Bottle Share Dos & Don'ts

Usually pour myself and pass the bottle around. People are usually pretty careful with pour size and there's some left in the bottle to dole out

 

Here's a "do" and a "don't" in my opinion: do tell your guests not to wear perfume or cologne, it completely distracts from aroma (usually women with too much perfume, but sometimes men)... and that's the "don't" - don't wear perfume or cologne.

 

To add to all of the wonderful suggestions I would like to add that its customary at shares I've been to, for everyone who brought a beer to the share introduce the beer, talk a little about it, give some background and then pour others' glasses before their own, also not to open beer you didn't bring. Sometimes you may notice that discussions tend to run long before another beer in introduced leaving you craving another beer but don't give in to the urge, just ask the host "whats the next beer" and that usually gets things back on track.

 

Do: Have fun and communicate with those coming as to what they enjoy. Just keep an open line of communication with your guests and there should be no issues.

Don't: Overthink the whole thing and nit pick it so folks don't come back or want to do it again.

Cheers

 

Two tips to mitigate the scenario where you're sharing more than you can responsibly drink: 1) invite a guest who's not sharing anything --easier to do if you have a regular share, and this can be a rotating spot, 2) bring bottle stoppers, avoiding the temptation to kill bottles so as not to "waste" beer.

 

Don't use it as an excuse to clean out your fridge. If you don't want to drink a beer, don't expect your buddies to want to. I'm looking at you Rum Runner.

 

Don't use it as an excuse to dust off your big Bruery beers, unless you have plenty of space for everyone to spend the night. We were all lucky to make it out of a tasting alive when someone pulled out their Sucre vertical.

 

At our shares there tends to be several bottles open at once, and folks pour their own, depending on their mood at the moment. If you have a certain "special" beer you want to open and pour, fine, do that.

Everyone needs to grasp the concept that not everyone is going to get to try everything. Such is life, get over it.

We have a bunch of shares a year, ranging from 3-5 people over a couple hours, to a big birthday share, that lasts up to 6 hours, up to 100 folks coming and going, and opening near 200 containers, ranging from 7oz bottles to one gallon growlers.

Have plenty of water available. Have food available. Do the best ya can to have folks be chill. There's always gonna be that guy who posts up at the pouring station who tries to get everything. Feel free to crowd him out of line, as needed.

Have fun!

 

Agree with many of the above entries.

Back at the home brew share,,,
We did have one guy who did not brew which we always invited just because.

Slamming someones offering almost destroyed my kitchen,,,don't do it for sure. My guests could get their hair up especially after multipal bottle share

For me , hearing someone's discriptions of their bottle was fun and I learned. Did not always agree, but never mentioned it. Who cares, nobody their was going to be a judge or pro Brewer anyway, so have fun.

Worth saying again, have fun.

 

Agree with most of the comments here. Particularly about food and water.

The bottle shares I host are very small and while there isn't a huge sampling of beers, we get to try many different varieties and styles on different events.

The most important thing is to relax and have fun with good friends.

 

The shares that I have hosted are small, usually 3 to 5 people. I have enough matching tasting glasses to go around. My Wife usually picks up a meat and cheese tray from the Deli and adds crackers. Most of my friends are hunters, like me, so things like deer summer sausage also go over well. I make sure to set a half or full case of bottled water out. The Wife is a non drinker and moniters everyones behavior concerning their ability to drive. We have opened one bottle at a time and passed it around and we have opened several and let everyone pick what they want. This seems to work best. We let the conversation guide itself.

 

Ahh, the ubiquitous Bruery bottle, specifically the high ABV stouts. I shared a Hoarders membership with 3 guys a few years back and ended up overbuying a mixed case of Grey Monday, Mocha Wed, etc. I can never bring myself to open one of these at home ( even with the wife’s help) as I know I’ll never get though the bottle. Unfortunately my sharing buddies all have the same issue, so I’d feel like a leper bringing one to our shares. Which for me is a shame, as they really are in a bottle format meant to share.

 

I too fell in to the trap of overbuying when I had my Hoarders membership from 2012-2017.

 

Do: Have fun, be generous, and stay humble. It's about bringing people together to enjoy a special moment.

Don't: Create an issue with what people bring (e.g., "You can get that anywhere. How dare you bring that bottle before us sit among this elusive bounty!?!?!?!"). I haven't been to a share like that, but have read about such snobbery. Seriously...F*ck that noise!

 

But that’s a perfect beer for a share, a little goes a long way.

 

Have not seen this mentioned yet.

Generally, its considered poor form to grab and open someone else's bottle, especially if they have stepped away. Ask if you can open it or just express interest in trying the beer and it will get opened.

 

You can comfortably get away with 6-8 ppl (max) if you are opening bombers and 750s. 3oz doesn’t sound like much but if you are drinking high gravity beers, it can add up. Also, try to have the same glass for everyone. I find mini brandy snifters to be suitable.

 

Pictures or it didn't happen!

 

Right, we want the kill shot!!