Here are a few tips I've learned along the way.
Pour a variety of styles
Serving a single brand of beer at a party is like playing the same music over and over again. Your guests might make it through one song from Celine Dion, but more than that and they'll be taking an ice pick to their eardrums.
Same goes for that case of cheap, fizzy, yellow lager.
Stock up a variety of styles - a full-bodied lager, a hoppy pale ale, a rich-flavored porter - something for everyone. This time of year, try spicy Christmas beers and winter warmers
Splurge on a big bottle
A Jeroboam (3 liter) bottle is a sure way to kick-start a party.
Royersford's Sly Fox Brewery & Restaurant has a few remaining hand-numbered monsters of Renard d'Or Belgian golden ale.
Head to the Foodery (2nd and Poplar, Northern Liberties) for oversize bottles of Troeg's Mad Elf (Harrisburg) or Belgium's Chouffe, Chimay and Corsendonk Christmas Ale. A mere two hundred bucks will get you a 6-liter Methuselah of Duvel (Belgium).
Or check out the new Hawthornes Café (11th & Fitzwater, Bella Vista) and fill up your growler (half-gallon) with more than a dozen varieties of draft beer from Nodding Head (Philadelphia), Cigar City (Florida), Russian River (California) and more.
Use the good glasses
Plastic cups are fine for parties on the patio, but with the proper glassware, your beer will taste better and your guests will feel special.
Pilsner goes into tall, slim glasses that show off the brilliant golden color and allow enough space for the head. Aromatic British ales go into wide-mouth pint glasses. Belgians prefer either a chalice or a tulip glass.
Pouring a mix of beer styles? Use midsize white wine glasses and fill them with just 6 ounces per pour. The smaller servings cut down on consumption and allow your guests to sample a wider variety of flavors.
Fill pitchers with water.
