Chugging beer sounds like an easy thing to do, but when it comes to chugging a beer fast, you may find it’s more challenging than you’d expect. That said, all you need is a little practice, and you’ll soon be downing a beer in the time it takes someone to pour a pint.
Here’s how to chug a beer fast and impress your friends:
- Choose the beer-drinking method.
- Relax your throat.
- Let gravity do its job.
- Slam your beer down.
In this article, I’ll explain just how you can finish your beer quickly, leaving your friends amazed at how quickly you can drink. I’ll explain why relaxing your throat is important and how the container you use to drink your beer will impact your chugging abilities. By the time you’re done with this article, you’ll be a true beer-chugging champion!
1. Choose the Beer Drinking Method
The first step to chugging a beer fast is deciding how you plan on drinking your beer. There are tons of ways to drink a beer, but the most common when it comes to chugging beer are:
- From a glass
- From a can
- From a bottle using a straw
While the next three steps are the same for each method, the preparatory steps are very different for each. Let’s take a look at how you should prepare for each of these ways of slamming down a beer.
Chugging Beer From a Glass
If you’re celebrating your college glory days during a reunion, you’ve probably left cans behind and are going to be chugging from a glass. It doesn’t matter if you were a master at shotgunning a beer from a can, as things are a bit different when you pour your alcohol into a glass.
BEER DROP: Boxes of beer from Award-winning microbreweries → Join The Club
You’ll first need to decide which beer to chug, if possible.
The best options are ones that are light, like a pale lager. These beers are easiest on your stomach and, as an added benefit, are low in alcohol, ensuring you don’t feel nauseous.
Once that’s done, make sure that the glass you’re drinking from has a handle you can hold easily and a wide opening that allows you to chug without issue. Most bars and breweries should have a stein you can use, though a standard pint glass is a good choice if they don’t have anything with a handle, or you’re challenged to chug a pint.
When pouring, ensure you have as little froth in your beer as possible. This foam is essentially carbon dioxide (CO2), and the less CO2 in your beer, the easier it is to chug.
After pouring your beer, allow it to sit for a few seconds, and then hit the glass on the table. The carbon dioxide in a beer makes it frothy and bubbly, and also makes it harder to chug. Allowing the beer to sit and then banging the glass helps eliminate as much CO2 from the glass as possible.
This is also why, if possible, you should choose a less frothy beer. The less CO2 in the beer, the easier you’ll find it to chug quickly.
Allowing the beer to sit also allows the cold beer to warm up a little. If you’ve ever eaten ice cream too fast, you know that a brain freeze can feel extremely unpleasant. Drinking the cold beer quickly can give you the same type of brain freeze, which is why warming up your drink is essential.
You’re now ready to drink.
Chugging Beer From a Can
Chugging a beer from a can is slightly different from chugging from a glass. As mentioned above, you’ll first need to choose the right beer with low alcohol by volume (ABV) and low carbonation.
Once you’ve chosen your beer can, it’s time to determine if you’re chugging the beer or shotgunning it. Shotgunning a beer is a variation of simply chugging a beer and involves drinking from a hole in the side of the can rather than the top.
If you’re chugging the beer, cut an extra hole on the top of the can. This allows air to flow into the can while you’re drinking, ensuring smooth beer flow into your mouth.
If you’re shotgunning the drink, you’ll need to cut a hole on the side of the can, which should be closer to the bottom than the top and about the size of a quarter. Make sure to fold the metal of the can back to allow the beer to flow out of the hole.
You’ll need to be careful when doing so. Not only can it hurt your fingers, if the metal isn’t folded back correctly, but it can also hurt your mouth when you’re shotgunning the drink.
Using a Bottle and Straw to Chug Beer
Finally, you can also use a bottle and a straw to chug a beer.
Like with other methods of chugging beer, you’ll first need to choose the right beer. Then, select your straw. A regular one that bends is the best option, so stay away from any novelty straws that you may be offered.
All you need to do now is open the beer and put the straw inside.
Bend the straw so that it’s pointing away from your face, as this will ensure you’re comfortable when it comes to actually chugging the beer.
Note: When chugging beer using a straw, you’re not actually drinking from the straw. The straw simply allows a way for air to get into the bottle. Check out the video further below to see how it’s done.
2. Relax Your Throat To Chug a Beer
The most essential part of properly chugging a beer is knowing how to relax your throat.
Chugging a beer fast isn’t about the taste. It’s about getting your drink in your stomach as fast as possible. When drinking, your aim should be to get the beer into your stomach without breathing or swallowing.
The more you need to pause, the longer it will take to drink the beer, which is why relaxing your throat is important.
This is not a technique you’ll be able to master on your first go around, and it may take a few tries for you to really get the feel of it. If this is your first time chugging a beer, feel free to take large gulps if necessary. As beer-guzzling athlete Lewis Kent notes, it’s the only way to work your way up to relaxing your throat.
That said, if you’re gulping your beer, don’t swallow until your mouth is full, which will help you cut down on the time you take to empty your beer container.
Another way to work your way up to effectively relaxing your throat is to try funneling beer. This is basically the same concept as a beer bong and involves pouring beer into a person’s throat via a funnel and tube.
You can get an idea of how to funnel beer effectively in this YouTube video:
Once you’ve got a better hang on relaxing your throat, you can move on to chugging beer from cans and glasses.
If you’re still unsure, you can also start with chugging water. Chugging water allows you to practice to your heart’s content without worrying about becoming intoxicated, and once you’re confident in your skills, you can try with a beer or two in the privacy of your home.
You should now feel confident to chug in public, around your friends.
3. Let Gravity Do Its Job (Beer Chugging)
It’s time to chug!
First, take a deep breath. Ideally, you shouldn’t have to stop chugging to breathe, so ensuring you have a nice lungful of air before you start drinking will make things go faster.
The next step is to tilt your head back as far as possible. This will make it easier for you to pour the beer directly down your throat, reducing the need for you to pause chugging to swallow.
The next steps will vary slightly depending on how you’re chugging your beer:
- If you’re chugging from a glass, start pouring the beer down your throat.
- If you’re chugging, rather than shotgunning, from a can, you will need to cover the extra hole you made on top of the can with a finger first. This will prevent the beer from falling from both holes when you first start pouring the beer. Once the beer is flowing, you can remove your finger so that air can enter the can, and gravity will prevent the beer from flowing out of the second hole.
- If you’re shotgunning from a can, you will need to place your mouth on the hole in the can, which you cut open, and open the can at the top. Tilt the can so that beer flows from the extra hole into your mouth. Air will enter the can from the hole at the top, allowing beer to leave the can faster.
- If you’re chugging from a bottle, put the bottle to your mouth and upend it. Make sure the straw is poking out so that air can enter the bottle and allow the beer to flow out faster. Make sure your mouth is on the opening of the bottle so that you don’t lose any beer while chugging.
You can see how chugging from a bottle with a straw works in this YouTube video:
As you may have noticed, when chugging from a can or bottle, it’s essential to make sure you have provided a way for air to enter the container at the same time as the beer flows out.
This is because the entering air essentially “replaces” the space occupied by the beer flowing out. If there is air flowing in, the beer will exit the container smoothly in a stream. However, if air cannot enter the container, the beer will essentially become “blocked” and come out in gulps.
In this YouTube video, you can see how shotgunning a beer without opening the tab at the top works:
Because the tab hasn’t been opened, you can clearly see that the people in the video have difficulty pouring the beer.
On the other hand, this YouTube video shows how to shotgun a beer from a can correctly by opening the tab to allow airflow. As you can see, it is significantly easier to chug the beer when airflow is allowed.
You don’t need to make special preparations for airflow when chugging beer from a glass because glasses usually have a large enough mouth that proper airflow is assured.
So, all you need to do is tilt your head, and the glass, and start pouring.
Once you’ve relaxed your throat and started to pour, all that’s left for you to do is wait for gravity to do its job. The beer will flow directly into your mouth and throat and, if you’ve ensured your throat is relaxed correctly, you’ll be able to chug it down in seconds.
To improve your speed, make sure you’re tilting your beer container at a sharp angle. The proper tilt angle will essentially help gravity work, and the beer will flow faster and smoother.
4. Slam Your Beer Down (After Chugging)
Once you’ve finished downing your beer, it’s time to slam your beer container down on the table. If you’re drinking from a glass, be careful that you don’t slam it so hard that it shatters.
Slamming the container on the table is a way to show that you’ve finished drinking.
Depending on who you’re with and the etiquette between your friend group, you can also choose to let out a belch, as this helps clear your stomach of the excess carbon dioxide you’ve just chugged down.
If you aren’t comfortable belching around other people, excuse yourself from the table and make your way to the restroom. You will need to let out the CO2 to prevent feeling queasy, and you can do so without feeling self-conscious in the bathroom.
Final Thoughts
Being able to chug a beer fast is a great party trick, and if you’re with friends, it is also an easy way to impress the people around you. It’s best done when everyone is already a little tipsy, as you’re sure to get more high fives and pats on the back when the people around you are more easily captivated.
Chugging a beer isn’t too complicated. Once you know the technique for each beer container, the real trick is relaxing your throat properly.
However, this can be challenging for some, so make sure to practice if you’re unsure.
