A primer on planning a beer-tasting party.

There’s never been more quality craft beer in California, or a better excuse to host a beer-tasting party. Here are some tips on how to do it from experts like All About Beer Magazine:

• Pick an easy-to-understand – but fun and enlightening – theme, such as comparing two different types of beer, lager vs. ale, for example.

• Estimate how much beer to buy by planning on 4 ounces per sample per person.

• Think through supplies and props: small reusable plastic cups; dump buckets; openers; table mats or blank white paper with the names of the beers on them.

• Make a scorecard and distribute to each guest.

• Start with the lowest-intensity flavors and work upward.

• Remember to swallow, not sip. Unlike most wine, as you sip carbonated beer, the CO2 gas escapes the liquid, rising from your throat to your nasal passages, carrying flavor. Spitting is acceptable at wine tastings, but it’s bad form when tasting beer.

• Be a good host: Serve food and water, and take breaks. Keep an eye on how guests are doing, and have a designated driver plan. Finish the evening with a beer-infused dessert