This thread made me curious how common this is in the UK at the moment, and since the UK forum has 0 posts as of now I thought I’d start things off by talking about bottleshops.
My local, Favourite Beers, now has 10 beers on tap. I wouldn’t necessarily call it a “bar” and it certainly doesn’t feel like one, but it’s pretty decent having a range of beers on tap to drink while browsing, and allows them to do proper beer tasting evenings and such. Is this the norm these days or are most bottleshops still literally just bottleshops?
well let’s hope others join in. but in Edinburgh i know of one Bottle shop that has a SINGLE tap offering growler / 500ml plastic bottles fils, one brewer showcase with 10 taps and bottle selection.
but the big one is Salt Horse. with half a bar half a bottle shop,with the bottle shop part nkw offering half the taps (first six) of the bar half
outside Edinburgh, bittee virtue in Southampton always had 1 cask in for tasting as you browse or 4pt take away. and cotteridge wines in Birmingham ham has huge bottles selection, but also a bar. (ten taps?) though bar never felt like a bar when ive been there
Same across the world. In the UK it’s known as an “off-license” - where a
venue is licensed to sell alcoholic beverages for consumption off the
premises. To serve on site they have to apply for an on-license, and it
seems a few bottleshops have started doing this which is nice to see.
in middle Europe, if at all, you have one or two taps at a bottle shop.
In the US, I have seen some examples which are literally both. Chuck’s Hop Shop in Seattle comes to mind, with many taps, quite a few tables to sit, and a literal labyrinth of fridges and shelves.
Well based on these few replies I’m starting to feel very lucky that my local has 10 on tap, I didn’t realise it was a rare thing.
Mine did start with just 2, then expanded to 4, then earlier this year replaced the whole thing with space for 10 beers.
ha id failed to realise that was a link to a place DOH.
and its got some scary suspisious Scores. But all those i do know are giving it DAMN high as well. So Looks a great place that actually looks worse due to the number of 100 on most recent page.
Yeah I know it does look really suspicious. That spate of 100 score reviews is probably due to the owner posting on Facebook calling attention to the fact that people could leave reviews for the shop on Facebook, Ratebeer, TripAdvisor, Foursquare etc. (he wanted to quote them for use on the website, I think I’m actually quoted there under my real name) but I think some people signed up to all these sites to leave a review thinking they were helping… Anyway, their scores don’t count towards the average on Ratebeer as they have less than 10 place ratings, so it’s actually irrelevant, but a shame it looks faked so to speak.
Regardless, it is a really good shop. Huge range of UK beers and their EU selection is improving rapidly, some US, German, Belgian too. Two or three fridges. They also stock ciders, meads and English wines if you’re into that. Good for harder to find Gloucestershire rates too.
Drunk Dry in Kidlington and The Angel in Bicester are my closest two. The former had two keykeg taps when I last visited the latter is in a small barn that has to be accessed via The Angel pub so yes I guess they both do.
My local - Realale- has taps but only growler fills - no drinking on site except special events.
My second most local - Beer Boutique- has 4 taps and drinking on site
Not really high up on my list of things I need in a bottle shop. Plus it can be annoying when a beer you’re interested in is on tap but growler only - it’s a lot to commit to
In Cambridge UK our local entrepreneur Sam of ‘Thirsty’ has taken over a Threshers defunct retail shop and filled it with unusual wines PLUS 4 ? key keg taps with rotating beers from UK, Germany & Denmark PLUS many many craft beers from all over. Additionally he has 4 or 5 bench tables AND mobile Street Food offerings every night. Up to now drink in is only possible on draught via Growlers ( also for take away of course) however this will change in the 2018 new year to being able to buy in traditional measures. Pop up bars have been at The Technology Museum on Riverside and in some local church halls and even a hardware shop car park. A real breath of fresh air in the social drinking scene.f
DOH.
