Earlier this week, I told you all about the actual birthday cake I made for my husband’s 30th birthday this past week. Now, it’s time for me to show you the other cake I made for him—a beer cake!
This was such a fun (and easy) gift to put together for him. We’re craft beer lovers, and I knew for a while I wanted to get him 30 different brews for 30 years on the planet—but I couldn’t quite figure out how to put it together in a fun way. Then, I saw a beer-can cake on display at some grocery store (made with crappy beer, but that’s not the point), and I knew I wanted to recreate it for him with a variety of craft brews. A few weeks later, Craig happened to pin a beer cake to his Pinterest wish list board, and I knew it was meant to be.
The first step was to do some beer shopping. We’re very lucky to have an awesome liquor store nearby that specializes in single-bottle sales of a huge variety of craft beers from around the world—narrowing it down to 30 was really hard! I also wanted to try and make sure to get bottles of even heights to keep the beer cake steady. I’m sure I looked like a total lunatic measuring beer bottles in the store.
In the end, I decided to do three layers. The bottom layer was 16 bottles, the middle layer was 10 cans, and the top layer was four more bottles. There were quite a few brews I wanted to get that only came in cans, so instead of skipping them completely, I decided to devote a whole layer to canned beers.
I also picked up 12″ cake boards from the craft store (to make the layers), plus ribbon, decorative floral picks, star garland, and glitter paper to make it all fun and festive.
Before we headed out for dinner on his birthday, I kicked him out of the house for a few minutes—don’t worry, I didn’t leave him out in the cold on his birthday, I sent him down the street to my parents’ house for a birthday cocktail—while I assembled the beer cake.
First went down one of the cake boards.
Then I arranged 16 beer all around the circle.
I wanted to make sure the cake had a nice sturdy base, and 16 seemed to do the trick.
Next up went the second circle.
Followed by the canned beers.
I used 10 canned beers, and it worked out, but I would have preferred one or two more on the layer for added stability. I’d say this cake would probably work the best with 33-35 beers.
Next up went the final cake board.
And then I topped it with four topper beers. These were the odd height beers I wanted to get him—they all went on top since there is nothing that needs to balance on them.
Then I wrapped each layer in ribbon, stuck in the decorative picks, and wrapped the whole thing in star garland. I also cut “30” out of the glitter cardstock, attached it to a wooden skewer with tape, and stuck it in the top of the cake.
And then, just to be really nice and obnoxious, I spread confetti all around the cake (and promptly locked the cat in the basement—because I don’t even want to know what a cat does with a table full of confetti and a precarious stack of beer bottles).
He was so excited about this! I’m sure he would have been just as excited if I plopped 30 beers in a box, but I think making them into a cake made his big, milestone birthday just a little bit more special. The most time-consuming part of the whole process was picking out the beers for him (which I loved doing, because I know I’ll be sipping on them, too). It was a great gift! He was so sad when we had to take it apart (see the previous cat comment), and he loved looking at all the different bottles so much, he didn’t want to put any of them in the fridge!
Cheers!
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I love this. I’m definitely tucking the idea away from my husband’s birthday! He loves craft beer too and I know he’ll love this. What a fantastic idea.
Coolest thing ever!
my favorite part of this post is the fact that your husband is on pinterest, haha
This is the coolest thing EVER!! I will be saving this idea for my boyfriend’s birthday in April. He’ll be 32 so I’ll probably go with 32 beers! 🙂
Fabulous way to celebrate the 30th for him!!!
That’s an awesome idea! My husband will be turning 30 next year and I might just have to steal this cake.
This is really clever but I have to ask–how would you get 33-35 beers on that second layer? Teeny tiny cans? 😉
I meant 33-35 beers total—with 10-15 in the middle layer. Sorry I wasn’t more clear!
Ha, I probably mis-read that sentence but I really liked the mental image of wee baby beer cans 🙂
I now know what I’m doing for Eric’s bday next year 🙂 he loves craft brews too. really neat idea.
Stealing this idea for my husband’s birthday! 🙂
So I’m probably late to the party, but your new blog design…oh my goodness..I should be drooling over your recipes but I am drooling over your awesome design details!! Okay the beer cake is pretty awesome too. Except it should be wine. 😉
Oh my goodness Cassie, this is perfect! My husband is turning 30 in June and he just organized an incredible month long celebration for my 30th. I’ve been racking by brain trying to figure out what I’m going to do and this will definitely be part of the celebration. Thanks for making it so clear!
Love this idea! So creative and thoughtful for any beer lover. Did you adhere the bottles/cans to each layer? I’m just wondering how they stayed put. Thanks in advance for any advice you may have! 🙂
I didn’t adhere them—they’re just stacked. I was actually pretty surprised by how sturdy it was!
im thinking of doing this for my father in law for Christmas maybe as more of a Christmas tree. With all glass bottles. Any ideas on how to make something like that sturdy enough that I could assemble it prior to getting to their house?
No clue on that one! I honestly wouldn’t recommend it. It’s very heavy!
How could you make the beer stay in place if you had to move it? I’m making one for my boyfriend’s birthday and I’m not sure how I’m going to move it?
I would recommend assembling it where you are gifting it, if possible! I don’t think there is a good way to attach them. If you have all your supplies together, it only takes about 15-20 minutes to put together.
So clever! And I recognized a lot of the awesome craft beer…somehow knew you were in Indiana……have to say it’s the coolest!
What size are your cake boards?
I honestly have no idea! Maybe 12″? Does that sound normal?
Loved this! I sent it to my daughter and she made one for her husband’s 30th birthday. He loved it! Lynda