There is no question that for some of us knowing how to chug fast is a must-have life skill that you never know when you will need to use. Now I have chugged a lot of beverages in my life and many of them with regret afterward, but beer has never failed me and it is the one beverage I recommend you learn how to chug for those very special events in your life such as university frat parties, out camping with buddies, or around the bonfire partying late into the night with old friends and of course that family dinner when your great aunt comes to town for a visit.
Learning how to chug beer fast is a skill that contrary to popular belief is not something people are born with, it is an actual learned skill. In this post, we are going to cover the top 6 methods of chugging. They all have similarities but each has its own unique quirks that you must know if you want to win any chugging contests.
But first, for those of you who are impatient and want to get straight into knowing how to win your next chugging contest, the following are some quick tips you can use right away to put yourself well ahead of the masses when it comes to knowing how to chug fast…
6 Quick Tips on How to Chug Beer Fast
1. The first thing you want to do if you are permitted is to choose a light beer, something that will go down smooth and easy. The closer to water the better.
2. Let the beer warm up a bit, if you drink an ice-cold beer you might end up with a brain freeze essentially knocking you out of the competition quickly.
3. Open the beer as quickly as you can, if you are drinking from a glass pour it into the glass as soon as possible. This will start releasing the CO2, minimizing the foamy head, and lowering the carbonation, which will make it easier to chug.
4. As you are getting close to go time, tap the bottom of your cup, bottle, or can on the table as often as you can, not hard enough to break it but just enough to get the carbonation bubbles rising up, the more carbonation you can get rid of the easier it will be to drink quickly.
5. Now comes the moment of truth, lean your head back at a slight angle, and take a breath, you want to chug for as long as you can without having to take another breath.
6. Swing the bottle up and start drinking, the key here is to take a swallow just before the beer hits the back of your throat, you do not want to be taking gulps of beer, but rather letting the beer pour down your throat by opening up your gullet.
So there you have it my friend 6 quick tips to start becoming very good at chugging beer. Just remember to choose a light beer, let it warm up, open it as soon as possible, and lightly bang it on the table a few times to get the CO2 out, then take one big breath followed by leaning your head back and raising the bottle up to your mouth, take a swallow before the beer reaches the back of your throat and then relax and let gravity do its thing. Follow these 6 tips and you will be winning chugging competitions before you know.
Now if you really want to up your game and learn how to chug beer fast like the big boys and girls these next tips are master level tips. I explain the best techniques to implement based on what container you are chugging out of, implement these and there will be no stopping you…
Chugging From a Glass
If you are challenged to a beer chugging contest and have any say in the matter choose to do so from a glass, it is the easiest method of all as you do not have to worry about airflow, simply follow the strategies we outline and let the beer flow.
1. Pick Your Beer
Do not minimize this step, chugging a double ipa or a porter is going to take a lot more skill than a 3-4% commercial lager like a bud light or coors light. Pick a beer that is as close to water as you can, you may have noticed chugging water is a lot easier than beer, its because it is lighter tasting, does not have all of the foam and carbonation, and will not make you feel as bloated and gassy.
2. Choosing Your Glass
There is debate on which style of beer glass is the best for chugging beer from. Some will recommend a beer mug due to it having a handle which they believe makes this process easier, they also claim it allows for a higher flow of beer into your mouth due to the large opening.
I disagree with this last point as being a good thing. I prefer more of a slender glass such as a pilsner or a stange. Your mouth can only allow so much liquid into it at once, using a beer mug forces more in than you can handle and results in you being overloaded and potentially coughing and choking on it.
While a more slender and sleek glass provides just the right amount of liquid at the right time. A mug reminds me of a dam breaking and all of the liquid hitting you straight in the face, where a stange or pilsner-style glass reminds me of a ski hill, nice, smooth, sleek, and fast, but under control and fast. Try them both out and see which glass works best for you.
3. Pour Your Beer Correctly
Learn how to pour a beer so that it minimizes the amount of head at the top of the beer. When trying to chug fast you do not want to have to worry about a bunch of gassy foam getting in the way and causing you to become bloated, full, and needing to belch. Pour your beer slowly and on as much of an angle towards the glass as you can.
4. Let Your Beer Sit
If you know you are about to have to chug a beer and have enough time to prepare for it, pour your beer as soon as possible. This allows it to warm up some which prevents the brain freeze we talked about, but more importantly, it allows the CO2 to dissipate out of the beer.
Remember the goal is to get the beer as close to having water-like characteristics as possible. Carbonation makes it harder to get the beer down quickly and can cause gas build-up which will require you to burp during the content and drastically slow you down.
5. Tap Your Glass On The Table
Give it as many taps as you can get away with, each time you tap it more carbonation is released out of the beer. The more that dissipates into the atmosphere the better it is when it comes to chugging a beer.
6. Get Ready to Hold Your Breath
Start out by inhaling very deeply, hold it for a few seconds now exhale all of the air out of your system. Now take a deep breath and lean your head back slightly to get into position. You can’t be stopping to take breaths during the race or you will lose, so you want to make sure your body has all of the oxygen it requires to get you through to the end.
7. Time to Chug
When you hear the bell sound or whatever the signal is to begin, bring the glass up to your lips and pour the beer into your mouth. The goal here is to let the beer pour down your throat without having to swallow or take any breaths. This does take practice.
For the first bit while you are learning in order to get it all down you may need to do it in a few swallows instead of one pour. If so, be sure to take large swallows and not sip on it.
The key during this stage is to just relax your throat, do not breathe if you can help it and let gravity do its thing, and allow the beer to run down your throat. As the beer gets lower and lower in the glass, tilt the glass further back in order to keep the liquid pouring at a fast pace.
When the glass is empty, slam it gently back down on the table to let everyone know you are finished. Hopefully, you have won and it is time to gloat, if not get a few practice sessions in at home and challenge him/her for a rematch, following these techniques will have you wearing the champion belt before long.
Chugging From a Can
Many of the strategies we just covered also apply to all of the other methods we are going to look at. Instead of going over each of them again, I will instead outline the additional steps you need to take…
1. Vent the Can
When you are chugging beer out of glass there is lots of airflow as the top of the glass is open, with a beer can this is where the problem lies, there is no airflow, as the liquid is coming out nothing is replacing the space where the beer was, this leads to the beer coming out in gulps instead of a steady stream as the can tries to suck air back in through the mouth of the can.
If you have ever opened a can of juice you understand this concept, if you only have one opening in the can the liquid trickles out, it is not until you put a second opening in the can known as a vent that the liquid pours out in a steady stream.
This is what you need to do when chugging beer from a can, you have to create a second vent in the can. Using a knife or scissors carefully poke a hole in the top of the can on the opposite side of the opening. Now as you are chugging the beer and it is leaving the can, air is taking its place in essence keeping the rest of the beer pressurized and able to be pushed out smoothly.
2. Cover the Vent
Now put your finger over the vent you just created and get into position as previously described, remembering your breathing technique.
3. Start Chugging
When the buzzer sounds, put the can to your mouth, remove your finger from the vent, and allow the beer to flow rapidly into your throat. Following the same techniques described using a glass, hold your breath and attempt to allow all of the beer to flow down your throat. As the beer in the can gets lower, continue to tilt the can up higher until it is all gone.
4. Crush That Can
One of the best parts of chugging out of a beer can is being able to crush it on the table when you win. So give it a good crush and accept your championship belt Stone Cold Steve Austin Style!
Chugging From a Bottle
Chugging beer from a bottle without any aids, which we will talk about in the next section, is the most difficult way to chug a beer. This is because there is no simple way to vent the bottle like we did with a can. The following are some pointers to help you get as fast as possible with a bottle…
1. Open It In Advance
Just like the other methods you want to get as much of the CO2 and carbonation out as possible, give it a little swirl and a few taps on the table.
2. How to Position Your Lips on The Bottle
Do not cover the whole opening of the bottle with your lips. If you do so you are sealing it off from allowing the air to get into it. You want to leave an opening between your lips and the top of the bottle lib to act as a vent.
3. Chugging The Beer
Next, tilt your head back with your mouth wide open, place the lower lip of the bottle so that it is resting on your lower lip. Now tilt the bottle up but only so far as the liquid flows out smoothly. Do not allow the beer to take up all of the space of the opening of the bottle, if it does then it is fighting against the air that is trying to get in, you need to leave a little space in the opening so the air can flow in effortlessly.
4. Let The Beer Flow
Do not try and suck the beer down, it has to flow on its own, when you try to suck it down you are sucking in air with it and you are going to end up gassy and belching which is going to cost you valuable time.
5. Create a Vortex
Another method of chugging a beer from a bottle is to forget the past 4 tips and to go with what is called the vortex method. Some claim it is the fastest way to chug a bottle. You do this by swirling the bottle and getting a literal vortex or whirlpool going inside the bottle. It allows air to come into the bottle and as you tilt it back the air goes up while the liquid goes down and out of the bottle and into your throat at a very fast speed.
The following gif gives you a great idea of how this works:
Chugging a Beer Bottle with a Straw
This is a popular way of chugging a bottle, the problem is that most competitions do not allow you to use the straw. But if you can get away with it, it works well by acting like a vent very much like what poking the hole in the can does.
1. Pick Your Bottle & Straw
The same principles apply here as it does to all of the other methods when choosing a beer, make sure it is light and low on carbonation. When picking your straw it needs to be long enough to reach at least ¾’s of the way down into the bottle and it helps tremendously if it is a straw that is flexible and bends towards the top.
2. Put the Straw in The Beer
Very simply remove the cap and place the straw in the beer, the flexible end needs to be pointed out of the bottle. The straw also needs to be on the upper lip of the bottle pointing away from your face when the bottle is tilted. If it is a straw that bends, be sure to bend the straw up on as much of a 90-degree angle as you can.
3. Bring Bottle to Your Lips and Take a Breath
Now you are at the same point as all of the other methods, remember how to breathe correctly while getting ready, hold your breath, open your throat, and tilt the bottle back so that the liquid flows smoothly allowing gravity to push it along. Try not to take gulps, the air coming in through the straw will vent the beer out quickly so that with practice you should be able to get the beer down fast.
Shotgunning a Can of Beer
One of the go-to events at football tailgating parties, the good ol’ shotgun of a beer.
It is for the most part simply a different take on what we covered in chugging from a can. By now you know the right types of beer to choose so we will skip that part and move right into getting your can ready.
1. Preparing the Can
This time around instead of poking a hole on the top of the can you are going to lay the can on its side and poke a hole on the side of the can near its base. Typically about half an inch up from the bottom will work fine. Make sure the tin is pushed into the can and that no jagged edges are present and are pushed flat as you don’t want to cut your mouth. You do not need a large hole either. We typically use one side of a pair of scissors to punch it through and create our hole and the size it creates works great. Put your finger over the hole.
2. Pop the Top
Once the can is prepared it is time to chug this beer. Hold the can sideways up to your face, now simultaneously put your mouth over the hole you made and open the can and tilt your head backward. Be prepared in advance the beer comes fast. This is one of the fastest ways to chug a beer by far.
3. Drop Your Finishing Move
Shotgunning a beer always brings out the professional wrestler in people. So you might as well come up with your own finishing move, whether it is crushing the beer can on your head (not recommended), drop-kicking it off into the distance, or pile slamming it onto the table the choice is yours.
Chugging a Pitcher of Beer
Nothing makes for a wild night quite like entering into a pitcher chugging contest. You also really get to see the difference between people who are incredibly talented at opening up their throat and letting the liquid pour down versus those of us who are gulpers.
The only thing I can tell you to prepare for this is to first get very good at chugging from a glass, the technique is identical except the pitcher is much bigger and holds a whole lot more beer. Work your way up if this is truly an ambition of yours, start with a normal size mug and then move up to the thunder mugs before trying to master the pitcher.
The reality is that the majority of people will have to treat a pitcher like they are chugging a few glasses, get the same volume of beer down as you would with a glass, take a deep breath and get another glass full down and so on and so forth breaking the pitcher chug down into increments.
Now I will warn you of a couple of things, first the obvious is that drinking this much beer this quickly can clearly have consequences so guide yourself accordingly. The second thing is to be prepared to go up against some chugging maniacs who can literally down a whole pitcher in one gulp faster than most people could chug a can of beer. My old roommate in university could do this and it was a sight to behold indeed.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I get faster at chugging?
If you are not born with the natural gift of being a beer-chugging champ the only way you get faster is by practicing and implementing the strategies that we have covered in this post. Perfect practice makes perfect as they say.
How do you open your throat to chug?
Again it takes practice but the basic technique is to lean your head back about halfway, open your mouth and take a short breath, swing the glass quickly so the beer comes at your throat at a good pace, and right before it hits your throat start swallowing, this way the beer flows down your throat instead of you gulping it down.
Does chugging beer make you drunker?
Yes, absolutely no question about it. And as fun as this post is and as enjoyable as the odd chugging contest can be, you do need to be careful of this. I would not recommend spending a night chugging beers and even trying to do so from a pitcher should be reserved for experienced beer drinkers. When you chug a beer you are getting the alcohol and its effects into your body a ton faster then when you are sipping it. When you sip a beer or drink it at a reasonable pace your body has more time to process it and the effects from it hit you slower.
Is chugging beer bad for you?
Anything done in excess is typically bad for you, as are most fun activities it seems. So yes, if we are upfront and honest, chugging beer could be bad for you. And if you do too much of it just like consuming too much of any alcohol you could be in danger of alcohol poisoning. My recommendation is moderation and all should be well. If you have concerns over this you can check out the following post on the dangers of chugging, be warned it presents the negative side and the author is dead set against chugging but a little warning is never a bad thing.
How fast can you down a pint?
Apparently, the world record holder has downed a whole pint in 0.45 seconds. Quite a lofty goal to try to attain but don’t count on it happening. If you can get to a few seconds that is considered quite a respectable goal.
There you have it my friend you now know exactly how to chug a beer fast. Let us know in the comments what your favorite method to do so is and what is your top speed?
Cheers, Big Robb is Out!
P.S. If you are into making your own beer be sure to take advantage of my limited-time offer to get access to the recipes to my top 5 best-selling beers from my brewpub. Sign up is on the side of the blog or at the bottom on your smart device. Enjoy!
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