"Hi, I'm trying to plan an event where we bring a bunch of off premise alcohol to consume, and that's the main purpose of the party" Door immediately closes in your face.
I take beer to a friends house and 3 - 5 others show up on the last Friday of each month. We’ve tried almost 400 different stouts, mostly imperial and about half of them barrel aged. Only once did they have to drive me home. We have some new people coming now that travel more than Garth and I do, so it’s likely going to morph into an actual bottle share - I won’t be the only person supplying the beer. Not that I minded, I tend to buy more than I can drink myself. But it will be nice trying what others deem worthy of sharing!
You would think so, but it depends on the venue and the crowd. I've been to several bottle shares in pdx where the venue had no problem with the share. In those situations, we chipped in some money for the bartender. Also, everyone bought at least one or two beers from the bar and left sizeable tips. Lastly, the bartender was allowed to partake of the selection if he/she desired. Finally, we picked a time and day of the week that was typically pretty slow. This sort of thing is also good PR for the bar. Folks who come to a share like this and have a good time, tend to come back. In PDX, the bartender is required to open any beer brought into a venue, but after that his time and labor are minimal. The venue provides the glassware, but that's not a major inconvenience, especially if the group is thoughtful and generous. By the way... this isn't just a pdx phenomenon. I attended several bottle shares in SEPA and one at Max's in Baltimore. The one at TJ's in Paoli PA was so lucrative for the staff (participants all tossed cash into a large bowl where the bottles were lined up, in addition to buying beers from the bar) that they were imploring the group to come by any time and do this again. I'm sure there are bad experiences as well, but the truth is, I've never attended one. In my experience, participants tend to be understanding and generous. They realize the bar is doing them a big favor. All that aside, it sounds like the OP is suggesting that the group rent out a space in a bar. Where I live, many places advertise the availability of this sort of opportunity. It can be a bit spendy to rent out a bar room, but assuming one can pay the freight, I'm not sure I see the problem. Of course not every place that allows this will permit you to bring in outside beer. Probably that's something you would need to negotiate with the bar owner.
Funny enough, when I lived in Coral Gables, there was this beer bar/restaurant called The Lokale. This dude I found on BA went there to have a few and asked the manager if we could hold a share there on a slow night and he was totally good with it. Granted this was in 2012 so, yeah, that probably would be harder to come by these days. We never did get a share together there but it's definitely possible
Now that you mention it, I used to belong to a homebrew club whose meetings were always held in restaurants' event spaces, and those are pretty much just a bottle share with a presentation and agenda. Unspoken rule was always that we'll eat there and buy one or two from the bar. My bad.
Same with the few places that used to do it around here. I only know of one place that does it now and it's in Ohio, which is weird, because they have a "no off-premises bottles" law there. They are the best beer bar within an hour and a half of the house, though, so I'm DEFINITELY not saying anything.
We have long running relationships with the establishments that allow us to share. Generally, they way it works is we schedule it on an off night, Wed for example, everyone orders food, they allow us to open bottles. Win-Win. Other cases the estabishment hosts the share, requires a cover price, they often will include food. Obviously, if the plan is to just use the establishment and offer nothing in return to the business, you won't get far.
It would have been good to have a "no preference" option for the vote as I would have selected that. Another option would have been "it depends", which I might have also selected. It's fun to be the host, but of course there is more pressure to make sure things go smoothly. It also totally depends on the crowd. Are you hosting a bunch of people that are relatively new to the scene? Or perhaps enthusiasts that are looking for the best stuff? I have been to bottle shares in multiple countries, and my favorites (about 6 or 7) have been in Germany. We normally meet in a neutral location and all bring what we think is interesting. People bring snacks, and we crack shit open and talk about it. We switch from stout to gueuze to IPA without a care. I honestly think a neutral site is best (in Germany we would meet a beer shop after it closed, with permission of the owner of course!). In Germany we all take the tram back to our places, or some will ride their bikes. Driving is never an issue.
Yes, in hindsight, a third option would have been prudent, especially since I even said myself in the OP that I'm kinda right down the middle with it. I went ahead and voted "host" since I do really love being able to just fall right to sleep in my own bed at the end. That's awesome you got to attend so many shares in Germany! I'll bet they were epic
I put guest but I’d be fine hosting too. I understand the driving issues that can happen if you’re a guest but personally I don’t experience that due to access to public transportation. In reality, most of the sharing that my beer friends group does currently is at a brewery or beer bar in the area. Some as sanctioned events and others as just everyday sharing (including sharing with the staff). This is always with permission but isn’t frowned upon at all in a lot of places in my area. We can also have shares in the local parks which is a great option when the weather is nice.
