Bottle Share at Han Dynasty

This past Sunday, Mat from PhillyBeerScene and Jared from PhillyTapFinder presented their third bottle share. I made it to the first one, but missed the second, so I was excited to be able to make it this time. Each time it's been held somewhere different, too, and the 3rd was being held at Han Dynasty in Old City, a place I've heard a lot about but never been.

To spread out the crowd a bit this time, they split up each table to hold a couple styles. Things like 'Stouts & Porters', 'American Wild Ales', 'IPAs', etc. Considering the way the room was setup, this was a real good idea. When I arrived, not much was on the tables yet.

Beers with Friends

My friends and I had been trying to get together for this bottle share for quite a few months, but one of them has a job that makes it a bit tough to schedule. However, he finally had a Monday off and so messaged us that it was time. As it happened I was walking home from Sabrina's, kind of drunk already, so of course I said totally! I was originally planning on not even drinking the Monday before Thanksgiving but oh well, sacrifices must be made right?

We started off with one of the better beers of the night, Goose Island Bourbon County Rare. This is a special version of Bourbon County, aged in barrels for two years instead of the eight months or so. It did sell for quite a bit more per bottle (about $40 vs $12 for two regular bourbon county).

Bottle Share at 943 BYOB

This past Sunday, PhillyTapFinder and PhillyBeerScene held their inaugural bottle share at the byob of 943 in South Philly. They've been planning it for a while now and things finally came together for two plus hours of trying awesome beer. The idea of a bottle share is pretty self explanatory, but for those that don't know, everyone brings a bottle (or two or three) with them to the event, opens it when they feel like it, and then you pour samples of what you want.

When I arrived the table was already pretty full and people were inspecting it, planning their afternoon.

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.