Party Drink Calculator
"How much alcohol should I buy for the party?" PourBrief answers that down to the last bottle and bag of ice.
Party
What the calculator gives you
Tell PourBrief your guest count, hours and how your crowd drinks, and it estimates your total bar serves using professional catering ratios (about three serves per guest per hour, with a stronger first hour). Then it splits that total across the drinks you actually plan to serve (beer, wine, spirits, cocktails, soft drinks and water) and converts every share into things you can put in a shopping cart:
Every quantity includes a configurable safety buffer (conservative, recommended or generous), and the whole plan downloads as a clean Excel with seven tabs. The staff and ice calculators are free forever; the full drinks plan is part of PourBrief Pro.
Frequently asked questions
How much alcohol should I buy for a party?
Plan in serves, not finished drinks: about 3 per guest per hour once the bar is running, and a bit more in the first hour. A crowd of 100 over five hours means roughly 1,550 serves, which the calculator then splits across only the drinks you actually plan to serve.
How much beer do I need for a party?
About 1.5 small beers per guest: 150 bottles of 300 ml for 100 guests. If your crowd is beer-first, raise it — every ratio in the calculator can be adjusted.
How much ice do I need for a party?
One 2 kg bag of cube ice per guest for a 6-hour event, plus crushed ice for cocktails. Shorter parties scale down with a floor, longer ones grow, and from about 100 guests you also want a freezer on site.
Do I need a bartender for a house party?
From roughly 50 guests one bartender keeps a simple beer and wine service moving; a cocktail menu for the same crowd needs two. Below that, a well-stocked self-serve bar and plenty of ice usually does the job.
Now get every bottle for your party.
Free staff & ice results first. Upgrade only if you want the complete bar order.
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