Exercises: Beverage and Bar

Every problem in Part B is a rate problem. Do them with a calculator, not with a rule of thumb.

Difficulty guide: ⭐ Foundational (5–10 min) · ⭐⭐ Intermediate (10–20 min) · ⭐⭐⭐ Challenging (20–40 min) · ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Advanced (40+ min)

Part A: Conceptual Understanding ⭐

A.1. Name the four bar models plus the hybrid, and state who pays and what the cost predictability is for each.

A.2. Why is "hosted vs. consumption vs. package" a pricing question rather than a generosity question?

A.3. State the base consumption model, including the shrinkage allowance.

A.4. List the seven adjustment factors from §15.2 and their direction.

A.5. Give the conversion figures from memory: servings per 750 ml of still wine, of sparkling, of spirits; servings per half-barrel keg; pounds of ice per guest.

A.6. Name the five fixes for a bar queue in order of effectiveness, and say which one clients ask for first.

A.7. State the five alcohol questions. Which one did Chapter 9 identify as the one nobody asks?

A.8. Name the seven elements of a responsible-service plan.

A.9. Define: shrinkage, corkage, batched cocktail, last call, host liquor liability.

A.10. Why is a cash bar's licensing problem more serious than its social problem?

Part B: Applied Analysis ⭐⭐

B.1. Choose a model. For each, recommend a bar model with arithmetic:

• (a) 130 guests, package at $38/head/5hrs vs. consumption at $10/drink. Crowd is mostly over 55, rural venue, no shuttle
• (b) 220 guests, package at $44/head/5hrs vs. consumption at $11/drink. Average age 29, hotel block on site
• (c) 70 guests, venue requires its own bar. Package $52, consumption $13. Mixed ages, city venue
• (d) 300 guests, a fundraising gala where the host wants a hosted first hour and cash thereafter

B.2. Forecast four events. Produce a drink forecast for each, showing base, adjustments, and shrinkage:

• (i) 145 guests (12 children, 9 non-drinking), bar 5:30–11:30 p.m., mostly 30s, shuttle, June, outdoors
• (ii) 88 guests (4 children, 20 non-drinking — a largely observant community), bar 6:00–10:00 p.m., mixed ages
• (iii) 240 guests, corporate awards dinner, bar 6:30–10:30 p.m., colleagues, open bar, no shuttle, city hotel
• (iv) 55 guests, destination wedding, four days, bar open effectively 12 hours a day. What breaks about the model here?

B.3. Build three purchase orders. For (i) and (ii) above, produce full purchase orders: mix, conversions, quantities, and cost at your local retail prices. Then compute cost per guest and compare.

B.4. Solve a queue. 190 guests, cocktail hour 5:00–6:15, one bar, three bartenders, full spirits bar.

• (a) Compute first-hour demand, throughput, and the backlog at minute 20 and minute 75
• (b) Apply the five fixes in order and recompute after each
• (c) State the cheapest combination that balances supply and demand, and what it costs

B.5. Audit an arrangement. A couple tells you: "My cousin's a bartender, he's doing it as our wedding present, and we're buying everything at Costco." The venue is a private estate with no licence. Walk through the five alcohol questions and write what you say to the couple.

B.6. Cap a consumption bar. A venue insists on consumption billing at $11/drink. 160 guests. Your forecast is 940 drinks. Write the contract language for a cap, the notification protocol, and the run-sheet line for the mid-event check. State the cap number and justify it.

B.7. Wine on the table. 180 guests, 23 tables, plated dinner, wine at $15/bottle. Compute the cost of placing wine on the table against serving it from the bar, including the bar-load effect. Would your answer change for a buffet?

B.8. Close it down. Bar closes at 11:00 p.m., venue clears at midnight, guests are mostly staying on site. Build the last-ninety-minutes table with owners.

Part C: Real-World Application ⭐⭐–⭐⭐⭐

C.1. Price a real order. ⭐⭐ Take forecast (i) from B.2 and price it at three real sources: a supermarket, a discount warehouse, and a wine merchant. Include the return policy for each, in writing. Report the spread.

C.2. Find your jurisdiction's rules. ⭐⭐⭐ For your state, province, or country, establish in writing: whether a one-day or special-event permit exists, what it costs, its lead time, whether client-supplied alcohol may be poured by a licensed service, and whether unlicensed persons may serve. Cite your sources and state explicitly what you could not establish.

C.3. Interview a bar service. ⭐⭐⭐ Ask: what do you charge and how; do you supply alcohol or pour ours; what does your licence cover; what liability do you carry and at what limits; who refuses service and how do they do it; what is the worst night you have had? Write 700 words.

C.4. Time a bar. ⭐⭐ At any event with a bar, time ten transactions with a stopwatch — beer, wine, and made cocktails separately. Compare to §15.4's figures. Count the queue every ten minutes for an hour and plot it.

C.5. Order a non-alcoholic drink. ⭐⭐ At three bars or events, order a non-alcoholic drink and record exactly what you are offered, in what glass, and how it is described. Write what you would have done differently.

C.6. Find the ice. ⭐⭐ For a raw site in your area, establish where 250 lb of ice comes from, what it costs delivered, how far in advance it can arrive, and what it lives in. This is a real supply chain and almost nobody has traced it.

Part D: Synthesis and Critical Thinking ⭐⭐⭐

D.1. Cross-chapter integration. Chapter 11 gave the queue arithmetic, Chapter 14 gave the dinner block, and this chapter gives consumption. Build the single model that takes a timeline and a guest list and outputs a bar plan. What are its inputs, and where does it break?

D.2. Critique the model. The consumption model (2 in the first hour, 1 per hour after) is a trade rule with no published evidence behind it. Construct the argument that it is unreliable enough to be misleading — that the adjustment factors give a false impression of precision, and that a planner would do as well with a range. Then respond.

D.3. The cash bar argument. §15.1 says a cash bar is read harshly in most Western contexts. Argue that this is a class-inflected norm that pressures couples into spending money they do not have, and that a planner who repeats it is doing the industry's work rather than the client's. Then give your actual advice to a couple with $18,000 and 200 guests.

D.4. Transfer. Compare the wedding bar with a domain that solves the same problem: a stadium concourse, a festival bar, a hotel conference break, or an airline cabin. What does the comparator do about the demand spike that events do not?

D.5. The sober planner. §15.6 argues the planner does not drink at a client's wedding, for attention rather than propriety. Construct the case against: that a planner who accepts a glass at the toast is being a human being, that refusing marks you as staff, and that the rule is professional theatre. Where do you land, and does your answer change for the last hour of a 200-person wedding?

D.6. Design the refusal. §15.6 says the refusal authority is the bar lead, not the planner and never a family member. Write the actual script the bar lead uses — three versions, escalating — and then write what the planner says to the guest's spouse when they come to complain.

Part M: Mixed Practice (Interleaved) ⭐⭐–⭐⭐⭐

M.1. (Ch.14 + Ch.15) Sundown's food loads at 1.2775. A bar service quotes $52/hr per bartender plus a 20% service charge plus tax. Is the tax base the same? What do you do to find out?

M.2. (Ch.9) A bar service sends a certificate showing $1,000,000 general liability. What is missing, and what do you write back?

M.3. (Ch.11) A venue has one bar, 40 feet from the dance floor, with the queue running past the DJ booth. Name three separate problems and rank them.

M.4. (Ch.6 + Ch.7) The bar came in $480 under allocation. Chapter 7's contingency is below half after a generator change order. What do you do with the $480, and who decides?

M.5. (Looks like one thing, is another) A couple's bar bill at a consumption venue comes to $6,800 against a forecast of $4,200. Name four explanations, and say which you would investigate first and how.

M.6. (Ch.5) Your forecast depends on knowing how many guests do not drink. Where does that information come from, and what is the polite way to collect it?

Part E: Research and Extension ⭐⭐⭐⭐

E.1. Research dram shop and social host liability in your jurisdiction. Write 800 words covering: whether a cause of action exists, against whom, what the standard is, and whether a private host can be liable. Cite statutes or case law and state explicitly where you are uncertain. Then say, in one paragraph, what this means for how you would plan a wedding there.

E.2. Investigate the evidence base for beverage consumption forecasting. Is there any? Look at foodservice operations literature, hospitality management texts, and beverage-industry sources. Report honestly if the answer is "very little," and say what a planner should do with that finding.

E.3. Interview two people who do not drink about their experience at weddings. Ask specifically about what they were offered, how it was described, and whether anyone asked why. Write 600 words. This is the highest-value exercise in the chapter and almost nobody does it.

Solutions

Selected solutions: appendices/answers-to-selected.md. Worksheets: appendices/appendix-a-templates-and-worksheets.md. Quick-reference formulas: appendices/appendix-b-quick-reference-cards.md.