Bottle Logic Brewing (Q4 2018)

Arrived at Bottle Logic yesterday at about 3:30 to have some pours and pick up. From what I understand the rear seating area is permanently closed due to city zoning issues...so finding a place to sit was a nightmare. When we found a place outside it was pretty gnarly due to the direct sunlight. It seemed to mellow out a lot by 5. Is the pretty common for the weekend? If so I'll have to quit coming so early, it kinda sucked.

I may have missed it, but does BL have any plans for a new tasting room? It seems they have way outgrown this space.

Tried all the recent BA beers, Sight and Mind was the stand out. I'm not huge into BW's but that beer is incredible. Paisley was great, but in small doses for me.

 

They’re expanding into the space next door, or atleast was the plan.

 

That's probably why they added a sign in the tasting room re: their impending looong-awaited expansion. I guess it's easy to open a tasting room/brewery in Anaheim (15 and counting) but watch yer arse if the place actually gets popular. Pity all those poor Harry Potter fans.

 

Ah, apparently I'm not very observant.

 

Understandable. It isn't exactly a Times Square billboard, cap'n.

 

They’ve been trying to expand for (at least) a couple of years now, but the city keeps hamstringing them with permitting/zoning requirements that seem to change on a bi-weekly basis, causing the extended delays. Most recently they were supposed to have started the expansion right after FO Weekend, but it got delayed once again.

Same crap MT has dealt with that pushed back the Leisuretown construction by 1.5-ish years, and that other breweries have faced in Anaheim as well.

 

I agree, as much as I love Bottle Logic, the tasting room experience there has become extremely uncomfortable ever since the back has closed. Screw finding a place to sit, you can barely even find a place to stand now. The last two times my wife and I went there we've literally had to post up on the wooden fencing outside, right in front of the entrance because there was absolutely nowhere else to go. Definitely frustrating. I have no idea how they're going to do the Harry Potter trivia night there. If turn-out is anything like last year, prepare for a sardine can experience. Hard pass. Aside from going for bottle pick-ups, I doubt we will stop by again in the future for drinks until the expansion is done, which knowing the city of Anaheim, will be in approximately 2,000 years.

 

I think they’re doing the HP trivia day outdoors like they did with WoL and FO release.

 

They posted that the Tri-Wizard Tourney (Harry Potter Trivia) is a special permitted event, so they're doing it in the parking lot area likely similar to Week of Logic/FO Weekend. A lot more space for the event than a regular tasting room day, so don't let that dissuade you. Also, since it's a specially permitted event, it's 21-years old and over only.

 

Just got back from picking my PCC bottles up. Decided to get a taster of it. Holy blueberries. This is a great beer. The wife even had a small sip and thought it was tasty.

 

This is the first I’ve heard of the back area not being open. I went there today to enjoy a few beers and saw that the back area wasn’t accessible so my husband and I tried to find a spot on the patio. The sun was brutal and the space was tight. Couple that with the beer experience being less than stellar, I can’t imagine going back until they either re-open the back space or expand into a new tasting room. Such a shame too since I’m a local and love going there.

 

Wanna note that my above comment isn't necesarily a jab at Bottle Logic more than it is a jab at the city of Anaheim. I know that BL is probably doing everything they can to get this expansion done. It just seems funny that the mayor has this reputation of being "brewery friendly" even though Modern Times has been trying to open a place here now for almost 3 years. I'm pretty sure their Anaheim location was the first location they announced outside of San Diego, yet many other locations outside of San Diego and even outside the state have opened since, with zero progress on the Anaheim location still. This city has so much red tape that it's absurd. The mayor should cut the crap.

 

It stings more than a little to look back on this post I made in July 2017, after brutalizing guests and staff through the insanity of the FOB3 Opening Weekend, which detailed the plans we thought were humming right along.

We've been working on our expansion plans for over two years now, and our whole team is achingly aware of how uncomfortable things can quickly become in the current truncated space. The layers of red tape involved, as @BreakingMyBalls mentioned, have proven to be extraordinary.

This week we’re at a stalemate over required parking numbers that keep changing. We'll tread another set of footprints into this worn back-and-forth, we'll take the plans and hack off a few more square feet here and there, and continue wishing the city would elect to count street parking along Armando or more accurately consider the number of visitors utilizing rideshare options...

There has, on the other hand, been some stellar production-side progress (including a 7bbl pilot system with eight fermentation tanks due to receive its first brew in November), which faces less permitting hurdles than guest-facing areas.

We'd really love to stay and grow in Anaheim before having to open an off-site Tasting Room, and we're infinitely grateful for your patience as we try to navigate what other steps we can take to move forward here and provide the extraordinary guest experience we're yearning to create for you.

--
The Triwizard Trivia Tournament is my third permit-pull for the 2018 calendar year, so the festivities will take place outside in the same space where we hosted the opening weekend of the FOB4 release. I'll likely use my last permit (we get four annually) for the opening weekend of December's Stasis Project release.

 

Looking forward to trying this as a new DIPA someday...

<cough> Huntington Beach <cough>

But seriously, HB City council has opened up their proverbial doors to breweries And distilleries as well. Plus there’s Beachwood and Riip nearby, and when you need a break, just meander down to the ocean... win/win for everyone.

 

I love the idea of a satellite tasting room. I like the idea of multiple tasting rooms, because it often allows easier access to the beer.

 

Bottle Logic South Bay? Game changer.....
#jussayin

 

Right next to Trademark brewing is a few warehouses that look like they're capable of holding a satellite spot. There's also a rock climbing gym opening there....and I happen to be a block away.

 

I am not the biggest fan of berry in my stouts, but PCC is very good.

 

I heard San Diego could use another tasting room....

 

BL should plan for a little rally at the Anaheim City Council chambers at an upcoming council meeting - it sounds appropriate at this time. Sometimes the council needs a reminder that the slow pace that the planners/commission operate at can be deleterious to the public they serve. Which kinda sucks.