
“Pots & Pig” Beer Tasting 30th Birthday Party
I’m voting that Liz of The Papered Nest wins the prize for Wife-of-The-Year-Award for this amazing “Pots & Pig” Beer Tasting Party she threw for her husband’s 30th birthday! I know my husband would be in hog heaven, (pun intended, *wink*) if I threw him a party centered around beer + bacon!
Even the party invitations were bottles of beer… what guest wouldn’t like to receive that invite, right? Liz also did a great job including unique beer-related elements throughout the party such as Pubcakes, Beer Caramels, and Guiness Marshmallows. It’s an added bonus that all of those items are sweet too! Creative use of vintage crates, twine, Ball mason jars, chalkboard signs, mini woven baskets, and bundles of wheat topped off this incredible party. Don’t forget about all of the hand stamped wooden utensils too! (If you’re interested in purchasing a styling kit to style your own event, check out The Papered Nest.)
PARTY DETAILS, as told by Liz…
“When it came to planing my husbands 30th birthday party there was no doubt in my mind that it had to be a ‘Pots and Pig’ party! What could be better than combining his two favorite things, Rotisserie and BEER. And that’s how our beer tasting party began!
My first thought was obviously the invitations. After a bit of research I ordered customized beer labels online to co-ordinate with the party color scheme, black and brown from My Own Labels. After soaking the beer bottles overnight the labels pulled off with out too much elbow grease and were ready for the cutom labels – these had all the details of the party except one. I allocated every couple/single with a category of beer that they were asked to bring a CHILLED 6 pack in, (we ended up with 12 categories, 2 6-packs in each, which I can tell you is a LOT of beer!). Their allocated beer category was printed on kraft paper and tied with raffia around the neck of the bottle. I enlisted a friend to help me hand deliver the invitations.
My good friend Melissa and myself have recently opened a party supply store on etsy, The Papered Nest. We have designed Party Styling kits with the basics to style a table at any party so I combined the Black and Brown kits to style this party.
On the day I set the party up in our yard. We had two tables at either end of the yard and one against the house; one for food, one for drinks (other than beer!) and the last for the beer tasting station. There were ice tubs and a 10” wooden coaster for each category, two sample bottles, from every beer, sat on each coaster with a zink placecard for labels. There was a small table at each end of the tasting station. The right side was covered with 4 oz tasting glasses that all had a ‘cheers’ tag in the bottom that I hand stamped and punched, then applied to the outside of the glass. The other end table had pencils and cards for those who chose to ‘rate it’ or ‘hate it’ for the beers they sampled. Just for a bit of fun there was also a voting card for their favorite beer, which a prize was later awarded to the person who brought it!
Behind the table I decorated with extra large homemade paper rosettes and garland I made by lacing scalloped circles (that I punched from the left over rosette paper) on to black crepe paper.
The drinks table had ball glasses decorated with the drink accessories that come with the party styling kit. Which includes the striped paper straws, co-ordinating twine and tag stamped with ‘cheers’. There was also a couple of non-beer drinks, beer related snacks, and a delicious Elderflower sangria (Sangris Flora) for those of us who don’t like beer! I used the labels and ribbon from the party styling kits to label the food and drinks.
The last table was for the food since the party started at noon, we served the spit-roasted pig for lunch. The guys at GR Catering came and set up their station in our driveway where they finished off the cooking of the pig, a bit of entertainment for some of the guests! Along with that was an array of sides, one of which was a beer potato salad in keeping with the theme. The food was labelled with the rest of the ribbon and tags, and the table was decorated with the hand dyed doilies (also from the kit), a vintage crate, and 2 bundles of Blackbeard wheat which I wrapped with burlap and tied with ribbon. The hand stamped wooden cutlery is also homemade from The Papered Nest.
After lunch the table converted to a ‘beer’ dessert table. We served ‘Pubcakes’ from a local bakery which are cupcakes made with beer! Each PubCake focuses on the flavors that complement the type of beer used, some examples are ‘Irish Carbomb’ :Guinness®, Irish Cream frosting, and chocolate whiskey ganache. And ‘Cup O’ Hefen’ :Ballast Point® Wahoo Wheat, coriander, and citrus buttercream. Delicious! Also served were Guiness marshmallows from WonderMade, beer caramels from Alaskan Dermish’s Dessert Specialties and a homemade Beer and Bacon Birthday cake (inspired by this blog post/recipe. The beer deserts were definitely a hit!
I loved planning the party, everyone had a lot of fun and most importantly the birthday boy got to enjoy his 3 favorite things: Beer, Bacon & Buddies!“

- Party Styling Kits (Paper straws, Dyed Doilies, Ribbon, Tags, Twine etc): The Papered Nest
- Photographer: It Just Clicks Photography
- Cupcakes: Pubcakes
- Guiness Marshmallows: WonderMade
- Beer Caramels: Alaskan Dermish’s Dessert Specialties
- Rotisserie Pig: GR Catering
- Invitation labels: My Own Labels
- 10” Wooden Coasters: Craft Parts
26 Comments
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Love this so much! My husband turns 30 in March and I may just go ahead and do something like Liz did. It’s perfect!
Melissa!!!!!! This is Aunt Kathy– LOVE what u r doing. Congrats!!!!!
Love it, wish we could turn 30 again in this house!!
Hi there!
How could I be a vendor for your next party? I’d love to make you custom Luv Handles that match the colors of your next party!! These are the Luv Handles we want to grab, I hand wire and embellish stainless steel party servers with glass and crystal beads! I’d love to be a vendor and show you how I can add a touch of glamour to your next party!
Tia Song
XOXOXO
Love this party idea. Now what are you going to do for his 40th birthday?
Thank you! Depends what he does for my 30th ;-)
Super plans!!!I really love your theme,‘Pots and Pig’ !!! Aha!! Wish you had a wonderful party!!!:D
I’ve been planning a party similar to this for my boyfriend’s 25th. Wondering if you just used plastic bins to store the ice and beer at the tasting station? That’s what it looks like but thought I’d confirm :)
Hi Whitney!
You’re right I did! They are actually those plastic shoe containers that you use in your closet – that’s all I had and they worked perfectly!
Good luck with your plans!
Liz
Fantastic.. love the beer label!
What an awesome party! Thanks so much for including my boozy salted caramels!!
This is such a wonderful idea! So cool :) I love your blog, so much fun stuff.
:) Lizzy
https://www.etsy.com/shop/lizzylizano
http://www.facebook.com/LizzyLizanojewelry
I love this… The neutral palette is perfect!
Love it! What does the word Pot mean when referring to beer? Just wondering where you got the pot and pig title.
Hey Liz! Love what you did with this party concept, it turned out great. Thinking about doing the rosettes for an upcoming party, can I ask where you got your paper from for those? I love the patterns :)
Thank you!
I love this idea… such a fun party theme!
What Beer Categories did you use/ask ppl to bring beer of?
Thanks!
I’d love to know the answer to this as well. Going to do something similar and can only think of 4!
Love!! Where did you get the close patterened rosette paper??
How do you adhere the cheers cardstock to the bottom of the cup?
Hi! Are the straws black? I love the color combo and am trying something similar but I couldn’t tell if the straws are black or brown! Thanks so much for you help.
I think you can make your own decision for the colour of the straws. Doesn’t have to be an exact match.
Can I ask about how much this cost? This is a really awesome idea and I think my husband would love it for his 30th!
How did you ask others to bring a beer? On the invitation?
I am a bit confused on how you made the background decorations above table. Please share a little more detail!
How did you wrap the bins with paper? I tried this weekend, and it did not go well.