How to Calculate Alcohol for 120 People
- 1). Determine the number of hours the party will last.
- 2). Determine the average consumption rate per guest, per hour. The consumption rate will be a guesstimate based on the type of party, knowledge of your guests prior drinking habits and their accessibility to hotel rooms or transportation home. For a daytime party where the guests will be driving home, a good starting point is one drink per guest, per hour. For a wedding where the guests have hotel rooms within walking distance, a good average is two to three drinks per hour.
- 3). Multiply the number of guests (120) by the number of hours. Then multiply the result by the consumption rate per hour. This will give you the total number of drinks you will need to purchase.
- 4). Choose the type of drinks you would like to purchase based on knowledge of what your guests will like and what you would like to serve.
- 5). Divide the number of total drinks by the amount of drinks in one bottle of the type of alcohol you are serving. A typical wine bottle of 25 ounces can pour 5 drinks. For liquor, calculate one ounce per drink. For beer, a half keg has approximately 168 drinks. A good starting point is to purchase 1/3 of the total drinks in wine, 1/3 liquor and 1/3 beer.
Source...