Chicago/South Loop tasting group

I'd like to join on the 7th but have a commitment at 7pm. Is there room for 1 more if I can make it work? I've got a Big Bad Baptist #40 or a bomber of Sweet Repute

Also want to add that when the weather warms up, I have a rooftop deck in Lincoln Park right near the lake and would be glad to host a bottle share. I've hosted cigar meetups but never a beer tasting and I've got the perfect spot for it.

 

@MrPlayboy, we have capacity for 30 and have not hit that yet, so you are more than welcome to join. Just request access to the Google Spreadsheet and add what you are brining.

And yea, the rooftop sounds great when the weather gets better. We will have to figure something out to take advantage of that!

 

I've got two bottles of 10 I'll throw in

 

I have a 09-14 Darkness vert I'm trying to sell ...obviously not on here though.

If that falls through, I could probably bring em.

 

I live a half block away from there. All good folks at Gentiles, even saved me some BC from the hoarders since I tend to visit that location multiple times a week.

 

Unfortunately I can't make it on the 7th...have some family in town. With luck I'll make the next meet up!
Cheers!

 

@AndyEdgar, nice. Anyone is free to add people to the list as long as they vouch for them. I added my twin brother and a friends that is bringing Zima, and the Nut...

 

Chatted with Dan from Gentile's over a few beers tonight and they are excited to host the group. It is up to us to host it and make sure everything runs sooooothly. Light snacks (i.e. pretzels and stuff like that) will be served. We just want to make sure that everyone knows that there isn't much parking and, like any drinking event, public transportation is VERY encouraged. The 60 bus stops right outside the door and the blue line is a few blocks away at the racine stop. I've heard about tasting events getting spoiled by a bad apple and we don't want that here. There are also plenty of places to put down a good base of food before and after (Three Aces and County BBQ to name a few) so you have no reason to be a dummy. After it all wraps, we are planning on heading over to somewhere to grab a few more beers and food if anyone is game. We can walk to Three Aces or even take a few cabs over to Vice Brewing or Maria's or even Simones or Duseks; both aren't that far. I'm also trying to figure out a format since I've never hosted an event like this. Sours to open and stouts to finish us off? Does everyone walk around with their bottle? Do we open then up and set them down on the bar and expect everyone to take a one oz. pour? Looking for some guidance...

 

@uiucphoenix I honestly haven't been part of a bottle share without just a handful of friends, but I would definitely like to know who brought what beers, because I'm going to have questions for that person here and there, I'm sure. So maybe the person that opened it distributes??? I'm sure someone in here has more experience with this sort of thing...

 

Also, I think the sours first and stouts after is probably the best idea... But I think the real question on everyone's mind is- when can we drink the Zima?!?

 

From the spreadsheet, it looks like we're at 8 people confirmed right now. As long as we keep it around 10-12, we should be able to offer 2oz pours of all the 750s, bombers a bit less. I say whoever brought the beer opens it and distributes it to the group, pouring themselves last. That way we don't risk any overpours and the person who brought it can choose to leave a bit behind or cash the dregs. I also think sours first makes the most sense

 

Ideally it's be nice if someone had those 5oz taster glasses. From the shares I had in the past, we had one person crack the brew, pour in his glass and pass the bottle around....though by the same token, some take more healthy pours than others. Probably the easiest way would be to make one person pour for all. I don't care either way...I think the glassware is more important than who pours...as far as being equal. My 2 cents anyway..

Also, I feel mixing the stouts between the sours (in my opinion) works out the best. I could see how others may want to do all sours then all stouts, but to me having a sour in the mix between two stouts can be more of a pallet cleanser instead of drinking stout after stout. We had a BC share in late December where we had all BC beer from 2007-2014 inluding variants. We had a few variants then added a sour into the mix to help break the monotony and thought it did wonders as far as tasting the complexities of each beer....again just my thoughts. I dont mind either way.

 

Yeah good point about the pallet cleansing. I was almost thinking it would be nice to have a different beer entirely as a pallet cleanser. Something clean like a lager. My only experience with bottle shares is with a few friends so not sure if there's a proven formula. I like the idea of having the same glasses for everyone though, makes it a lot easier to measure out a 2oz pour.

 

This should be fun, and when I leave I get to meet my wife, her friend, and our kids at Frozen on Ice. WOOHOO!

 

Anyone else an ImBIBE member and going to the PoG at 5Rabbit tonight?

 

@Canada_Dan, I'm ImBIBE but can't make it tonight. :-(