Bottle Share at TJs

With the craziness of Philly Beer Week behind me, I took a few days off to prepare for a bottle share event at TJs in Paoli. I had never been there before and it is known as one of the better bars in the suburbs so this really was a win-win. I'd get to try all sorts of new stuff, check out a new place, and meet lots of new people all in one easy trip. The best part of TJs is the R5 (or Paoli / Thorndale line if want) stops like 3 minutes from the place. So no driving! Perfect.

The bottle share itself is pretty simple. Everyone brings a bottle or two (some bring more but it's not necessary) and, after it's opened, everyone is free to partake of a small sample. The best part of this event was that TJs provided pretty good food and tons of clean glasses. This meant if something got opened but my glass was already full I could just grab a new one. And, yes, I may have been holding three beers at certain points as a result.

I had a nice picture of the initial table but, well, deleted it by accident. Sorry! To get an idea, close your eyes and picture a table with about thirty 22oz bottles on it. Mental picture! So instead I'll start with one of the bottles I brought, Boulevard Harvest Dance.

Actually was really tasty. Had a nice, pleasant hop character with some malt backing it. And that was just the start. Dark Lord 2011, 2010, Ivan the Terrible, Duck Duck Gooze, tons of other things all made appearances. And yes, Duck Duck Gooze again. People are ridiculously generous.

One of the cool parts of a bottle share, at least for me, is getting to try things that you're holding on to in your cellar. Of course, the other benefit is when people bring stuff you'd never get to try, like Lost Abbey Veritas 09 or a geuze from 1999 (it was amazing) and some other stuff that I can't remember at the moment. They really were memorable, I swear, my memory just stinks.

Another great part is getting to talk with all the people that show up at this kind of thing. It's always full of people who are as obsessed about beer as me and it's always great to talk with everyone. I've also started seeing the same people at all of these types of events so it's a good way to see them all again.

That's how the table ended up at the end of the event. Look at all those empties and I don't even think that was all of them. Really the whole event was awesome and TJs really was a great place. Met lots of new people and got to try a bunch of really great stuff, notables being Midnight Sun Bar Fly, Goose Island BCS 2009, and the random geuze I mentioned earlier. Just a great afternoon. After the event ended, I spent some time at the bar and had some freaking awesome macaroni & cheese as well. If the rest of their food is that good, I'm definitely going to give it a try next time I'm there. In the end a great event and being able to take the R5 back home and not drive 45 minutes was fantastic.