How Many Kegs...THAT is the Question :)

Alcohol content is a factor as well. A beer higher in alcohol has a bit more bang for your buck than something lower in alcohol, but it will also be more expensive. You're right in saying you need to factor number of guests, what they'll be drinking and how much. Also, what will be the serving size? A normal keg of beer is 15.5 gallons, euros are 13.2. You'll get a bit more mileage serving 12 ounce glasses then you will with pints (16z). Also, please consider your venue, timing, etc. If you need people out by a certain time, an empty keg is an excellent non-verbal indicator. Will your venue charge you for the backup keg? I'd say no thanks if that's the case. You shouldn't pay for unconsumed beer.

They will tap all of the kegs that we reserve, and the backup isn't tapped unless we ok it. Once a keg is tapped, we pay for it.

Most kegs are 6.5 cases of beer. That sometimes help to think of it in those terms. It does depend on the people. With my family and friends there is no way in hell one keg per 100 people would fly. With yours it might. Try to think about how many people that will be there that are big drinkers.

We had a housewarming party w/ 35 ppl and finished a keg. I would say you'd need two to three depending on how heavy your guests drink.

We are having 2 kegs for 100 guests. Most people are heavy beer drinkers. But we are also providing rum and vodka with mixers plus non-alcoholic beverages. Once we hit $1000 we put on our bar tab it will turn to a cash bar. They will not tap a 3rd keg without our approval. If we get to a 3rd keg, i think the party will be over. This is a wedding, I don't want everyone getting trashed and driving home either.

We are having 1 keg for 130 people and 1 on reserve, she said you probably wont even go through one keg, so that is crazy!

I'm from a pasture party/keg kinda group. For about 50 we always had 2 kegs.

I myself can drink 3 beer bottles, with a shot or 2 mixed in. Fh prefers high end liquor, but could drink 4-6 beers on an average club night. We both have very high tolerance. THAT is how you factor alcohol.

We have 45 people. We're doing beer cases. 2 cases of Budweiser bottles(my beer choice), 2 cases of Shiner Bock(local choice), and 5 cases of Bud Light. We will also have Jack and Jim as whiskey choices, midori, vodka, and a couple flavored vodka for liquor. It's also byob by preference, as a couple of our guests only drink high end scotch. One of those guests are also our moonshine supplier(he will have mini mason jars, like 3 sip sized, so we have multiple flavors!)

This helps. Thanks for the responses so far!

Keg Specifications for U.S. 1/2 Barrel (Standard Keg)

12 oz. Case Equivalent = 6.8 Cases

12 oz./can or bottle Servings= 165

16 oz./pint servings= 124

Does that breakdown help?

Would also help to know your guests and what they drink.

We are having between 100 - 120 people and ordering one keg. If it runs out - it is gone. We have a full open bar, wine and a margarita machine as well.

Last wedding I went to that did kegs -

120 +/- people

3 kegs (light, reg & craft beer) - only 1/2 of the craft beer keg left after 6 hours

100 bottles of wine (trader joe's 2 buck chuck) - only 10 or so bottles left

50 bottles of champagne - all gone

Granted we are big drinkers but everyone had a blast...

Hope that helps

I bartend weddings. I've had weddings with 250 people 2 kegs is plenty if you are serving wine and liquor as well if not get 3.

It depends on how many people are beer drinkers. I've gone through a keg with a house party with 30 people lol. i would get a minimum of 3 kegs.

My family is a family of heavy drinkers. At my sisters wedding of 120, we went through 2 kegs perfectly by the end of the night- it was the perfect amount (she also had wine, though). So I would say for "normal" drinkers for 200 people 2 to 3 kegs should be just fine

D1-That is very helpful!

This is all VERY helpful, thanks!

We thought we'd end up with about 200, now with RSVPs so far it's looking more like 250. I'm now thinking 4 and a backup.

Most of our guests are beer drinkers. Since we're doing keg beer, and a cash bar, we're thinking most of the drinkers will drink beer (because it's free). Most of our friends drink beer. Some wine, and they'll probably drink wine, but like I said, I'm sure the majority if the alcohol that will be consumed that night will be the keg beer

I think it depends on how heavy your guests will drink, that being said we have 85 guests attending. Full open bar with liquor, 1 keg, 25 bottles of wine...I really hope we don't run out of alcohol!

We have 130 people and I have ordered 3 kegs and 10 cases of wine. Hope that helps!!

We had 1 Keg with 145 people and there was barely a dent in it. One of the groomsmen and a friend of his finished it off in 2 days. We had 2 boxes of 5L wine. We had someone able to take both boxes home. We just finished off the sodas & water bottles from the wedding. Funny thing is I didn't think we would have enough LOL!

We have 250-300 ppl coming and we got 5 kegs, 2 on reserve and 10 cases of wine. We don't have a bar with drinks or anything else available. Our friends are all big beer drinkers

Depends cause I know some people who drink kegs quickly and some who don't.

Rule of thumb is a drink per person per hour. First calculate how many drinks you need: If 200 guests will be drinking for three hours, that is 600 drinks. Second, figure out how many kegs plus margaritas it will take to satisfy that. If there are about 125 drinks in a Standard keg you would need about 5 kegs. Since you are serving margaritas, you could have 4 kegs plus margaritas to get to 600 drinks.