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The Reklaws first met Jake Owen at the Boots and Hearts Music Festival in 2016, when Owen was a headlining act set to be introduced by the then-upcoming Reklaws. They initially watched Owen drive up backstage with the Volkswagen bus from the cover of his album American Love, before he introduced himself to the sibling duo. Stuart Walker of the Reklaws stated that Owen's authenticity off the stage along with the "vibes" from his performance were inspiration for how he wanted the Reklaws to build their image as country artists. Years later, the two artists were looking to record a song together and sent demos to each other back and forth for approximately eight months. Owen sent "11 Beers" to the Reklaws, and Stuart Walker stated he initially was scared of the title as the duo has already recorded several drinking songs, including their hit "Can't Help Myself". They were nonetheless intrigued as the song was written by several well-known Nashville writers including Hardy, a fellow country artist who sang the vocals for the demo of the song. They were instant fans of the track upon listening to it and recognizing its theme of reminiscing about a summer love between two people. Jenna Walker of the Reklaws described the song as the "first of many to come" in the "next level" of the duo's music, adding that the duo knows their fans "are going to relate to this track because we’ve all lived through losing something before we felt it was finished".
Critical reception
Chris Parton of Sounds Like Nashville compared the song to "a buzz worth chasing again and again", adding that it "has a golden mix of romantic perfection and what-if desire, and a refreshing groove that goes down easy. Nanci Dagg of Canadian Beats Media described the song as an "'80s inspired pop medley that is also a hopeful love song and will surely turn into country's next party anthem where one can't help but dance along", adding that it "transports listeners back to the dreamy elation after a great first date and then watching it disappear right before your eyes before the last drink". Bill King of FYI Music News said that "11 Beers" is "slated to become yet another massive hit" for the Reklaws. The Country Note called the song "an anthem full of potential".
"11 Beers" reached a peak of number one on the BillboardCanada Country chart dated July 23, 2022, marking the Reklaws' third career chart-topper, and Owen's seventh number one in Canada. It also peaked at number 56 on the Canadian Hot 100 for the week prior. The song has been certified Platinum by Music Canada.
