny (25 Feb 2008)

Thanks babydays.  I have seen it.


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## Johnboy45 (25 Feb 2008)

msmyth said:


> I also picked up Sainsburys own brand spirits (if I can find empty branded bottles I'll just decant the sainsburys stuff into them, who'll ever notice the taste difference ).


 

God but thats awful stuff - never ever buy anything but the proper spirits.  I'd know the difference straight away.  If you put Heinekin into a Carling bottle you'd know the difference wouldn't you so why do you think you'd get away with it for spirits.  Unless you know your guests' tastes very well and know they won't mind or notice the difference, you could well be left with a load of crap spirits. 

enjoy the party


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## footsteps (25 Feb 2008)

You could do a deal with a local off license, we have done this on occasion, bought a lot of alcohol and could return whatever wasn't opened, that way we had enough of everything and didn't have to look at almost full botttles of spirits around the place or pay for a full keg when they was only a few pints taken out of it!! 
Buying cheap in the north is great, but very seldom would any one get the exact quantities - you'll either run out or have way too much! 

Just another option!


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## msmyth (25 Feb 2008)

Johnboy45 said:


> God but thats awful stuff - never ever buy anything but the proper spirits.  I'd know the difference straight away.  If you put Heinekin into a Carling bottle you'd know the difference wouldn't you so why do you think you'd get away with it for spirits.  Unless you know your guests' tastes very well and know they won't mind or notice the difference, you could well be left with a load of crap spirits.
> 
> enjoy the party



Was joking about putting it into branded bottles! I've never heard anyone complain about Sainsburys spirits at all before. Infact after the last time I fed people Sainsburys vodka they commented on how nice they thought it was. I think it's different with beer as the difference in taste between the brands is very obvious. But with gin/vodka which is going to be watered down with a mixer anyway I bet the vast majority aren't going to turn their nose up at the taste, especially after they've had a few and won't notice the difference anyway. Anyhows, it's a house party I'm throwing not a high society soiree!


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## aidan119 (25 Feb 2008)

Some beers in the North are not always the same as we get in the South. Good example is Carlsberg cans, about 0.3% less alcohol and this affects the taste.
Keg idea is full of problems, what do you do with a half-full keg at the end of the night ? No-one will thank you for the keg if they don't drink that beer, plus you have hassle with clean glasses etc. or worse, do you intend making them drink out of the plastic things ?

Party should be stress-free for you = bottles. Main problem is keeping them cold

Don't forget, people will normally bring some beer/drink with them as well so if there is stuff left over at least you can use it at your leisure. In that case buy stuff that you know you will use yourself in the future.


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## nai (25 Feb 2008)

just stick with the well known bottled beers - and get two big bins, fill with ice and bottles - cool beer all night.


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