Now if you want to be the life of the party, or just impress your friends, shotgunning a beer is a must have skill.
It’s the fastest way to down a beer, you may not look too graceful whilst doing it but you’ll certainly look impressive.
With that being said, it’s not always an easy skill to learn, sure if it comes naturally to you it is, but some people have no idea where to even start when shotgunning a bear.
This is where we come in, we’re going to share some tips with you that’ll help you perfect your shotgunning skills.
First we’re going to explain what shotgunning is to help you understand the process a bit easier, then we’ll outline 8 steps so that we can explain the entire process in detail with you.
What Is Shotgunning A Beer?
Shotgunning is the art of consuming a beer very, very fast by punching a hole in the side of the can near the bottom, placing your mouth over the hole and then pulling the tab at the top to open the beverage.
The beer will quickly drain and thus be quickly consumed, it’s often done as a competition between friends to see who can drink their beer in the fastest time.
You’ve possibly seen shotgunning happen in movies or tv shows (see also ‘Pupper’s Beer: Is the Letterkenny Brew Real?‘), and they make it look quite easy. However, it’s not all that easy and can be quite difficult if you don’t have the proper technique or knowledge on how to do it.
So to help you, we’re going to set out some steps so that you can have a shotgun competition with your friends at the next party.
The 8 Steps On How To Shotgun A Beer
In short, these are the steps, but we’ll outline a more detailed section of the steps after this, including what the right type of beer is and what the right tools to use are:
- The right type of beer
- The right set of tools
- Hold the can horizontally
- Check where to puncture the can
- Use your thumb to find the right place to puncture and tilt the can
- Use the tools to puncture the can and make the hole bigger
- Finally, chug!
So, for the detailed steps, here they are.
Step 1: Finding The Right Type Of Beer
So, to shotgun a beer the first thing that you’ll need is to find the right type of beer. This means finding two things:
- Making sure that it’s a beer that you like. If you don’t like the beer you’re shotgunning, it won’t go down as easily and your performance will suffer.
- Ensure that it’s a lighter beer. A heavier beer, such as one that’s over 6% ABV will make shotgunning it much more difficult. If you opt for a lighter beer, it’ll mean it’ll go down much easier.
Step 2: Use The Right Tools
You’ll need the right tools to actually puncture the can, so that the liquid can flow faster.
Using a key or a knife will enable you to puncture the can with ease, as will most sharp objects, some people will even use a technique in which they use their thumb to punch a hole in the can, we’ll go back to this later.
When you’re puncturing a hole in the can, make sure that you don’t do it too hard or be too careless with it – you don’t want to make the hole too big, nor do you want to cut yourself whilst you’re doing it.
You can also use tools that are specifically designed for purely shotgunning beer.
Step 3: Hold The Can Horizontally
To ensure that you spill the least amount of beer possible, you’ll want to place the beer on a table. In doing this you’ll also move the air bubbles inside the beer to the side so that the beer doesn’t foam too much.
Step 4: Check Where To Puncture The Can
You’ll want to puncture the can on the side, but more towards the bottom.
1 inch from the bottom is usually the safest bet if you’re unsure of the right place to puncture the can, the aluminum is also softer at this spot, so when you’re punching a hole in the can, it’ll be a lot easier to do so.
Step 5: Find The Sweet Spot
Using your thumb, you’ll want to press on the beer until you find a pocket of air within the can.
Then once you’ve found the spot, press firmly but gently with your thumb to leave a small dent on the can, this will help you mark the spot so that you can easily find it again when you’re about to puncture the can.
Step 6: Use Your Sharp Tool And Puncture The Can
On the dent that you’ve just made, use your sharp tool and puncture the can, you should start to see a hole forming. Don’t worry if some liquid or foam spills out, it’s normal.
Step 7: Make The Hole Bigger
Using your sharp tool again, place it inside the hole and start to make it bigger using a circular motion, you’ll want the hole no bigger than a quarter.
Make sure that when you’re doing this, that the edges are bent inwards, so that you don’t cut yourself when drinking out of it.
Step 8: Chug
Place your mouth over the hole and tilt it towards you, gravity will do most of the work for you so don’t worry.
Once you’ve tilted it, pop the tab open at the top and let your throat open and the beer should flow freely down, and voila! You should’ve shotgunned your first beer.
Not Got A Sharp Tool? Use Your Thumb
Now you’ll want to be careful if you’re using this method, it’s an impressive trick but it can quickly end in injury.
To do it:
- Hold the can horizontally
- Put your thumb around 1 inch away from the bottom of the can
- Then push through the can
Your thumb may get cut whilst it’s penetrating the can, so only do this if there’s no other sharp tools around and you’ve got some bandaids on hand.
Final Thoughts
Hopefully through this article you’ve learnt how to shotgun a beer with ease.
You’ll be able to hold competitions with your friends now and see who can shotgun the beer in the least amount of time.
Remember to drink responsibly as shotgunning beer can lead to you getting drunker faster and dispose of the can responsibility when done.
I want to share with you all of my favorites, as well as share advice on picking certain alcohols and flavors.
I hope you enjoy my articles as much as I enjoyed researching them!
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